Sitting Duck Tavern — Restaurant in Oxford

They have good food, and the place is pretty. It’s also in a great location, which is why I kept coming back. But if you have dietary restrictions, may not be the best place to go. I’ve received meat in a vegetarian meal/order on three separate occasions. I ordered the Mac and cheese main dish, as a side dish, and as the kids meal (main comes with bacon, side has it as an add on, and kids has it as an add on). Of the 3, only the main dish didn’t have visible bacon in it. I had the same issue when I ate in the restaurant earlier this year. my coworker asked if we could order the Brussels sprouts without the pancetta in them, the waiter kindly checked and confirmed. I ate a few, then my coworker tried it and immediately noticed the bacon/pancetta. ’ It’s just diced small enough it’s hard to recognize by sight.

My husband loves their food so I tried one more time by ordering the Mac & cheese as the kids meal - as it doesn’t come with bacon. This one only had 7-8 pieces visible from the top, so likely not a full portion of meat. There must be some small cross contamination of something like dishes or cookware, which would explain the frequent reoccurrence of the bacon/pancetta. Which is slightly concerning when the Mac and cheese is specifically identified as one of their dishes that can be made vegetarian. I wish I felt comfortable getting another dish, but at this point I’m fairly sure it’s not just staff misreading a ticket. One incident is an accident, two is odd, three means something else is going on. They apologized about the recent order, but apparently the manager on duty can’t provide a refund for a $7 kids meal out of a $50 meal. They did offer to remake or give me a store gift card, but at this point I don’t feel comfortable eating their food. If you are a vegetarian or otherwise avoiding bacon/pancetta, I would advise being cautious about ordering any of the dishes that come with meat products as an optional add on. They do have a grilled cheese which I’ve ordered a few times without issues. If you really want to eat here as a vegetarian, may be smart to stick to dishes that are exclusively vegetarian (the ones that aren’t offered with meat...

We had a very weird experience at The Sitting Duck in Oxford last night.

Upon entry, the restaurant felt cavernous - the small tables spread widely apart under a huge ceiling gave no impression of coziness. The smell of the spray cleaner they were using, while cleanliness was appreciated, was pervasive and completely overwhelmed any pleasant food smells that might have been lurking. But we sat at the bar anyway, hoping the service and the food would make up for the lack of ambiance.

The bartender was...a lot. The most egregious thing she did was continually address my (cis male) fiance and myself as ladies - which she apologized for the first time, explaining she was going on script and was confusing us for the two women seated next to us. I'm unsure as to how she mistook him for feminine, but once would have been OK. She did it 3 times, not acknowledging the other two instances.

Also bizarre - when our entrees came out, I tried to stop her from clearing my dinner knife and she literally grabbed it anyway saying You won't need that! - when I absolutely did. And why take it away when I asked for it back?

She warned me against a veal special that she said had been sent back earlier and I appreciated the candor. But then the pierogies came out as an appetizer - greasy with no discernable flavor apart from the bacon. My sandwich had literally zero seasoning. The best thing on any of the plates was the small salad I had as a side, which was only saved by the white Balsamic dressing. Everything else we got was so bland - it was what I would call basically edible but that's about it.

There are too many places like this out there - uninspired food made with no care, and service that only encourages eating fast and flipping the seats. There are too many great restaurants out there to spend your time or your money...

While I do want to acknowledge that the food my friends and I received was good, it unfortunately did not outweigh the poor service we recieved. Upon arrival, we placed an order of drinks, and while all of us were visibly the same age, only two of us got carded, which we found to be strange. My first friend who ordered a drink did not get carded, and when I ordered my drink right afterward, our waitress, Lori N, asked for my ID with a very snippy tone, along with my other friend who ordered after me. Shortly therafter we ordered an appetizer, which came out quite burnt. While I normally don’t send food back to the kitchen, half of the chips in our order were visibly blackened, which made the whole plate taste like char. When we asked if it was possible for the order to be remade, our waitress responded “ummm…. I can see if they can do something” and walked off hastily. When we recieved the replacement order, some of the toppings/ garnishes from the menu description were left off of the plate. When we asked to just have a little cup with them brought out, we were also made to feel like an inconvenience for asking for something that was included on the menu. We thanked her for bringing out the toppings, to which she responded “K. You’re welcome” also in the same tone, and hurried off again. This attitude continued on through the meal. Any small requests like another round of drinks, or a side of ranch were met with shortness or a snarky attitude. We did not even receive water. Yet, considering what we had experienced, we didn’t want to get another eye roll for asking for some. We are quite disappointed, and unfortunately do not plan on returning to dine again. While everyone is entitled to “off” nights, we have dined here twice, and the service has been less than satisfactory on...