The Garrison at Finley Farms — Restaurant in Ozark

Last night was our second time at the Garrison. We got there a few minutes before our reservation, but were seated anyway. Within 2 minutes our drink and appetizer order were taken. We got the black garlic fries and bison tartare. The fries were hot, seasoned with just enough herb, and the black garlic sauce was wonderful. My only criticism, the fries were too small, not short, too small. This causes them to be just dumped into the serving cup, and because of the different sizes, it's like fishing around in a bowl of candy for the the Reese's peanut butter cup, makes it hard to dip them into the sauce and make it to your mouth without dripping some on the table. Personally, I would rather see a cup of french fries standing up, which were just cut from a large russet potato.

The bison tartare was fantastic and had a good balance of flavors between the meat and seasonings. I am glad you only serve the portion you do as we could probably eat a bowl of that alone.

The 100 layer potato was the only disappointing thing of the whole night. We found it relatively lacking in flavor, with the exception of whatever the burned crunchy things were on top. I would replace it with a small bowl of au gratin or a small, loaded, twice baked potato.

The Bouillabaisse was the exact opposite of the potato. As I told our server, as strange as this sounds, I hate to eat. I love good food but ever since I was little I have not enjoyed the process of eating. That changed last night with the Bouillabaisse. It was one of maybe a handful of times in my entire life where I actually savored the process of eating. It was exquisite! It is always risky, I have found, to order seafood at a restaurant. There is so easily a chance that the fish or shellfish may not be as fresh as possible and you end up smelling your order ten feet before it gets to the table. Not so last night. When she put the taurine in front of us was the first time that I smelled it and it was heavenly. You could smell the fish but it wasn't fishy. You could smell the mussels and scallops, but they didn't smell like you just opened an old can of oysters for oyster stew. The balance of flavors between the fish, shellfish, sauce and vegetables was perfect! There's always the chance, when ordering a dish like this, that they will pile on the vegetables, to hide the fact there is very little of anything else, not so with yours. The portions were very good for two people, and possibly even three. The herbs, spices, garlic, and onion were perfectly proportioned so that you could taste all of them in every bite. I can now tell you, your bouillabaisse is quite probably the greatest dish I have ever eaten in my life. I will definitely be having it again.

The only thing I would change about that dish? Provide a bowl to put the mussel shells in. We were forced to either put the shells on our plates, inconvenient, or to pile them up in the taurine, and have to move them around for the rest of the food, also inconvenient.

The triple layer chocolate cake was wonderful also! It was not too airy or too dense. It had a good body, strong but not overpowering taste of chocolate, and the the frosting was not so thick that you felt like you were eating an entire spoonful out of the mixing bowl. A little bit heavy on the 'brown sugar'(?) topping, it is sweet enough, so maybe use half.

As an entire meal, it made me want to sit there and experience it. We could have not been more pleased and will definitely be having these, sans the 100 layer potato, again.

As good as the food was, I have always had my grandfather's philosophy about restaurants. You can serve the greatest steak in the world, but with poor service you won't get many return customers. You can serve a good hamburger and bowl of chili, but if the service is good, those people will come back and order the same thing again and again.

I watch and am very critical about serving staff. I not only watch my server, but the others in restaurants as well. It is my opinion that 50 to 75% of all people who wait tables, do...

A Disaster That RUINED My Birthday Dinner I am beyond disgusted with the service we received for what was supposed to be my birthday dinner. This was not just slow service; it was a complete, infuriating breakdown that ruined the entire evening.

Service Was a Joke It took an outrageous TEN MINUTES just to put in a simple drink order—an unacceptable start to any meal, let alone a celebration. Our assigned waitress was nonexistent, practically treating our table like a leper colony while the adjacent tables—served by a clearly competent waiter—received attentive, prompt service. We were checked on so rarely, it felt like we were deliberately being ignored.

The Menu and Food Were Offensive The menu itself was a confusing mess, and the suggestions only made things worse. The side selection was pathetic and the one item we dared to try—the infamous "100-layer potatoes"—was an abject failure. They were under-done, practically raw, and disgustingly drenched in sour cream, making them inedible. It was a culinary insult.

Incompetence Ruined the Order To top off this catastrophic meal, our food finally arrived, and of course, they forgot our appetizers. We ordered the appetizer—a simple salad and fries—at the very start, with our drinks! How difficult is it to execute a basic order? Watching several other tables receive their meals before ours, despite ordering later, was the final slap in the face. When we finally asked our inept waitress to cancel the forgotten appetizers, even that seemed to be an issue.

The entire experience was so thoroughly disappointing and stressful that it absolutely ruined my birthday dinner. I had zero desire to try anything else and simply paid the bill just to escape the ordeal.

The only glimpse of competency came from the bartender—the sole highlight of the night. He was mesmerizing to watch and crafted my husband’s drink perfectly. Honestly, I was moments away from bypassing our pathetic excuse for a waitress and giving my entire $20 tip directly to the bartender for the minimal effort that went into his single drink. This establishment clearly prioritizes its bar over its dining room, and my birthday night suffered because of it.

I will...

Gorgeous, intimate dining. Perfect for date nights! A few correctable things to take this from good to GREAT. The food was unique and delicious with plenty of variety. We enjoyed the Whipped Goat Cheese, (exquisite! not to be missed!) Scallops, (perfectly cooked, absolutely perfect with the cream corn) shrimp, (again, perfectly cooked, beautiful flavors) Lobster Pappardelle, (holy moly this was good!! Sadly, it came out lukewarm; a little disappointing) and the duck ... (The reason for my 4 stars - this was just awful. I hate to be that brutal... but it was AWFUL. I love duck, it's my go-to at many restaurants. My husband discreetly deposited his bite on his napkin and I struggled to swallow my bite. Texture was off, it was undercooked - even for duck, and the salt was overpowering to the point of eye-watering. It was that bad.) We didn't make a big deal about it, everything else was very, very good. Our waiter promptly removed the plate and we moved on to dessert. The Rosemary Pound Cake was absolutely divine. Golden grilled cake with homemade lemon ice cream. Such a treat!) Cocktails were very nice, if a little over-sweet on some. Wine selection is small for by-the-glass choices, but there is something for just about every palette. Service was good, not great, for the type of establishment. Our waiter was not very knowledgeable about the everything on the menu and neglected to inform us of the special tasting menu. He was very kind and attentive, but the difference in top-tier restaurants often is the service and this one has some room for growth. Last, but not least, the ladies room was unkempt. Two stalls were without toilet paper (at 630 in the evening) and there was some trash on the floor. Again, the difference between good and great is in the details ... And The Garrison has some room for growth. All said, we would recommend and will likely return next time we're in...