Chestnut Grill and Sidewalk Cafe — Restaurant in Philadelphia

We walked in hungry and excited to try someplace new in Chestnut Hill. We’d always driven by and seen happy customers on the outdoor seating area and decided that that would be us for the day!

After looking at the extensive menu, we ordered a slew of snacks: coconut shrimp, wings and hummus to start as appetiser. The breading on the coconut shrimp was great, flakes of coconut with a crispy skin had a great crunch to it. The hummus was tasty and flavorful—it was on a bed of zucchini with olives and soaked with oil (yum!). The wings were only alright, accompanied with blue cheese dipping sauce.

For the main courses, we ordered the chicken salad sandwich, the fried chicken crispy sandwich, caesar salad with salmon on top and the chicken parm. The chicken parm was good flavorful and would order again. Probably would not order the rest again. The chicken sandwich-I was not a fan of the mangos and slaw combo. The dressing/sauce was good but the chicken was also dry-it was more breading than anything. The fries were good—big, potatoey wedges. The Caesar dressing was very anchovy-y and the salmon was also dry.

Our server was nice. However, the food took a long while for us to get. There was a big delay and our server had said it was because of a large party downstairs. It took us about 40 minutes to get our appetizers before we even got our entrees. Because we waited so long, we lost our appetites.

We sat outside it was it had just rain so it was a good mix of humid and warm. The inside area is dark and intimate. They have an upstairs area with a bar and tables. The downstairs area was very wine-cellar/cave-esque almost like a basement.

Another patron had told me to next time get the lamb chops—she travelled from New Jersey just for the lamb chops so any indication of how good it is that will likely be what we...

Started off shakey but ended up being a worthwhile experience. Restaurant is in a bank of of establishments so it's hard to see where one stops and the next starts. Hostess wasn't at her station and lack of signage made us walk past it at first. After we were seated the waiter (Cyprus? ) I think his name was was very attentive and was very knowledgeable about the menu, which I appreciated. Often I ask questions that I probably know the answer to just to gage how amicable the staff is or isn't. One small issue there were food stains on the table from previous guests, (nasty) they even stained the menu. But when I complained we were promptly moves to a bigger better cleaner table, so that was good. My wife had lamb burger on pita and fries. She enjoyed it said it was well prepared to her satisfaction. I tasted the fries which were a little dry but competently prepared and fresh just needed some condiments like ketchup etcetera. I ordered lamb with risotto which surprisingly Excellent!! Lamb was cooked perfectly seared well but very juicy and tender. It's can be tricky to prepare. It is easily over or under cooked, this was niether A+. The risotto was sumptuous and rich. Tender grains and beautiful but simple presentation. At 1st glance I thought I would still be hungry but I found it very filling. I almost forgot we ordered buffalo wings as an appetizer and they were also delicious. Perfectly done although I would have preferred the sauce be actually Spicy but it was mild enough for my wife to tolerate so that was good.. for her. We agreed that they were delicious...

Hi Greg (the owner),

I hope you had a better evening than my mother, boyfriend, and I had at your restaurant. We were enjoying our second round of drinks and awaiting dessert after a delicious meal when you rudely interrupted us. You offered no courtesies such as 'hello' or 'how is your meal?'. Instead, you proceeded to tell us that you needed to flip the table so that the restaurant could serve more patrons because your wait staff needs tips to pay rent. When my mother informed you that we were not done our meal, you essentially repeated yourself verbatim.

Greg, here are a few things to consider. Firstly, if you are so concerned about your waitstaff's ability to pay rent, how about you pay them a living wage? That way you don't need to harass paying costumers that up until your tactless intervention were enjoying their evening.

How long have you worked in the restaurant industry? If I had to guess, I'd say less than a day because you have no clue how to speak to costumers. That's a shame because the food and staff (shoutout to our server Jeff, who rocks) are pretty cool. Since it's your first day on the job, I am happy to give you free advice, no tip required. Harassing and guilting customers into giving up a table before their meal is over is not a good idea. I know, I know. That's intuitive for most people. But occasionally people forget. I...