The Mission Kierland — Restaurant in Phoenix

My husband and I went to lunch yesterday, 12/31/24, on New Year's Eve, to celebrate my husband's 98th birthday, which we usually do with a month of dining, and had made a reservation for 2 PM. Having been to The Mission in Old Town and loved it, we thought we would try the Kierland location, closer to us. Management at the OT location said the food was the same, but be prepared for a little noisier ambience. For this reason, we chose an afternoon lunch. We chose a table facing the bar, which thankfully was to our advantage as we were able to flag down servers to help during our experience. Our server was very little help as we tried to choose from the extremely limited lunch menu with no daily specials. Nothing we asked about was highly recommended by him, hence we ordered with great hesitation and skepticism. The chips and salsa, like the Old Town location were excellent and were the highlight of the afternoon. The street corn was alright, but no comparison to the Old Town location. The Crispy Rock Shrimp tacos, dotted with Rocoto Crema, were heavily breaded, haphazardly portioned and sloppily plated . . . not at all worth $18 ($6 each - seriously?). We were able to flag down a server and got more of the crema, chips and salsa. The Haricot Vert (green beans) were soggy, presented in undercooked bacon and bacon grease. The Chipotle Caesar Salad, while the dressing was delicious, was overly dressed and the romaine was a mix of different sizes and freshness, as if chosen from different containers. The beverages were less than generous for the price; A $19 glass of Eco Terreno Cab, which had been carefully measured out in a carafe, and a $17 Cucumber Jalapeno Margarita with a hint of tequila. At the end of our meal, but even before my husband had finished his wine, the server interrupted to ask which of the two complimentary birthday desserts he would like and if we wanted to have it there or take it with us, strongly leaning towards the latter, which we did. Considering the Eve of the New Year, preparing and decorating right in front of us for the evening's festivities, perhaps the restaurant should have closed down until the main event. Still, no excuse for substandard food and disappointing service. It is not likely that we will consider returning to the...

This review is not about the customer service we received at this establishment but rather the food poisoning we experienced after dining here.

I made a reservation to celebrate my friend’s birthday and visited The Mission at Kierland Commons on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, at 5 PM. We first discovered this restaurant while shopping at Kierland Commons during Christmas and had been looking forward to trying it. Unfortunately, our experience was extremely disappointing, as we both became severely ill after our meal.

We had not eaten anything earlier in the day, as we were anticipating this dinner. We ordered the tableside guacamole, duck empanadas, and corn to share. I had the chicken tacos (which I was unable to finish), while my friend ordered the chicken dinner.

Shortly after returning home, I experienced severe food poisoning symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, profuse sweating, headaches, dizziness, weakness, and general discomfort. I was unable to sleep and spent the night going back and forth to the bathroom. The pain was extreme, causing me to miss work on Thursday, February 27, 2025. Later, I learned that my friend had experienced the same symptoms.

I called The Mission at (480) 292-7800 on Thursday morning at 8:26 AM and left a voicemail detailing our experience. I requested a call back and a refund. However, as of now, I have not received any response.

I sincerely hope The Mission at Kierland Commons takes this matter seriously and addresses it appropriately. Again, this review is not about the in-dining customer service but rather the lack of follow-up and resolution regarding this serious issue.

Update: I received a phone call last night on February 27, 2025 from the assistant general manager, who stated that no other food poisoning complaints had been reported but that they are monitoring the situation. They agreed to issue me a refund and offered a gift card,...

The place was beautiful, but it was so dark we had to use our phones to read the menu. The waiter was professional but something weird happened with the bottle of wine I ordered. I asked for a Merlot but he returned to tell me that there was no more merlot and produced another bottle which was supposed to be a higher price, but they would honor the same price. I asked if it was a merlot and he said yes. So he let me taste it. It seemed OK so I accepted. After the pour I began to notice a poor after taste. I looked at the label and it was not a merlot it was a malbec. Felt a bit hoodwinked. Rather than let me pick a substitute from the list he foisted this other thing on me and lied about what it was. The he came out with a small basket of chips and a tiny bowl of salsa and acted like he was comping it to us. Seriously? As for the food, it was all form and very little flavor. The lime glazed pork tasted like dry roasted hunk of pork sitting on a peice of iceburg lettuce, because that's all it was. The butternut squash tacos had very little taste as the butternut squash seemed to have nothing added to it to season it. They were called tacos but they were actually tiny corn tortillas with some veggie chunks piled up on them. Might as well just eat them with a fork because folding them is pointless. Finally, as I had done the chefs choice, I had the flat iron steak. It was flavorful, very earthy but somewhat chewy for something cooked medium rare. Oh and its not really A steak. It's three precut chunks of a steak about the size of a rubber erasures. You get part of a steak with pretty sauce and a few roasted cherry tomatos artistically placed. Honestly it all seemed like food trickery. Atmosphere and presentation with lackluster flavor, miniture portions and super...