Archival Brewing — Restaurant in Plainfield Charter Township

Worst experience ever.

I was seated by the hostess and never offered a menu OR a drink. I saw for 15 minutes waiting for my friends to arrive while fully ignored by staff. Finally after 4 others showed up, water was brought to the table, and only then was I informed that they HAD no menus. What kind of restaurant has no menus?!

They finally managed to dig out a few from somewhere but still had NO PRICING and no drinks. WTH?

I'm thinking by this point they are only a water venue and not interesting in serving anything other than water.

The waitress then pointed at a tiny metal adornment on the table and said we had to wave our phone at the thing to produce food at our table.

Mind you we are not 60 years old. We all have SMALL KIDS at home. But this is absurd. We rarely leave the house without kids, and certainly expect SERVICE when we go out since we OURESELVES provide SERVICE to our families 24/7. What a SLAP in the face.

One of our group members asked very specifically about dish, as to how authentic it was. She was genuinely trying to pick a dish she would enjoy. The waitress procured a half hearted answer and our friend decided to take her word.

It was terrible. Beyond terrible. Everyone at our table tasted it and thought it was awful. When you have the real deal, you can't stomach fake Americanized versions, which this was. The sauce was canned and the rice was gummy and the naan was actually flat bread, NOT naan.

Steak was ordered medium well (I know, it's a travesty... but it wasn't my steak, so...) steak arrived medium rare (which I personally found a better option, but was NOT what was ordered and guest could NOT eat it).

One dish came with no vegetables, though it plainly said on the menu which veggies it came with. NO VEGGIE SUBSTITUTES WERE OFFERED, and when asked they said none could be given.

Food came in random spurts of 1-2 dishes at a time, and none of it made much sense as the only items that needed on demand cooking were the burgers and steak, and those actually came first.

When a few group members presented our concerns to the staff, we were met with hostility instead of resolution and acknowledgement of our concerns.

When one of our medial group members tried to order a second drink, we were informed that our table was cut off from any drinks and we were being punished like small children for complaining about our dinner. And again, it was the PERSON TRYING TO CALM THE UPSET TABLE MEMEBER and peacefully resolve her complaint who was DENIED her drink, not the upset table person.

This resulted in EVERYONE in our group becoming upset, at which point we paid for our food and promptly left.

The only meals that were somewhat enjoyed and fully eaten were the Ramen dishes. It was nothing spectacular though.

Bottom line is, this place has no desire for customers IN the restaurant. They'd much prefer you order your food and take it home with you and quietly leave them alone.

I think their meal ideals are great ones, but everything missed the mark so badly here.

Oh, and they only had 2 bathroom stalls which I found odd. I guess they really DO hope you won't...

Let me begin this review by saying: I am not easy to impress. I’ve eaten at restaurants with chandeliers fancier than my apartment, had servers who could pronounce "charcuterie" without hesitation, and even once had a guy fold my napkin into a swan when I went to the restroom. But Maddy? MADDY. She is on another level. If the food was the concert, Maddy was the headliner, the opener, and the backup dancer all in one.

From “Hi” to “Goodbye,” It Was a Full Performance. The moment Maddy walked up to our table, it was clear we were in expert hands. Her vibe was like a warm hug wrapped in a shot of espresso—friendly, high energy, and laser-focused. She greeted us with the kind of enthusiasm that made me briefly consider inviting her to my wedding (which is not even planned, nor am I engaged—but still).

She Knew the Menu Better Than I Know My Own Social Security Number. We asked her what was good, and this woman delivered a monologue so compelling, I nearly cried. She didn’t just list options—she painted pictures. “The short rib melts in your mouth like your hopes on a Monday morning.” Sold. She described the special dessert as “if a brownie fell in love with a cheesecake and they had a baby raised by cinnamon.” I don’t even like cinnamon. I ordered it. It changed me.

Timing? Impeccable. Service? Olympic-Level. Maddy had the timing of a seasoned stand-up comic. Just when you finished telling an embarrassing story and needed a palate cleanser, bam, she was there with the drinks. Not a moment too early or late. I don’t know if she has telepathic powers or if she’s secretly Batman, but either way—impressive. She somehow managed to refill our water glasses without us noticing. I'm 83% sure she's a ninja.

Even in the Chaos, She Was as Cool as a Cucumber in a Bowl of Ranch. The place got packed, like Friday-night-Black-Friday-sale-packed, and yet Maddy kept cruising through her tables like it was a casual stroll in the park. People were practically waving napkins like surrender flags, and Maddy? Still smiling, still charming, still serving like a boss. I spilled sauce on myself, and she handed me extra napkins with the kind of gentle discretion that made me feel seen, but not judged....

I have been here 3 times. The first two times were pretty good when I sat inside but last night was horrible outside. I'm not trying to be mean because I love the atmosphere and vibe of this place with the dogs and the children outside it's beautiful. But I felt compelled to write this review bc the food was shockingly bad. I don't know what's going on there. I hope it's just a case of the chef calling in or something. The fried mushrooms were really bad. The breading was tough and tasteless like grizzle with copious salt. The dipping sauce was some kind of peanut butter Thai something - whatever it was it wasn't working. The plate contained several pieces of just grizzle batter with no actual mushrooms. Then the main entrees took forever like forever and I usually never complain about a little delay but our kids were very hungry and it was a negative experience. The boy was happy about getting the wifi password on his iPad. My son loves his iPad. Anyway, I ordered the pad Thai thing with tuna. Idk how you botch this so bad but it tasted like one of the quick boil noodle things college kids eat and then the tuna on top was water logged, overcooked, and slightly fishy tasting. Which I realize tuna is fish but you know how when you get fresh ahi tuna it's not fishy it's like clean crisp. This was not. My pseudo wife ordered the fish and a Cesar. She said the Cesar was good but we left all the fish on the plate. Again, same batter terrible as above and it came with some kind of mayo to dip it in. Gross. The kids just got simple hamburgers but they kept running out of ketchup bc they don't have bottles they just keep bringing small ramicans of it. I think they should stock bottles for kids everyone knows the kids drink the ranch and ketchup. Anyway overall just a bad dining experience. We did however enjoy the live music and patio vibe and it did seem the wait staff was understaffed so I will cut them a break and say they did their...