Sage & Barrel Craft Eatery — Restaurant in Queen Creek

First time here 9.5.25 745ish... Had no expectations but a good meal. Looked at menu and was impressed large selection and variety of options. The decor and energy felt very good upon entering. Although quite loud, and 80% filled was a very good vibe. Met immediately, sat quickly. Took several minutes to be greeted by server, slow but expected to a degree.

Ordered appetizer Brussel sprouts perfect delicious. I ordered crispy chicken breast with mashed and gravy with green beans. Beans delicious but way overcooked, mashed whipped smooth but near little flavor and same with gravy in my opinion which is expected in some places, unexpected here especially when advertised as herbed seasoned. The crispy chicken was absolutely juicy and easily cut with just a fork, tenderly prepared golden brown. The breading plain and bland otherwise diminishing a wonderful chicken breast. Overall, my meal was nothing I would choose to order again. The other meal was fish and chips which frankly was darn good comparatively despite its own hurdles. A huge whole fillet, not greasy, hot and tender. Way too much breading but likely necessary to hold such a long fillet together. But not certain. The tartar sauce was surprisingly tasty and had a hint of bite perhaps horseradish...but delicious and cold. The fries completely fresh cut and fried golden brown but very soggy and I know the reason as to why.

Those who read my reviews know im brutally honest be it a 1 or a 10...sequencing food takes a level of precision and kitchen management knows this fact. Our brussel sprouts came out late (probably 12.15 minutes from order) the runner delivered and said your food is up as she is delivering appetizer and asked if we wanted it now. Of course we said no as we wanted the sprouts or else why order as an appetizer right?. That spelled doom to me who grew up in my father's restaurant business. Although delicious, appetizers can and did harm the meal from timing and sequencing. Fries when delivered were no longer crispy but soggy soft, gravy on mashed potatoes had filmed over instead of being wet and steamy. They had to bring out our meal before we got done with sprouts because of an error along the communication channels and somebody was finally paying attention to how much time they were sitting. Now, we have a filled table of dishes, food not delivered as intended by the chef, and a not so shiny review because the meal is the ultimate prize or is intended to be such. This is not on our server at all and 3 star service is because of the mistakes I outlined above and below.

I know it's hard to find or develop chemistry on and in any team with so many moving parts. I do think somebody needs to work on that from kitchen to table. If I were to have another experience like this a 2nd time, I would absolutely not go back a 3rd time. Mistakes happen. Same mistakes, that's a trend management is responsible for.

One final item unfortunately to share. An advertisement for a tiny signature drink for $12 should be if nothing else good or bad needs to be crafted consistent. I was driving, so I did not order the "lemon drop" advertised drink but I did have a sip of each. First one was more yellow than the 2nd one which was more pink. 1st one had a fresh lemon slice and was very very tart. The 2nd had a dried lime slice and was much sweeter both had a sugary rim. How can they be so different if the recipe is used or did bartender(s) just do whatever they chose? I don't know but the inconsistencies across food and drinks makes me question what's going on there.

Maybe it was a bad night for some? Maybe understaffed or new staff? Maybe something else? I know the kitchen definitely faltered.

I will go back as I firmly believe stuff happens and there may not be an explanation determination and a 2nd chance is nearly always deserved especially with a restaurant. Time will make the...

I wish I could create another review but unfortunately, I cannot. We had such a great experience the first time that we figured we should go back on Father's Day. That was a major mistake. We arrived at around 3-330pm no one at the main entrance. We asked for a table of 5 and it took 20 minutes to get our table set up. Even though there were only 4 other families in the whole restaurant. From the get-go, it was evident that they were short-staffed. When we got seated it took an additional 10 mins to get a server our way. When our server finally came, we ordered our drinks and appetizers. From when it was ordered to when we got our drink it took about 18 mins, then our appetizers came out about 10 mins after that. So already an hour in and we just got our initial food. The bruschetta was great and the beer cheese dip was also good. Unfortunately, that was the only good thing. By the time we got our main meal, most of our food was cold and inedible. The beef soup was disgusting. Mainly because it was cold, but it tasted old. My sister got a chicken flatbread and it was missing the Alfredo sauce. My brother got a pork dish and it wasn't cooked right. It seems the food was made and was sitting for a while before it came to our table. We told our server about the issues and she didn't seem to worry about it. But at least she took the items off the bill. We asked if there was a manager on duty to discuss these issues but no one came out. We just paid and left. What a complete 180 from my first experience. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be back.

I can not believe that food can taste this good. If this is food. I do not know what I was eating before. This is the best local restaurant in probably all of Phoenix. My family and I got the Fish and Chips, chicken and Waffles, the Bourbon brown sugar pork loin, and the PB&J burger.

Every single food item was out of this world. If I had to choose out of the fantastic lineup of food to get. The Bourbon brown sugar pork is the king on the menu. I'm not a fish person, and even the fish and chips were to die for.

Our server was Katrina and she was really on top of the service. She was very knowledgeable about the items and helped us out in making our decisions.

Will come back...

So the TLDR version is good food, terrible service. In depth review below.

Place used to be Bar Vinedo, keeps the same-ish layout though they got rid of the giant tree in the middle for some fancy overhead chandelier tree thingy. We were seated quickly, no wait but it was also 4:15 so........wasn't expecting to wait.

Ten minutes after seating waitress comes by and asks what we'd like to drink and says she'll bring us waters in the meantime. Waters come by about ten minutes later and we order our drinks. My wife got the Rittenhouse Smokeshow and I got a class of Page Cellars red blend. Twenty minutes after that those drinks arrived dropped off by a busser not our waitress right as the table next to us was getting their food when we're putting in drink orders. Fifteen minutes after that my wife asks for the waitress so we can order our food. Another ten-ish minutes and we put in our orders. Mind you the table behind us that had come fifteen minutes after us was getting their food already at this point. Food came out pretty quickly after about ten minutes and I had ordered the essentially fried chicken with cream gravy. Very regular portions, but the food was good. My potatoes were rather waxy to be honest, but the protein had an excellent breading, had an excellent cook and the cream sauce was great. My wife ordered the Bruschetta chicken and unfortunately it came out dry, probably in the 180 degree range to where it's dry, but not complete chalk in your mouth. I ordered one more wine, another fifteen minute wait for the drink and we enjoyed dinner. My wife ends up noticing a hair under her chicken so.........gross. In the middle of dinner they re-arranged a dining table set for a 10-top so I would literally have someone directly behind me so I had to move and reseat myself in another seat on the table to avoid crowding. At this point the dinner rush is on and waitress comes by with the check real quick, we pay and leave. Nice menu, good atmosphere but service was terrible though I think it was just our waitress and not the overall experience of the restaurant. Would be an 4 star if the service wasn't terrible but given all the circumstances I think a 2 star...