Dovetail Joint Restaurant — Restaurant in Richland

Unfortunately I can no longer recommend Dovetail Joint. The quality of the food has dropped dramatically, from 4/5 dishes being amazing to now having mediocre food for the last five visits in a row. I used to be able to order anything off the menu and get something delicious. What happened? Did they change chefs or something?

My previous review stated that the prices were high and the portions were small, but the quality of the food made it worth it. Well, the prices have continued increasing (significantly faster than other restaurants; a dish that was $18 when I started eating here is now $24 in less than two years), the portions have remained small, and now the quality of the food doesn't balance it out. You just have a trifecta of bad:

Expensive dishes Small portions Mediocre food

An example: I ordered the clam pasta months ago, but to my surprise it was flavorless. This is a dish made with butter, white wine, spices, and is meant to invoke the flavors of the sea. It tasted like nothing. I could tell the issue immediately: they didn't season the pasta water as the noodles were cooking, so they just tasted like water. The waitress later confirmed that they like to under-salt the food there. That's the kind of defense I'd expect someone to make for a novice chef. There's no way the same person or team made that dish that made their amazing Pho two years ago.

And yet it was ~$25 for a small bowl of pasta. ALL of the dishes I've had in the last five visits were like that: expensive and underwhelming. I could go to literally any bad Italian restaurant for that deal. In fact, Dovetail reminds me of a generic Italian restaurant now. Just more expensive.

I'm sure they'll continue to get people coming in for cocktails and pizza, or whatever generic uninspired pasta they're serving this month. But whatever they had that made Dovetail Joint special is gone. They clearly can't pull off the flavorful dishes they had in the past, and it's a shame. It used to be my favorite restaurant in the Tri-Cities, but now I wouldn't put it in my top 20.

Someone might read this and get upset that I complain about the prices, but I'll reiterate the core of the issue here: the food just isn't good. And it hasn't been for...

First time coming here, and I will be back. Party of 4 for lunch, and we were seated quickly. Really fun vibe to the place with the open kitchen. We walked in and it smelled amazing. Food was amazing, compliments to the chef. We ordered the Clam Chowder, Fish Taco, Hot Louisiana Chicken Sandwich and Quesadilla.

PROS: Chicken sandwitch was one of the best I've had in a very very long time. Chicken was perfectly cooked, nicely breaded and the 2 sauces in the sandwitch came together really nicely. Also comes with 3 slices of pickles, lettuce and a bowl of crispy salted fries.

Clam Chowder had 6 sautéed clams in a nice white soup with a long toasted baguette. ....the bread was a bit too toasted, even after steeping it in the Chowder it remained very hard...so that's a CON.

Quesadilla....well this one is very different. The tortilla was deep fried, not much cheese and drizzled in a chimmichuri style sauce with guacamole spread on top....not the typical Quesadilla, but still very tasty.

Fish taco was presented very well. A large crispy piece of fish on a homemade tortilla with garnish and sauce. This seemed more like a small plate and I think it would be nice if it came with fries.

BTW....the on tap rootbeer....so flipping good.

We also tried 3 desserts....the lava cake, sorbet and donuts.

Lava cake with vanilla ice cream was very rich but to moist and drizzled of semi sweet cocoa.

Sorbet was smooth and so flavorful with layers of flavor.

The donuts were my favorite! Soft and light and in a Bavarian cream.

Anyways....eat here. Don't think about...

I went here for dinner in the middle of the week. It was busy but not too crowded. We ordered a couple of appetizers (Cesar salad and beets). They were really nice. Although I don't love it when green leafy things are served all giant. It's aesthetically pleasing but sort of awkward to eat. The beet dish has pickled apple in it. It was an interesting flavor profile but with a surprising ripe pear mouth feel. Overall, I liked the flavors of both. My husband ordered gumbo. While I am from New Orleans, I don't eat pork, so I didn't taste it. He said the flavor was good. However, there was a stalky vegetable (mustard greens, perhaps?) that had the "ribs" left in. The result was periodic surprise bits of fibrous plant material. I ordered the chicken sandwich with fries. Here's where things get critical. This was like a sandwich one might get at a fast food place; it was far too greasy. I only ate half (and I'm a big eater). I let my husband take it with him to work the next day. We also ordered chocolate cheesecake. It was delicious, and my husband was eating it like a troll, so I actually didn't get that much of it. Haha. The husband ordered an old fashioned and I had several glasses of Kiona wine. The ambiance is pretty. The waiter (I believe his name was Luis) was exceptional. So friendly and warm, but also prompt and efficient. They better hold on to him! I would definitely go back, but perhaps go the fish taco...