Taverna Tagaris — Restaurant in Richland

I wanted to take my friend out to celebrate her birthday which happened to fall on her first mother's day. This place was recommended online as being toddler friendly, which was nice because I usually avoid going out to eat with my toddler. We called and made a reservation.

When we showed up, there were a few people at the front desk and one was on the phone. They looked like they were in the middle of handling something, but no one greeted us or told us they'd be with us shortly. After a while, they finally acknowledged us, asked if we had a reservation, and showed us to a table outside. We asked if we could sit at one of three unoccupied tables outside that were more in the shade because the sun was beating down on us, (which I normally wouldn't mind, but with a newborn, baby, and toddler between me and our friends, it wasn't the best option). The host went back to speak to them, but they said all the tables were reserved. We tried to tough it out and all crammed onto one side of the table to get away from the sun. Then we started experiencing strong winds that kept blowing everything off the table (to be expected in the tri). We considered heading next door to another winery so we could sit someone out of the sun and direct wind. The others who were outside when we arrived were in shady spots that weren't getting wind. We ordered a bunch of drinks while holding babies and holding onto our food and drink menus so they wouldn't continuously blow away. We ordered a bit of food, but would have spent more if they had more vegan/vegetarian options for me and my toddler, if our menus weren't being blown away over and over, and the sun wasn't burning us. Our waitress was super kind though which honestly made our whole experience better.

We finally couldn't take it and decided to move inside, which was annoying because we had strollers with us and the place was pretty crammed already. We stuck our stroller near an empty table. The food was good. I really enjoyed the bread because it was made fresh. The pita and hummus were bomb. I also liked the onion rings. My husband said his salad and oysters (he liked whatever they were cooked in) were yummy and our friends enjoyed the steak, flatbread, and other foods they ordered. The drinks were beautiful and yummy. Highly recommend the cotton candy drink and the sangria flute (we ordered two of each). We got some wine to go because the Riesling was sooo good. I never saw anyone sit at the "reserved tables" and it would be nice if they had some reserved signs to let people know. I'm glad we got the waitress that we did because she saved the experience for us and I'd definitely return to this location just for her. She went above and beyond for us and did everything she...

Bizarre and ultra expensive food menu that unsuccessfully tries to combine like 6 different cultures. Maybe the food would be better if they stuck to one food type (maybe Greek, like the rest of the restaurant). The appetizers are decent, but skip the extremely overpriced, strange entree choices. Seasonal cocktails are delicious but cost $16-$20. If you get a cocktail expect to wait- we waited 20+ minutes for them to make us 3 drinks while the restaurant wasn’t even very busy. I ordered a mule which came in the standard copper mug, but they had warped the mug in the dishwasher so it was super wobbly/didn’t stand up straight. The waitress kind of laughed it off/did not offer to get me an alternative cup. You’d expect an $18 drink to be served in a cup that’s not broken. Very cute setting/ambiance inside, super cute for a date, but it’s a little strange that the kitchen is in the middle of the restaurant. Kinda takes you out of the experience that they’re trying to provide when you can see the cooks wiping down the cooking equipment right in front of you with a questionable rag. All of the employees were kind. Service wasn’t horrible but was in no way “good”. We stayed for two hours, eating and drinking the entire time, and our waitress visited our table 4 or 5 times total. Someone in our party asked to speak to the manager to give feedback about the service, and was informed that our waitress was the dining room manager (embarrassing level of service for a manager to provide). We spent nearly $200 for 3 people and expected a lot better service and food at that price point. Overall Tagaris would be a cute choice for a date for one drink before or after dinner at a separate location, but I wouldn’t recommend the food or staying very long. Bookwalter is by far the better choice all around if you’re...

Utterly abysmal service for the price point.

I very much understand the value of a high-service, high-quality dining in order to have a great experience on a rare, special evening with good friends.

Our company paid for a private dining party last night.

The presence of good people made it an amazing and lovely night, but I couldn't help but be supremely disappointed at how horrible the service was and how so-so the food and presentation was (it was fine, but certainly not great by any means).

Tagaris seems to know they have little to no competition or comparison in premium dining regionally—and as a result, the quality that comes from attention to detail and people who care enough about creating a fantastic experience is miles from hitting the target.

All evening, as the staff depended on guests to direct servers to who needed more water or who ordered what drink or to point out that the food they just said was gluten free had bread served on it, I just kept saying in my head: "Don't these people care?" and it made me sad for the Tri-Cities and disappointed that the couple of incredible fine dining experiences I feel so privileged to have been able to have elsewhere are obviously miles from being a possibility here.

What's more, despite our office manager meeting and reviewing the menu in detail to ensure everyone could eat whatever was prepared, several of us in our party who have celiac disease (gluten intolerance) have since suffered with the results of gluten exposure that could only have come from inattentiveness in the preparation...