Fable & Fire - A Bookshop Bistro — Restaurant in Rockwall

Went here about a year ago and it was so delicious… talked it up so much to everyone and could not wait to go back… unfortunately returned today and it was probably the worst restaurant experience I’ve had in a long time. I would say they were having a bad day but as someone who’s been in the food business a long time, it was the service that was so awful! I can usually give people a break but they weren’t even busy 🤦🏻‍♀️

First, I asked the waiter for teas for all of us and ordered the spinach dip to start. He came back with water and said the tea was brewing. We ordered and he acted like he couldn’t care less, didn’t write a thing down. I should’ve known then it wasn’t going to come out right. The spinach dip came out and had only 4 little pieces of toast for a big skillet of dip. I asked for more of the toast but that didn’t come. We got our food and my sister in law’s came out fine. My mom has an allergy to dairy so we ordered the chicken sandwich to share with pesto & cheese on the side and add some lettuce and pickles. Seems simple. The sandwich was brought out wrong so they had to remake that. We were still waiting on the kids food. A waitress brought our sandwich out fixed and basically laughed at us “here’s your build your own sandwich” in a sassy manner…. Okay 🤔 rude and then our waiter finally brought us our “teas”… or water with a drop of brown food coloring. And oh there’s no ice… these were $4 each by the way… the manager noticed the kids were stirring and asked what we were waiting on and we said the kids food. The waiter comes over and said what did they get… seriously?? The adults are almost done eating! The manager tries to make up for the mistakes bringing us more toast for our spinach dip finally even though we’re done eating. Pickles for our sandwich which we were done with and then finally they brought the kids flatbread. Food was fine but not worth the hassle and definitely not worth $16/plate. Could have went down the street to the Mexican food place and got great service, good tea and probably a better price too. And even after the manager saw the kids food came out so late when we’re basically ready to go he didn’t offer a comp or anything. Very disappointing, I’ve been looking forward to going back there for a long time. Now I will never be back and will spread the word that I was wrong and not to eat at Fable and...

My husband and I are new to the Rockwall area, and we happened upon this place while we were downtown.

The vibe is Brooklyn-hipster-cool -- lots of interesting books, loft-like space, high ceilings and a ton of character. So I give it high marks for the atmosphere. But it stops there. I don't like to give negative reviews, but after a disappointing lunch experience (pricy, too -- almost $40 with tip), I wanted to share our experience.

We really wanted to like this place, but the food - and the wait time for the food (on a Tuesday) - was where it fell short.

My husband ordered the Peach BBQ burger, and I ordered a BLAT (bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado sandwich). There was a considerable wait time from when we ordered our food to when it came out (almost 30 minutes - that's a lot of wait time for lunch).

When our server brought out my sandwich, it looked like it sat under a heat lamp for some time. The "toast" was flaccid, and there was no discernable avocado - I expected sliced avocado, but it was mashed up and spread on the bread, which made the toast super soggy). The bacon looked like strips of dried out beef jerky - it wasn't crispy like bacon should be. It almost tasted like it was leftover bacon that was microwaved. The whole thing looked so unappetizing that I asked the server to send it back to the kitchen for a re-do. She brought out a replacement in under 5 minutes, and it didn't look any different than the one I sent back. The bacon was overcooked and hard as a rock, along with the same soggy-toast-with-avocado mash, and a small amount of tomato. It was, hands-down, the worst BLT (or BLAT) I ever had in my life. And for $13 all I could choke down from this meal were the decent fries.

Also, a small thing to note about the service - we had to ask every time for our water glasses to be refilled. The service here is not what I would call "intuitive" - as in, pay attention to water refills. It's not a huge thing, but something worth mentioning. That's the difference between good and great service, in my opinion.

My husband's burger was done to medium-rare, and was reasonably tasty, so there's that.

We both agreed that Fable & Fire won't be on our repeat list. I might consider going back there to meet up with friends for a coffee, but that's it. What a disappointment - but hey, it's...

Come for the ambience..stay for the ambience! I love the bookstore/bistro setting. The hanging greenery, comfy settees and serene patio are lovely. I enjoyed the chill playlist and ample wine/beer/cocktail menu. A+ The food leaves much to be desired. My meal consisted of:

corn fritters: overcooked (burnt) and bland. The whole corn kernels were falling out of the fritter, so at times it was difficult to get a whole bite (with the corn). The jalapeno crema was the star. I informed the waiter that they were burnt and he mentioned that he would tell the cook "the oil probably needs to be changed". They should have been taken off the bill, but of course they weren't. I didn't push the issue, but will keep this in mind IF I return.

fable burger: the burger patty completely lacked any flavor. The toppings are ample, but unfortunately it became difficult to eat because it completely fell apart. The tomato and lettuce were at the bottom, so it made the bottom bun soggy.

apple fritters: quite an interesting dish as the fritter was like fried muffin. Nice, fried cinnamon goodness on the outside but the inside was a muffin consistency with apple pieces. The pieces tasted slightly softened, but not cooked like they are in traditional fritters/pies/etc. Weird, but generally good. Also, the menu said they were served with ice cream. NOPE! It was served with a thin layer of sauce, that appeared similar to melted ice cream.

The apple "fritters' ' and my beer were the best part of the meal. Underwhelming. Good portion sizes for the price, but I can't justify $50+ (before tip) for lackluster tasting food. I didn't finish anything I ordered (except the beer and glass of water).

Something that erked me was that my waiter brought the bill WHILE I WAS EATING. He didn't ask if I was ready for it, if I wanted to order anything additional, nor did I ask for it. That's actually quite rude. I purposely didn't mention anything about customer service because it was average/neutral.

UPDATE: Management reached out immediately after I posted this review (today, 6/6) claiming to have contacted me. My first (and only other review, posted) was posted on Yelp. I have no messages on Yelp (or anywhere else), from Fable...