Downtowner Woodfire Grill — Restaurant in Saint Paul

This used to be one of my favorite restaurants. The food, service and value was among the best other restaurants around. There is also complimentary parking in one of two lots. Unfortunately, we had a poor experience there last night. So bad that I'm unsure I will go there again. Perhaps it was a fluke experience given the large parties related to the Final Four, but the entire staff just seemed a bit off and the dining experience for the special event we were celebrating was sullied.

The server was not attentive. It took a long time to even get our orders taken. We had to ask/beg three times before any bread came out. No new silverware was provided or offered after salad/bread, or even after one piece of silverware fell (accidentally) on the ground. The server saw it and still didn't offer new silverware, but seemed perturbed by the situation.

Dishes lingered and were not cleared promptly. Refills on drinks were incredibly slow. A non-dairy/allergy friendly food request was not honored, despite the fact the server indicated it could have been. There was no offer for dessert or after meal drinks, and I believe I know why. When we got up from the table, staff zoomed over to prep the table for another group. It appeared that the restaurant had overlapping reservations.

In two meals, the main dish meat was undercooked to the point a good portion of the dishes were not eaten. No one ever asked us how things were after the good arrived (the server and manager historically do), and it was clear the server was content to extract the obligatory 20% gratuity based on our group size. I have no problem tipping well, but when you get incredibly poor service, particularly for a special event you are celebrating, that's an inappropriate tip amount.

Overall, I really was disappointed with our latest dining experience and how it diminished the special event that we were celebrating. I am hopeful that this was a one time off experience. I am torn on whether to give the restaurant...

The food and atmosphere here is amazing! Came here with a close friend for lunch, and the service was quick and friendly!

I had their Zucchini Corn Chowder (some of the best corn chowder I have ever had with a slight hint of citrus in the broth), a Portobello Mushroom Sandwich (served with crispy fries, my only complaint is that I think strips of zucchini would have been more successful than the discs of zucchini which were quite large and made it a bit challenging to eat all together), a Molten Chocolate Cake ala mode (slightly underwhelming, the cake didn't have a molten center and had a weird texture to it, but the flavor was nice and the ice cream was a very creamy vanilla bean), and a German Chocolate Cake Martini (so strong and flavorful) for desert.

My friend got a half Ceasar salad (small plate was quaint, but easy to push the food off the plate if not careful), the NY Strip dinner (cooked correctly per her order and seasoned well, with garlic mashed potatoes and a grilled veggie kabob), Blackberry Cheesecake (pleasantly sharp blackberry flavor with a cute checkered chocolate drizzle design), and a spiked Grasshopper Ice Cream drink (sweet and delicious) for desert.

This meal was within the $$ price bracket, but well worth it! Our only other complaint was how cramped the bathroom stalls were. The toilet paper box and sanitary bin were poking into our sides and arms, making it a bit difficult to properly move around. But the bathroom was clean and had a nice ambiance with fresh cut roses placed...

Came for a date night with my husband. Specifically selected this spot for the ambiance and we were happy with that. However, the rest of the evening was lackluster. For an appetizer we ordered the crab cakes...while they tasted good, there was no discernable crab. In fact, they tasted more like salmon or crab cakes and were of that texture. For our meals, I ordered the lamb chops which come with mashed potatoes and grilled veggies and my husband ordered the filet of beef tenderloin which also comes with mashed potatoes and grilled veggies. Our meals arrived and the presentation was nice but we both laughed at the "grilled vegetables" which consisted of a skewer with a cherry tomato, a slice of zucchini, and a small bell pepper for each of us...not what one expects when the menu touts grilled vegetables. The mashed potatoes were a very small scoop for each of us and lacked much in the way of the supposed garlic flavoring. I had 6 chops (ordered medium rare) - the 2 smallest were seared but the inside was so rare it was blue, while the thickest chops were well done. Hubby ordered his steak medium rare and it was definitely on the rare side for most of it. All of the meat lacked seasoning - didn't seem like it was salted at all. I've had better steak at Outback. The manager (I think) asked several other tables how things were but didn't stop at our table for some reason. Our waitress also never asked how things were. All in all, a rather...