Palmer's Restaurant Bar & Courtyard — Restaurant in San Marcos

We reserved a private room for my daughter's graduation brunch Friday. We started working with the events coordinator, Morgan, a couple months prior. She was very helpful in the planning stages. We had the room for 3 hours. The first half was a brunch for 20, with mimosa flights, as well as open bar options available for guests. Once the meal was over, things were to be quickly rearranged for an additional 15+ guests and we'd have party platters, and mimosa flights..Sounded wonderful!! When we arrived I learned we would only have 1 server for all of this! Tate was amazing, but it was too much for one person! Palmers didn't have anyone helping to even bus tables for her. The event person Morgan showed up and was extremely rude. At one point I went to the front and asked the host if there was a manager on duty. I was going to see if there was someone that could help us remove our dirty brunch plates since our new guests had arrived. I guess it was told to Morgan that I had asked for a manager (who never came). Morgan came in, looking upset, interrupted my conversation with party guests and told me, "You need to come with me. We need to have a talk!" like I was in trouble! We were taken aback, to say the least. This girl then tried to scold me and tell me this wasn't what was discussed. My daughter happened to come out and nicely remind her of everything that was discussed. Shockingly, I kept my cool and wasn't rude back. Our guests weren't able to order drinks during the brunch, there weren't available glasses, I was clearing dirty plates, rearranging the tables, and trying to be understanding. I realize it was a busy day for them, but if they're charging $2,100+, please have more than one person to a party of 35! I was overcharged for the bread baskets. They never brought out the cheese platter, the mimosa flights were constantly empty and I kept having to request more. I was charged for cake plates, but I didn't need any; I had my own. There was an additional charge for using a credit card, which should have been told to me. When it was over and I finally saw a manager, I learned we fell short of our minimum by $600. I shared I wasn't happy, and if Tate had help, I wouldn't be giving Palmer's an extra $600 for nothing.. He didn't offer to fix the bill, but he at least found 12 bottles of wine to help make up a lot of the shortage. (Not a wine drinker, but better than nothing.) Overall, Tate was fantastic! Not sure how she handled everything she did! If not for her it would have been a disaster. Morgan- unbelievably rude and...

I'm not sure where to start here; based on other reviews you'd think we were at completely different restaurants. I'll begin with the conclusion: both my partner and I were in gastronomical distress when we got home.

When we arrived (party of 4), we waited 45 minutes for a table even though we had called ahead (we learned reservations and call aheads are not the same here). However, we were told we could order something at the bar and sit outside while we waited which was nice. It was at this point that we realized they must be extremely short staffed, getting 2 drinks took about 25 minutes.

After we were finally seated, the service was really slow. I don't think it was Clay's fault, I think they were just spread thin across too many tables. It took about 15 minutes to get my drink and about 20 to get our water refilled. They were 'out' of chicken fried steak (which I found odd; what could they be out of? It is made of very simple ingredients...) so 3/4 of the party had to order something else.

I had the Stringtown Chicken and my partner had the Ribeye. For the sides, we both had the mashed potatoes and she had a salad and I had green beans.

My chicken had a good flavor combination but the crust was entirely sogged out, and it was not cooked evenly across the cutlet. My green beans were undercooked and the mashed potatoes were underseasoned. Portion was a bit small (common across the dishes but such is 'fine' dining).

My partner's ribeye was the real issue. Even after sending it back (for having dark red interior, she asked for it medium) it returned very chewy, no change to the exterior browning, and cold inside. The bar manager swears it was not microwaved when sent back but I'm skeptical. Furthermore it was gravely underseasoned; it was clear it wasn't appropriately salted before it was cooked. It was inedible to the point of having to take her somewhere else for dinner after we left.

There's more to be said but really it doesn't affect the conclusion. Maybe we caught an extremely off night but there is simply no excuse for an error this massive at a restaurant in such a high price bracket and status.

Now for the good things: One of the drinks was good, the patio & decor was nice, and the side salads were fine. The bar manager took the inedible ribeye off the tab and said she'd talk to the kitchen staff with the feedback.

We will certainly not be...

First time guest. Sat in the bar area. Andrew was our bartender/server.

We usually try to visit upscale nice restaurants on our Sunday outings. Palmer's did not disappoint.

Andrew made some great recommendations for our meals. We had the 3 egg omelette with crawfish, variety of veggies and hollandaise sauce. Potatoes, crispy bacon that was probably the most perfect and flavorful that I have had in a long time. Only complaint was the potatoes were not hot. But I could actually overlook that minor issue because they tasted so good even at room temperature. We had a salad with the vinegarette dressing which was a nice surprise if flavor. I'm not a crouton eater but these must have been house made they were so good. Not sure they were but I was surprised. We also had the pancakes that were the closest to homemade. They weren't full of artificial flavor or vanilla extract to cover the cheap taste. They were so good you could eat them without butter or syrup. (Well to be honest I need the syrup but my wife didn't.) I do like to relax and enjoy a few drinks as well. I tried a variety of drinks from the Apricot buck, Mimosa and a Bee string. They were all good. My next visit I plan on a few other of my favorites. The juice is fresh squeezed and they infuse a variety of about 7-9 flavors of vodka. Something new for me was the flavor infused ice balls.

The atmosphere was comfortable and cool walking in but as the day continued the room felt warm. I'm sure due to the customers and the door to the courtyard being used.

One plus for me was that the owner/manager Monte and Kyle visited the table. We were welcomed and asked how our dinning experience was going today. You could tell from the conversation and the true concern they were interested in our visit.

I look forward to next trip.

This was truly an A+ experience in dinning. I already look forward to my next visit. Probably later this week or Friday for the early hours.

We did have a slow Sunday so hung around for a little bit. I think the bartender got a little frustrated but it not like it was overly crowded and we were taking up another customer tip.

Sorry if that was the issue but overall it was a good time

Even though you may say not the case. Sometimes reading...