Abigail's Grille and Wine Bar — Restaurant in Simsbury

A pleasant time in early October seated outside for a birthday celebration dinner for three. Our friend got there first so he ordered a wedge of iceberg salad and a margarita before my arrival with my partner. Once seated, we tried two specialty cocktails, a Mulberry Fizz martini and a Brandy Alejandro. The Fizz was too sweet for me so I switched to a Cucumber Martini with Hendricks. The brandy drink was a nice blend of cognac and Crème de Cacao.

We shared an order of stuffed mushrooms, and I asked for two cherry stone clams as the only one at our table who liked to eat raw fish. The clams were fresh and tender with a hint of the sea and were my favorite dish of all. The mushrooms had nothing compelling or displeasing about them. Our knowledgeable server brought us three house dinner rolls as we studied the menu longer.

Deciding we all wanted beef, we ordered a bottle of French Burgundy to pair with our meals after some discussion. Full bodied, smoky and distinct it was the right choice. Our friend chose the 14 oz. Prime NY Strip with chilled garlic herb butter, and a baked potato and spinach. I chose the center-cut filet mignon at 8 oz. with the classic veal demi-glace, parmesan fries and spinach, and my partner chose a surf and turf special which consisted of three stuffed shrimp and 4 oz. of steak with a baked potato and Brussel sprouts. For the price, I can't say the beef was memorable. No complaints, it's just that I remember a really good steak when I eat one. My two dining companions thought the same.

Of all the dessert options, we chose Crème Brûlée to share. An accompanying birthday candle was set in a spray of whipped cream. The cappuccino martini that came with dessert was sweet with a punch.

Though overall this historic tavern turned restaurant will give you a four star, even five star meal, for me as a diner since it was a Chart House, and for older friends and family since it was Pettibone's Tavern into the 1970's, the recent lunch I'm reviewing here gets three stars.

The best things we ordered were our martinis and the parmesan fries that came with our meals. Our P.E.I. Mussels Poulette appetizer had a nice accompanying creamy broth, but five or six of the shells were sealed shut, so we put them aside out of caution. The mussels we had were small but tender.

The house rolls have a nice look, browned with butter and seasoned, but they are a little dense and dry.

Our two sandwiches, the Philly Cheese Steak and the Lobster Salad Croissant, came to the table with completely different presentations in terms of visual appeal. Interestingly, one came out looking plain, and the other extravagant, but in terms of taste, the winner was the one lacking in terms of plating. The eye-popping plate, the lobster salad croissant, had almost no taste to it at all.

This Philly Cheese Steak sandwich has to be eaten with a knife and fork because it's served on a warm cheesy sauce that soaks the bun. Once assembled, it all melds together and is just delicious.

Still experimenting with different restaurants take and quality of lobster rolls, this lobster salad croissant surprised me in how lacking in flavor it was despite finishing half of it. The most prominent ingredient was the avocado. The lettuce and tomato were the next most detectable. Those accompaniments are better with a hearty meaty burger that stands out on its own, even though, this is not the traditional roll with melted butter.

The croissant was dry and cool. It would benefit from warming or toasting to freshen it up. The portion of lobster is a good size but lost for the reasons noted here. As a side, the parmesan fries are luscious. Light as a feather on the inside, but still with a crispy crunch from the tasty parmesan batter they are fried in.

Around 2010, this is the only place that ever made me think I could actually eat a well-done steak. Juicy and packed with flavor, the perfect sear and texture, the filet didn't need pink to be outstanding...

A friend and I went to Abigails Monday evening. We were seated in a room and originally seated directed across From another family. Aware of the social distancing Protocol set in place, I asked the hostess to please move us away from the one family that was seated in the dining room to provide at least 6 feet between us. She readily complied. As we were served at started to eat our meal, The hostess seated 4 additional Groups in the same small dining area all within a close proximity to one another. My friend and I felt suffocated by all the guests at the surrounding tables And asked to speak to the manager to bring his attention to the situation. When I explain to the manager what was happening and expressed that I wanted to leave, his one and only response was, “ I made a good point”. He did not offer to compensate us in anyway other than to move our table. Even though we only ate half of our meal and left a whole bottle of wine my friend and I chose to leave because clearly the manager did not care about the position we were placed in. Anxious to get out, we left the restaurant and did not pay. We called the local police department to let them know and gave them our names and addresses as it was never our intention to skip the bill. The manager chased us into the parking lot and asked for the money. We asked him to please call the Simsbury Police Department so we could rectify the situation. We were never unwilling to pay, we just wanted acknowledgment of the risk they put us in. We followed up with a call to the local health department Who paid a visit to the restaurant and indeed found, they were noncompliant and had seated us in a table that should’ve been blocked off. We also left a message for the general manager of the restaurant to give us a call so we could explain what happened and settle on the bill. Instead of getting the general manager, one of the owners had the audacity to call claiming to be a manager it said nothing more than you owe us money. He was not in the least bit interested In how we felt or how we were treated and only wanted his compensation Today I posted a very honest review of our experience and what had transpired. As a regular patron of this restaurant for many years, I was further out raged to receive a call from the Simsbury police department stating the owner expected compensation. After hearing our story, he encouraged me to speak to the manager, john for resolve. John was kind and although he seem to understand where we were coming from he had to differ to the owner who insisted on full payment, or a compromise of paying half the bill if I removed a yelp review. Imagine that? I explained to John that the review was honest that it wasn’t false or misleading and I would not remove the post unless the owner assumed responsibility for the dinner we didn’t even eat with some kind of apology for putting me and my friend at risk. He would not budge. With that I decided to pay the bill in full to be the bigger person, however I will not let this matter rest. Shame on the owner for not caring about a long-standing patron who has spent thousands of dollars on events & dinners over the years. I will never frequent their restaurant/s again! This group should not be in business! My Heart goes out to the general manager whose hands were tied in resolving this matter. For the sake of keeping his job I paid the bill so he didn’t get nailed with it, but they can trust I will not let this matter rest. Abigails shame on you for your non compliance and for not doing the right thing. I hope Governor Lamont ( after confirming with the health dept you were indeed non compliant ) shuts you down and slaps you with...

Took my wife out to dinner the other night. We had made reservations and were seated and what I called the main dining room. We were properly seated and started looking at the menus and it was a good 5 to 7 minutes before anyone came over and asked us about what we might like to drink before dinner. Admittedly, we were there a little bit early slightly before 5 o’clock. Perhaps that had something to do with it. Nevertheless, we looked at the menu and then waited for our server to return. She asked if we would like some bread and we of course, said yes. our drinks were delivered to us along with the bread in a reasonable amount of time. We had high hopes that the bread would be soft and warm and flavorful. It was neither. It was almost as if it was yesterday‘s bread, pressing on we placed our order once our server returned. I ordered French onion soup and the lobster and pasta dish. My wife ordered the half of a roasted chicken dinner. Our dinners arrived in a timely fashion and were served courteously. I ordered French onion soup and the lobster and pasta dish. My wife ordered the half of a roasted chicken dinner. Our dinners arrived in a timely fashion and were served courteously. I Immediately dug into my French onion soup, hoping for a wonderful taste experience. It was not! Very little care went into the soup. Flavor similar to beef bouillon is the only thing I can think of. Little cheese, barely roasted, and a couple of croutons. I tried my pasta with lobster dish and it was OK, not spectacular. Just OK. The flavor of the sauce was too strong for lobster. and then turned to my wife and asked her how her meal was. She Said it was OK. A little dry. It was served with a side of mashed potatoes and spinach. Both were uneventful. The spinach had no flavoring and the potatoes were run of the mill. Our expectations of having a great meal at a local restaurant were not met. We had been there many times before and always had a great meal. SOMTHING HAS CHANGED !Anyhow, we got our leftovers to go and decided that we would need to think twice before returning. Later that night I tried my wife’s chicken and thought to myself I’ve had better roasted chickens from a local grocery store. It was dry. And had very little flavor. Anyhow, to sum it all up. I think Abigail‘s Has lost its charm as a place to go for great food...