Soma Grille — Restaurant in Simsbury

It’s a beautiful evening in June - let’s go to SoMa! The young lady who “greeted” us told us there was a wait for an outside table. So we offered our name(twice) to which she didn’t accept, and she told us we could grab a drink at the bar and wait, which we accepted. We waited. For an hour. Patiently. The bartender and servers continued to bark at all the patrons who entered that the outside area was full - as if they were bothered by how many people wanted to dine outside on this beautiful night. We watched people come to the bar, from the dining area, with their glasses in order to get more drinks, to which the bartender also seemed annoyed. Then we watched two couples, who came in after us, get seated at outdoor tables. When I approached the young lady who “greeted” us and questioned why we weren’t seated she told me the owner was seating people and she would have to ask. Seriously? I decided to inquire with the owner (because one would think the owner would want to know when there is an issue) to which she responded - I thought you chose to sit at the bar. I clarified that we stated we would sit at the bar while we waited for a table. Then she proceeded to tell me that we could get a table outside but that the wait for food would be over an hour - again, as if she was bothered by customers choosing to dine in her establishment. Not, an apology or an offer to rectify the situation. Bottom line - yes you have a nice deck with a view, but with mediocre food, rude wait staff and horrible service who the hell cares? Be courteous. Accommodate customers. Don’t make excuses for your shortfalls. Hire a wait staff and bartender that actually like people. Put a hostess stand at the front door, with a sign that says wait to be seated. Make a list of the people waiting for tables and call them accordingly. ...

SoMa Downtown Grill & Café, a charming eatery that specializes in American cuisine with a twist, is located in Phillipsburg, NJ. The address is 62 S. Main Street, hence the name SoMa, which stands for South Main.

SoMa's decor is simple yet elegant enough to match the charm of its owner, Carol who cooked the food that we ordered to perfection! I ordered the Bistro Steak, grilled to a perfect medium rare, was smothered with peppers and onions, and glazed with Korean BBQ sauce. I added a baked potato as a side dish and a salad with Ranch dressing as a starter. My lunch date ordered the mouthwatering Mushroom Swiss Burger, which is the latest addition to their impressive menu.

Carol's son Eddie, who was our server and also the establishment's bartender extraordinaire, was very pleasant, professional and polite. He made sure that everything was great, from the food and drinks we ordered to the lively music that played as we enjoyed our food.

Carol was even nice enough to show us the outdoor bistro in the back, even though it's already closed during the colder months. Their outside dining area, which is large and can accommodate a nice-sized party, has an awesome view of the Delaware river, and the train tracks that ran just outside of their establishment, all for the enjoyment of their customers while they dined in the summer months.

All in all, our dining experience at SoMa exceeded our expectations, especially after meeting and talking to the owners of this fine establishment who gave us their personal touch in excellent customer...

We had a very nice waiter and the food was delicious. However it was the small details that made this a not very enjoyable night. We had reservations to sit on the patio and were given a table that was placed on a sloping portion of the patio. This made the chairs sit at an angle which made sitting uncomfortable and we finally propped up the table leg to keep it from wobbling constantly. We asked to be moved since there were quite a few empty tables there but were told that was impossible since all the tables were reserved. Two of those tables remained empty for the entire time we were there. The food was delicious but took a long time arriving. This would not be a problem except that we had requested no vegetables and extra cheese in the pasta. The kitchen could not make a cheese sauce or an alfredo sauce so we tried to tweak the pasta order to make it something our child would eat. The order came out as the regular vegetable pasta filled with bits of roasted vegetables. When we sent it back since our child with sensory issues would not eat it, the kitchen sent out penne with what tasted like a very basic jarred sauce and no cheese. It could be that modifying a recipe is not appreciated here or that the chef was just frazzled and wanted to get the food out to us as soon as possible. Either way, it was disappointing. The live music was great and, had it just been adults, we would probably have been fine. Again, our server was great and did his best but we will not...