Serendipity at the Orange Door — Restaurant in Somerset

Had dinner on a Saturday night. This business has been in Somerset for a while, but only opened at this new location recently and this was the first time I'd ever eaten at the establishment at all. Staff are very friendly, and at least on this particular evening there were plenty of them. That said, most did not seem to be doing anything of any real use, and while the restaurant was not busy, there were definitely things that needed attention. The floor needed to be swept and tables cleaned, as my own had not been wiped down thoroughly before I was seated; it was gritty and there were small pieces of food on the edge opposite me. The knife in my silverware was dirty, and appeared that the water it was washed in was not hot enough as it had a greasy film. Kitchen is open and can be observed from the dining area and while I didn't see anything of immediate concern, the floor there was also dirty. My waitress was pleasant and made sure my drink was refilled and that I had clean plates, and did sweep the floor near me, but two others stood nearby and discussed literature while doing little else. I guess my concern here, really, is lack of managerial direction which can be an underlying cause of bigger concerns that may not be immediately apparent. The decor is sparse and appears that it was mainly sourced from the local Hobby Lobby. There is nothing wrong with this per se, and what decor is on display is nice, there just isn't much and the space seems rather bare. The restaurant suffers from a lack of an identity as it's aiming for home-cooked, classic/southern American, but the host was wearing a suit while the waitresses were in simple all black outfits and the music was Frank Sinatra? I found the dining room to just be "cold." Simple, plain tablecloths and maybe centerpieces on the tables would go a long way and these are neither expensive or hard to implement. Maybe it's because they have not been in this location for long, I'm not sure. The hot bar and salad or cold bar are separate prices which I found incredibly odd, especially as if you were to option both the total would be near $20 (there is some confusion on my part as I'm not totally sure how much the waitress said it was...I believe it to be $15 for the hot bar and another $5 for cold) and the value simply isn't there. A separate dessert is $6. The highlight for the hot bar on this evening was definitely the fried chicken as it was very moist, cooked perfectly, and seasoned well. The brown sugar ham lacked any real flavor at all. Vegetables were fine, nothing to write home about, and the biscuits were room temperature and very close to being burned. I avoided the white gravy completely as I'm not entirely sure what I would have eaten it with other than maybe on the biscuit but it was very lumpy and simply did not look appetizing. All of this adds up to a very average experience. Nothing overall stands out, but there was nothing objectionable either. I did glance over the actual menu that was available and prices there seemed reasonable and I would definitely explore that option on a repeat visit. More needs to be done here as well as on social media they advertise nightly specials but these are not on the menu, I did not seem them advertised in the restaurant, and they were not explained to me by the host or the waitress. I struggle with giving the restaurant 3 stars or 4, as it really isn't bad.....it also just really isn't great. If you're in the area and want to support a local business there simply aren't a lot of choices when it comes to casual dining other than about 15 tex-mex locations, and the owners have the potential to build this into something that could really pull people in. But to do so they have to compete with somewhere like Cracker Barrel, and for the money I would have better food there. My total for the hot bar, soda, and tip was $20.94. Trips to the hot bar are unlimited, which does help offset the price to an extent, but your options are only two proteins, a bread, and...

Stopped in for lunch during on a weekday. I was very excited to try the tomato soup after reading all the positive reviews. I was beyond disappointed to find that it tasted like Campbell's canned tomato soup, with canned diced tomatoes and a sprinkle of olive oil and dried basil on top. Not even fresh basil. The diced tomato overwhelmed the soup, probably to stretch it further, and I ended up not eating more than a couple of bites.

I got the reuben sandwich. It was grilled fine, but the meat was cut too thick for my liking, with way too much sauerkraut on it. Not nearly enough dressing to compensate for the amount of kraut. If there was Swiss, I didn't see or taste it.

Friend got a club sandwich and the house chips. I didn't try the sandwich but was told it was delicious, and I did try a chip and it was delicious as well.

Service was fine if a bit slow for how empty the place was. Ladie's restroom was clean but friend said the toilet in the men's room was backed up and full. Not something you want to see or smell before eating.

I understand this probably passes for good eating in a small town but judging by the pictures from reviews, they rely heavily on prepackaged and prepared foods. Things I could literally buy at the grocery store for a 1/3 of the price and reheat myself, or in the case of the loaf cake, simply take out of the plastic container.

Its a cute place and I'm sure they have other good menu items, but I...

We visited this restaurant over the weekend based on recommendation from friends who had spoken highly of the food and atmosphere. We arrived around 7:30 PM, well before the posted closing time of 9:00 PM, and opted for the soup, salad, and hot bar offerings.

While the salad was acceptable, the soup unfortunately had an unpleasant taste reminiscent of dishwater, and the potatoes from the hot bar were discolored—dark brown to nearly black on the inside—suggesting they had been sitting out for an extended period. It was apparent that all the items on the hot bar had not been refreshed throughout the day.

The hostess was almost laughing each time she visited our table, almost like she knew what we were getting into.

Rather than raise concerns after having already eaten part of the meal, we chose to pay and leave quietly. However, it was disappointing to see staff begin shutting down early due to a lack of customers, including cleaning the grills while we were still dining. This filled the dining area with smoke.

Regrettably, our visit did not reflect the positive feedback we had received. The quality of the food and the overall dining environment fell short of expectations, and we hope this feedback encourages improvements for...