The Wild Rose — Restaurant in South Jordan

We ate here for mothers day and it turned out to be one of the biggest culinary disasters I’ve ever experienced.

My wife and I ordered the scallops for the appetizer and the surf and turf main course. The Scallops were acceptable, although tiny, overcooked and barely warm when they arrived. Between the appetizer and main course our waiter informed us that something went wrong with our order in the kitchen and the meal would be just a bit longer. This was already after waiting 20 minutes between courses and already having finished the glass of wine that I asked to be delivered with my main course.

10 minutes later the dishes finally arrived, barely warm and destroyed. Both of the filet mignons were dry. After cutting into them, there are no juices flowing from either steak. We both ordered medium rare and this was a huge red flag for us. One bite told the story, they were nearly cold and actually difficult to eat because they were so dry. I took one bite and sent mine back immediately. My wife choose to eat hers because she was starving and didn't feel like waiting. She just choked it down with water. My second steak was prepared perfectly. It was hot, juicy and delicious. The shrimp on the other hand were destroyed. Completely overcooked and horribly rubbery.

Now for my son's meal. Unspeakable. He ordered the Pasta Carbonara. It arrived barely warm and from the moment it hit the table it wasn't right. It was visibly sticky and dry. It honestly looked like it was prepared by a 12 year old who overcooked his boxed mac & cheese. The smell was horrible, like mildew or something rotten. The pasta was overcooked and inedible. He took one bite and was so disgusted that we called the whole meal.

We informed our waiter that we could not finish the meal and asked for some consideration for our experience. To their credit, they comped the entire meal, short of drinks, but the damage was done. It was such an awful culinary experience I highly doubt we'll ever return. If they hadn't comp'd the entire meal, I would have granted 1 star for the experience.

In general, the restaurant is tired and lacks the character that you’d expect for a restaurant of this caliber. Across the board, the staff is not well trained and management takes no interest in the quality of the food being served as our experience was atrocious.

Ken Rose should be ashamed of this restaurant...

For a normal night out, I'd probably give the Wild Rose a 4 or 5 star rating - but our Valentine's Day experience was not worthy of that. The food at the Wild Rose is almost always 5 stars from every time we've dined. However, the Valentine's Day experience felt more like extortion - the owners knew they could charge an arm and a leg more for this special day, and they did so with $85 per person + optional $35 wine pairing. With that, you get a shared appetizer, small plate salad, entrée, and shared dessert. On a normal day, this would have been a $100 meal for the two of us. On Valentine's Day, it was $170. Pair it with a couple cocktails and a tip, and our meal was north of $225. For $225, I expect a LOT more than what we got, which is why it really comes down to the owner's taking advantage of men on this holiday. Other than an outrageously high price, there was no additional value provided. No Valentine's decorations. No Valentine's food theme. Nothing, but a whopper of a bill and a smiling owner taking hoards of money to the bank.

The price was emblazoned at the top of the menu, and once my wife saw that, she couldn't get comfortable with the experience for the rest of the night. The waitress we had was very nice, but as with most folks who work here, they are mid-tier in their service abilities. They say and do all the right things, but have very little awareness of their guests - which is what separates the service here from a truly posh restaurant. The waitress interrupted our conversation probably 15 times to drop off food and ask how we are doing. An experienced waitress would observe the diners, wait for a pause in their engagement with each other, then politely interrupt with the service they are providing.

Last, the menu did not have a single non-meat option - this is a very meat-heavy restaurant. Both the selection of appetizers and entrees were completely meat based. That may work for a lot of diners, but for those of us who prefer whole food plant base meals, there was no alternative provided. All 5-star restaurants I've visited besides Wild Rose have at least one non-meat dish on the menu.

Unfortunately, this experience left a bad impression in me that I don't think I'll return, even for non-holiday dining. I don't like feeling taken advantage of, and since that's what happened, I'll find other places to...

I gave this place an overall rating of 3 because we were disappointed in the food quality for the price. The presentation is wonderful, but the preparation was a little off. We started with a "seared" ahi appetizer special. The ahi did appear to be seared, but based on the temperature, it seems to have been seared hours before and chilled down. It would have been much better if the ahi was seared right before the appetizer was served. While we waited we enjoyed a couple small loaves of complementary sourdough bread with a sweet cinnamon whipped butter which was excellent. Susan enjoyed the house chopped Romain salad with blue cheese, bacon, and grapes. I opted for the Caesar which was a heart of Romain topped with roasted peppers, accompanied by a crostini toast instead of the typical croutons. I was excited for the toast, but it was cold, as if the salad had been prepared a few hours before and had sat in a fridge with the toast on the plate waiting to be served. Between courses, we cleared our pallet with a complementary lime sherbet. Nice touch. Susan enjoyed the tenderloin which was very good. I regretfully ordered the shrimp scampi in hopes that it would match my fond memories of scampi from the East Coast. No such luck. The large jumbo shrimp were very dense and chewy, indicative of being frozen prior to preparation. The scampi sauce was thin and not very full of flavor. Scampi is supposed to be olive oil, butter, garlic, and white wine. It should be rich, not watery. Overall, the atmosphere and service were great. I'm rating this restaurant on a scale with other restaurants that cost as much. Utah has a dearth of fine dining options. Every once in a while you want to go to a place where you don't feel like cattle. The Wild Rose is one of those places. The atmosphere is top notch for a place in a strip mall. Unfortunately, the window seats overlook a parking lot. But it's white tablecloths, a wine selection on display, and good lighting that give it a sophisticated feeling. The service was good. We were very well taken care of until we finished eating, then it was a long wait for the desert check and the bill. This is a common issue for restaurants. The food missed the mark at the Wild Rose...