Ember & Vine — Restaurant in Texas

I had been wanting to visit this establishment for quite a while. Sadly, it did not live up to my expectations.

We chose to go here for our 11th wedding Anniversary. They asked if when I made the reservation if we were celebrating anything and I told them it was our anniversary. They never mentioned it or asked while we were there.

For starters..

My husband ordered the tomato bisque and I ordered the French Onion soup. The tomato bisque was super salty and I like salt and seasoning, but this was too much. My French Onion soup had a good flavor, but the bread / crouton inside of it was super chewy and hard to eat. I have had the same soup at other restaurants and never had it so chewy.

Our Entrees...

My husband ordered the Ribeye with prosciutto wrapped asparagus. He enjoyed the ribeye, it was cooked to his liking. It felt it was seasoned well. There was no special sauce or glaze offered with it which was a bit of a disappointment for a fine restaurant. He said it liked it as much as Texas Roadhouse. He definitely didn't feel it was worth the price. The asparagus absorbed the juices from the steak on top of it and he thought it tasted really good.

I ordered the award winning short ribs. This is the main reason we came here because I love a good short rib. The portion size was small compared to what I've had in the past, but if they taste gourmet it's worth it. Basically it tasted like a tender pot roast. The reduction sauce on top was incredibly salty and amidst inedible. When I go to a fine restaurant I am going for the special sauces with all the flavors melded together that take it to another level. Nothing like that here. I also got a few veggies that were all hard and flavorless.

For Dessert...

We ordered the carrot cake and bread pudding. The cake was dry, but we really liked the buttercream. It was light and fluffy, not too heavy or full of sugar. The bread pudding was delicious and not too sweet.

The service was good and the staff was freindly. No one came by to ask if everything was good.

The actual building was cute and quaint..just wish the good matches the atmosphere.

After spending over $100 for the two of us, we will...

Terrible lunch, first time going, did not know what to expect (party of 13). We got there 15 min early, which was not an issue. He came around and took our drink order, good so far. After getting our drinks, bringing extra straws and fulfilling a lemon request for water. We finally requested some appetizers since it was not offered. By time we got our appetizers, placed our order for food, over an hour had gone by. It's not as if the place was packed either. The waiter seemed to be the only one doing everything, including cooking the food (it would seem because of the delay). So everyone gets their food on two different trays but me, he brings another tray out and it's everyone side salad. I said "excuse me" where is my food, he says it coming up. I wait for what is suppose to be a panini, and instead was a piece of toasted bread (not grilled looking bread like a panini), which was also missing the sun dried tomatoes (I'll eat it instead of waiting). I also ordered fries, which he did not bring ketchup, I had to request it, so instead of putting ketchup in tiny serving container like my friends had, he plops a no named brand ketchup bottle in front of me. My friend ordered the short rib quesadilla, which looked more like a birra taco, another friend ordered the fish taco, it was salmon, would have been better with white fish like most fish tacos. Friend said the fish taco was spicy and could not even taste the fish. Terrible service all around, first and last time going, would not recommend. Maybe dinner...

The place itself is nice and we are a large group of realtors who get together once a month and decided to try this place out but will never go back and surely never recommend it.😡🤬

Prior to going I called to make sure that there was an ouside patio where some of our guys could smoke cigars and I was assured that there was not a problem I was even told that the owner himself enjoys sitting outside and smokes his cigars.

My Broker and husband had just lid their very expensive cigars when 5 minutes later a manager approached my broker and told him he needed to put out their cigars because people were complaining.

We complained and said we were here first and we were told that we could smoke out here and they had even brought us an ash tray so why couldn't the only 2 couples who were complaining move inside.

They moved our table out to the grassy area which we agreed to move and went on having fun when again this time the GM approached us and said we had to put out our cigars that he had people walking out..Really there was noone else there except for those 2 couples..at that point we were furious and paid our tab and left.

So at the end it doesn't matter how great the place is if management sucks and dont have a clue as to how to accommodate their guests.

So Mr. Owner this question is for you.. is it a smoking place or isn't it..or does it depend on who...