Fielding's Local Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in The Woodlands

Date of Visit: October 16, 2024 Location: Fielding's Local @ Creekside Village Park Center, 26400 Kuykendahl Rd. Contacted Personnel: General Manager Sebastiano

Summary of Experience:

On October 16, 2024, I visited Fielding's Local @ Creekside with my family to celebrate my mother's birthday. Despite the special occasion, our experience was disappointing due to both food quality issues and inadequate management response. Here are the specific concerns:

Quality of Food:

• Our family ordered three different types of steaks, and each one arrived either overcooked, excessively salty, and/or burnt, rendering the meals unenjoyable. Given the reputation of Fielding's Local, this level of quality was unexpected and unacceptable.

Difficulty in Reaching Management:

I attempted to contact a manager multiple times before finally speaking with the general manager, Sebastiano. During our conversation, he spoke to me in a dismissive tone, treating my concerns as though they were unimportant. Since then, I have left several messages hoping to discuss the issue with the owner, but these messages have gone unanswered, which further demonstrates a lack of commitment to customer satisfaction.

Dining Experience Affected by Poor Service:

If when my mother's steak would have to be sent back to the kitchen, it would created an awkward situation where she would be left without food while the rest of us had to either eat without her or wait for her replacement meal. By the time her food would return, our meals would be cold, which further detracted from the enjoyment of the celebration. When I raised this with Sebastiano, his response was dismissive. He stated, "that's your mother; there should be no embarrassment," which felt inappropriate and out of touch with the discomfort his response caused.

Delayed and Inadequate Resolution:

• I called once again a few days ago to follow up, and Sebastiano informed me that the owner was aware of the issue. However, more than two weeks have passed since my initial attempt to reach a resolution, and I still have not received any response or indication that the restaurant intends to make amends.

Requested Resolution:

Given the disappointing experience, I believe it would be reasonable for Fielding's Local to acknowledge the issues we encountered and offer a goodwill gesture in recognition of the inconvenience caused. I have been a loyal customer and have invested significant money at Fielding's Local, and I find the lack of response and resolution deeply...

Fieldings Local is a self-described "eco-friendly" restaurant and bar that locally sources sustainable foods and materials. The founder was previously associated with Hubbel & Hudson, and the menu and feel might remind you of The Kitchen or Black Walnut. I've eaten at Fieldings (non-local) before and had good experiences, so my expectations for brunch were high. My experience was putting frozen butter on burnt toast with a steak knife; everything was just a bit off, including the service. My wife had a better experience with her food, although the waiter forgot her drink until after we finished the meal. You can probably get a good meal here, and the environment, except the dirty women's restroom, is casual but upscale. Still, I must rate it on my experience; I often get a classic brunch, eggs, bacon, bread, and potatoes or grits. This meal is a good measure of a restaurant; something’s wrong if you can’t do that well. Sadly, the eggs and potatoes were cold, the bacon was over-salted, and the toast was burned. Surprisingly, the coffee is charged by the cup ($4.25ea) with no refills; I can't remember the last time I paid by the cup. On the bright side, the Lemon Pancake, croissant, and Spicy Avocado Scramble were good (or so my wife says).

The service fits right in with the food -- it could be better. Our waiter was friendly enough but seemed distracted. You shouldn't have to ask for butter or jelly for your burned toast, coffee refills, or if a cocktail is coming. Again, I could go on, but you get the idea.

The atmosphere is pleasant; it's a modern but casual environment with lots of light, concrete, wood, and fake flowers. It's inviting and comfortable. There's outdoor seating available overlooking the green, which I imagine gets busy on cool fall days. As with the food, you can tell a lot by a restaurant based on how they keep their bathroom. The men's bathroom was clean enough, but the women's bathroom needed to be cleaner, with paper towels everywhere, a stall out of order, and a dirty high chair in front of it.

I was pretty disappointed in what should have been a fabulous brunch; I might have had a better experience somewhere far cheaper. Still, I'm inclined to chalk this up to an off day or something else going on and try it...

The atmosphere is so cozy and warm. You'll notice the festive garland and light decorations that add to the warm cozy ambiance. We sat near the side that has glass windowns along the entire wall so you can enjoy the beautiful view. My friends and I enjoyed a happy hour here and every single drink was perfection. We also enjoyed a few appetizers such as their hummus, burger, and rye avocado toast, each item was a 5 out of 5! If you love desserts I recommend you try their bananas foster, it is divine. Midway through our dinner our servers changed, which is the reason for my 1 star review for service. We began the night with Ismael I believe his name was and then it changed to a Hailee. When we had Ismael my glass of water never went below a fourth of a cup and he was very attentive. If we would have kept him then I would have definitely given a 5 out of 5 for service. I'm not sure if Hailee was new however when she poured our French press she spilled coffee on the table for my serving and my friend next to me, didn't apologize , didn't even offer to clean it up. Then when it was time for the bill we told her how we wanted it split, she didn't listen and split it wrong. We tried to give her grace and just went ahead with payment. Well when she comes back she tells us she took it upon herself to combine one of the tickets with another ticket and split it between two cards. Who does that? When we tried to explain to her the mistake she looked at us with a blank stare like we were speaking a different language. My advice to Fieldings is to properly train her on 5 star service before you allow her to...