Bar 1818 — Restaurant in Town of Amherst

Awe man, pains me to write this.... What happened? Lol Very sad!

My mom lives nearby & this has been our: "Do you want to grab a quick bite? But, don't want to spend hours finding a good, quality restaurant, let's go down the street to Bar 1818" spot - for a couple years now. We haven't been in a few months & everything has changed.

Before I review, I would like to say that the bartender/server (tall, thin, long curly hair with blonde tips) is very nice; has a kind, warming energy, is very attentive & makes a damn good margarita! However, the same cannot be said for the "new" (new is in quotes bc he's def different from the last one, but I'm not sure how long he's been working there) Chef...

Sadly, our recent visit left much to be desired. We always used to rotate between the Fish Tacos, Side Fries, Caesar salad w. salmon, & the Niçoise Salad with a good cocktail or, glass of red wine.

The menu has undergone (again) a somewhat significant change & totes not for the better: the Niçoise salad is no longer on the menu - it was huge, lot's of fresh veggies & came with fresh, grilled salmon. We opted for our usual favorites—the Fish Tacos & the Caesar Salad w. salmon—but were sorely disappointed.

The Fish Tacos, which used to be bomb, now suffer from chewy batter & stale (I think) fryer oil. While the cod itself was fresh & flaky, the unheated corn tortillas were (to be expected when not heated) mealy & dry. The overabundance of Avocado Crema (which was also fresh & flavorful) turned the tacos & fish slightly soggy after only a few bites. It's all about how you layer! 😉 The Caesar Salad w "poached salmon" was a real letdown. The salmon was flavorless & oddly chopped into small, "crumbles" that resembled canned salmon. It was also very cold (used to come grilled), it felt as though it had been pre-chilled & then added to the salad.

The side of fries were undercooked & disappointing - please make sure they're cooked thoroughly before serving.

Our entree's were served about 5-6 minutes apart from each other as well - not a major issue, but the salad came out last, which was weird considering the salmon was already cooked prior....

Total was about $60, which felt a little excessive given the poor execution of the dishes & for how incredibly disappointing everything was. It's disheartening to see such a decline in quality (but more over execution) at a place we've NEVER ONCE had a bad experience at.

Again, despite the top notch & attentive service from our server/bartender, the kitchen's performance was severely lacking.

Last, it may seem as if I'm being a "price snob" or whatever you want to call it, but I have zero issues with paying a high price for a well executed, quality meal. Again, bartender killed it with flavor & execution of drink, so quality was def there.

Sadly, our once-reliable spot is no longer worth...

Went here for Jeopardy on Saturday’s at 6:30pm. Only downside is there are about 6 tables for parties of 4-6. There is seating at the bar and some seating in the game area. High top seating looking out in the parking lot. Food was good. People ordered the chicken ceaser salad. Said it was good. The burger which game with two smash burger Pattie’s. Said it was good especially for $14. Ordered fishing tacos(3). Those were delicious. I would order these everytime. Remind me of the fish tacos at my favorite taco spot, Left coast taco. Ordered chicken finger and fries. Buffalo style. They are good, fresh, large, and tasted clean. The portion of fries they give you is very generous. I wanted to order the chicken wings just to see how good they would be. Sadly they were out this night. Next time I’ll try. Jeopardy was fun. You play on your phone. Need to be fast tho. Thanks...

This is a bar/pub inside of Whole Foods and it's important to keep that in mind. They have a good selection of beer on tap. They have a very pub oriented menu of burgers, fried foods, and such. The quality of the food is very good, which I would expect from Whole Foods. You do have to order everything from the bar, which I kept forgetting. In my head, I kept comparing this place to the Wegmans Pub, which I should not because they are completely different. Overall, I would recommend this place if you're looking for good...