Heirloom Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Chautauqua

I always want to give the servers the benefit of the doubt. For the first hour of my party’s dinner, our waitress seemed stressed and rushed so we were polite and waited patiently for our food. The waitress did not make any effort to check in on us as the night continued. The moments she did come back, it was obvious she didn’t want to talk with us. Understandable to not want to talk with a grumpy party, but we want what the waiter wants; to go home!! We cannot do that when we’re being held up with no clear direction on if we should just leave or not. The appetizers we ordered never came so we went to the bar to cancel them as we just wanted our dinner at that point. The manager comes out and apologizes for the appetizers and offers us free dessert, which was a nice gesture but we honestly just wanted better service. When the food did come out, it was tasty. Some members of my party complained their meal was lukewarm, but we were a party of 11 so I understand if the kitchen cannot make all of our food ready at once. While we eat, I realize the manager (who assumed the role of waitress) was folding tablecloths and closing the restaurant while we’re still there! On top of that, other employees were setting up the breakfast buffet for the next morning. Hello!! You still have tables waiting to go home!! Nobody asked how our food came out or if we needed anything. Nobody was bussing our table so our plates stacked up (that adds time to your closing procedure fyi). Eventually we went to the manager and said, Hey! Instead of closing early can you help whoever is getting our checks! The checks come out and they’re wrong, no shocker! I said outloud, not to anyone in particular, “my stuff isn’t even on my check,” the manager juts in “then whats your stuff?” I resisted rolling my eyes. There are no apologies from anyone. My frustrated and tired party is clashing with an overwhelmed service. Oh, did I mention at this time there was only like 4 other parties in the restaurant? And so many bussers and servers? Priorities need to be changed. If you don’t want to deal with a grumpy group of people, then don’t ignore them while you close the restaurant. All of us just want to go home. For the wait staff, they’re lucky to get paid while they clean up around us. For my family, we’re waiting to do the right thing and pay hundreds of dollars for lukewarm food and downright cold service. Next time, just help us out and get us...

Food taste & presentation - 7/10

Customer Service (in the week of June 18 - June 22, 2024...I will explain why this is important) - 4/10 (Literally 4 of my 10 servers provided respectful and courteous service)

Food Price - 4/10

I want to note a few things about my experience during this week, especially sense there are similar comments in the review:

**Pay attention to the week you go to Chautauqua because there are limited eating options in the off season. (I highly recommend the Italian Restaurant Intermezzo on the square for their kind service and exceptional Key Lime Pie, but I digress...) if you go in the off season you may need a refrigerator or a car to have broader food options beyond this restaurant. It's an unfortunate fact.

** The Heirloom Restaurant had good food (I enjoyed the burger and fries twice), but the food is not exceptional for the price they have listed. Expect to pay $30 - $40 for a meal of this caliber, though it is not the appropriate value.

** oh the customer service...SMH. I'll give them grace because we were in a humid heat wave and everyone was hot. The staff looked too hot and Management should have provided industrial fans in the lobby for their safety (someone call the Labor Department, please). I'm surprised no one had a heat stroke.

Outside of that, I witnessed very slow food delivery and disrespect from the waitstaff. Indirect communication to customers about bar seating versus restaurant seating on the porch was unclear and frustrating. There were unnecessary and sly comments under the breath to customers and hotel guests simply asking for respectful service. This is NEVER acceptable and should not be tolerated by the Restaurant Management or the Chautauqua Institute if it is truly willing to uphold its values. It doesn't matter if this is the only food option...disrespect and poor service should never become the norm...but it looks like it is based on the Google Reviews from the past 6 years.

REQUEST:

**RETRAIN MANAGEMENT FIRST

**DEI TRAINING

**CLOSER HOTEL AND RESTAURANT COORDINATION FOR CONFERENCES

**RETRAIN WAITSTAFF IN BEST CUSTOMER...

We rolled into Chataqua early for a concert outing in search of dinner. The Heirloom Restaurant looked promising in our searches, albeit a bit difficult to get to being in a gated community with almost zero parking on site. Not having the first clue about what to do, we stopped to inquire with the hotel valet and succeeded in securing valet parking a stone’s throw from the main entrance.

Although the restaurant was booked full, we were able to order an appetizer and drinks at the bar. Our server unknowingly handed us a restaurant dinner menu, rather than a bar menu, from which we ordered the duck and monkfish entrees with the understanding that the orders would not go in until 5:00 when the restaurant opened.

Just over an hour later, we were abruptly advised that they were not permitted to serve restaurant meals at the bar. Rather miffed, and on a countdown to our concert, we spoke with management. Upon explaining the situation, they immediately re-entered our dinner orders.

So, why the 5 Star rating? This was clearly an oversight and not the fault of our server. We were immediately brought their whipped feta appetizer (Yum!) for the inconvenience and our dinner orders were expedited. The food was delicious, the atmosphere elegant, and we thoroughly enjoyed the balance of our...