Wheatfields Bistro & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Town of Clifton Park

I'm quite surprised and saddened that I must write this review. This evening my mother and I dined at your Clifton Park location and were quite thoroughly disappointed by the service we received. Before any further remark, I would like to point out that the hostess Ashley conducted herself with exemplary poise, and she should be commended for her service and charm.

Our meal began very normally, our waitress Christina had introduced herself and took our order, explaining that bread would be brought out shortly after. Our salads arrived, and shortly thereafter bread, butter and olive oil had been brought out by a young man as well. When I asked the gentleman if he could bring some crack pepper, he looked slightly puzzled by my request and proceeded to head to the kitchen. A few moments later he brought out a small saucer with a smattering of shaker pepper on it. It was a trivial matter, and to his compliment knowing that it obviously was not what I had asked for he tried his best and brought out a whole shaker of pepper, setting it down next to the one already on the table with his apologies.

Approximately twenty minutes later, our meals were brought out. My mother's was a pasta dish, meant to be served over a cream sauce, mine was a steak medium well with a substitution of mashed potatoes over the mushroom risotto. Where my steak was adequately cooked, and otherwise quite under seasoned, my mother's plate was barely over room temperature and practically swimming in oil instead of the cream sauce. We did try to make the best of it, however my mother found it inedible and sent it back asking instead for simply a cup of coffee.

Our waitress expressed little empathy over the situation, however did oblige and brought out the requested coffee, in a dirty mug. Again, this may not directly be her fault but seems to be a concerted lack of effort by the staff. We asked for a fresh cup, of which we had the pleasured vantage point of watching her pour out the coffee, disdainfully gesture to other wait staff over the cup, clean the cup herself and bring it back to us with the explanation "I checked it myself three times." This was quite disappointing as well as we watched that this was not the case.

Ashley did come over to offering to replace the meal, express her apologies and sincerely attempt to make better of the situation. To which my mother did order a plate of cheese ravioli in sauce. However, portions of the plate were also cold, as it was quite evident that it had been rushed out to us. After a bit of time, Christina attempted to make a mens with offering a free desert, but at this point our appetites were quite gone for anything else that Wheatfields would have brought to the table. We paid, we left and we will not be back to this location again.

It would be my sincerest wish that your wait staff is trained better in interacting with their customers. Where your hostess Ashley portrayed a genuine desire to make us feel welcome and comfortable at your restaurant, Christina and the other wait staff lacked this quality at times awkwardly going through the motions with little more regard than simply "doing their job." With the exceptions mentioned above, it would strike me that the staff here need a lesson in etiquette, empathy and simple terminology to raise the level of their performance with the expectations set by the Wheatfields brand.

17DEC2014 Update: Thanks to a friendly email from the General Manager I will be giving this location a 2nd chance in...

Edit: Very disappointed with Wheatfields as of late. I feel the food has been so so and the prices have been high as of late. I understand the price increase because of the current market, but the food should be consistent regardless of the market. My wife and I have gone a few times over the past couple of months and haven't been as impressed as I once was. Went there recently and sat on the patiowith my wife and our little one. I decided to get the "Mac" and added shrimp. 26$ for a goopy "cheese" soup with a little bit of noodles and a couple of shrimp. It was supposed to have breadctumbs and they were definitely some sort of processed garlicky Ritz cracker. It didn't taste good at all. The server (you could tell he was young, new and shy) didn't come back to see how the food was and I refused to eat it. Well I was forced to share my wife and son's dish since I was hungry... When he finally came back it was time for the check. He asked if I needed a box, I told him I didn't want a box and that it was gross. He offered no compensation. Disappointed because I ate most of their dishes and there was barely any left overs for them. 100$ for a lunch that I didn't enjoy. As you can see in my pictures and reviews in the past. I always loved their "Mac".

My wife and I go here often enough to where we can say they are consistent. They have a great happy hour. BOGO drinks, half price apps. Very good variety for the happy hour Some of the apps are "mini" but they are a good sized item for the price.

One of my favorite menu items is the spaghetti and meatballs. I'm not even a huge spaghetti fan I prefer rigatoni, penne, cavatappi ect... The spaghetti is so fresh. You can tell they home make their pasta. The spaghetti is a great thickness, perfect texture, perfectly al dente. My wife's favorite is the lobster mac and again the pasta is so fresh. The lobster is shredded a lot like lump crab. The mac sauce is very good.

We had brunch here last Sunday and it was very intimate. We had a drink, grabbed a few brunch items, talked and listened to the pianist play. Wish there were more places like this. The south has places like this all over.

We have gone several times in the summer and its great to sit on the patio and have dinner and a few adult beverages. Again, I wish there was more places like this. Just wish they had their own property rather than the shopping plaza, that's my only gripe. Cant wait to go...

My husband had been here several times and suggested it for our anniversary dinner.

We were seated in the bar area along the frosted glass divider, which was cozy. I had a view of the fire from my seat. However, the dining area behind us had booths and a carpet, which was dirty with crumbs. That area reminded me of a Denny's and detracted from the rest of the restaurant.

Our waiter was prompt in greeting us and offering waters. He delivered the waters promptly and asked for our drink request. We ordered drinks and an appetizer (Calamari). Both the drinks and appetizer were delivered within a reasonable time frame. The Sweet and Sour Calamari was wonderful!

For dinner, my husband ordered the Porcini Radiatori with added chicken and I ordered the Chicken Rigatoni based on the waiter's suggestion. It took about 25 minutes for the meal to arrive, which seemed quite lengthy.

The Chicken Rigatoni was piping hot, which was nice. The cherry peppers gave the dish a pleasant spice and the pasta was cooked perfectly. The chicken, however, was unappetizing. It was in large tough pieces that had little to no flavor. I sensed that the kitchen must have a pile of cooked, unseasoned chicken breasts that they just toss in the orders as needed since they sometimes charge extra for it as an addition.

My husband's Porcini Radiatori was served lukewarm with essentially no sauce to speak of. The pasta was good, but bland and the chicken quality was the same as mine.

In short: The service was good, but the dinners were quite unremarkable. The ambiance varies from cozy at the table areas to poor in the booth area. The bathroom was clean and a candle was lit, which was a nice addition. However, the wastebasket was plastic and in poor condition, which seemed like an odd choice. Stainless steal would be better here. Unfortunately, with the selection of other restaurants in the area, we see no reason to go back again.

Wheatfields does have long BOGO Happy Hour. The calamari was quite good and perhaps the appetizers may be the better choice...