Union House — Restaurant in Town of Genesee

I am so incredibly disappointed. This was my wife and I’s favorite local spot for special occasion dinners and cocktails. We loved the ambiance and food. Last night I had an experience that left me feeling violated and cheated. My wife and I got away from the kids for an early Valentine’s dinner. There was no doubt about where we wanted to go to eat together. When we arrived I asked for the whiskey list. I was going to treat myself to a nice whiskey. To my amazement he had Sazerac 18 on the list. This is an EXTREMELY rare whiskey. It was advertised at $10 a pour. I was in disbelief and didn’t think much of it. I pulled up the picture of the bottle and showed it to the waitress and asked if they actually had it and if that was the correct price. I even said to her “that price is way too low are you sure this is not an error? I am not one to rip off a business or person because of a possible clerical error…so I wanted to be sure about what was going on. She insured me that it was the correct price. I excitedly ordered the drink! It came out and I tasted it. I wasn’t impressed but it wasn’t bad so I drank it. I am in no way confident enough in my pallet to call out a bar and say that I was served the wrong stuff. I tried to order a few other whiskeys that they were out of and settled on another Sazerac 18. I wasn’t that impressed by it but I also figured I would never get to try it again being that it is so rare. We enjoyed a good dinner and got out bill. I was still doubting what I had been served so I eagerly checked the bill. It was rang up as “Zachariah Harris”. I began to ask questions. It turns out I was not drinking Sazerac 18 and that I was drinking Zachariah Harris. $10 a bottle bottom shelf whiskey. I confronted the waitress about it and she said that it was her mistake. She said she could take it off my bill but also informed me very clearly that the mistake would come out of her pocket directly (which is wrong by the bar in my opinion and tacky for her to mention). Out of principal I had the drinks taken off my bill. I also wasn’t quite sure what was going on so I tipped an extra $20 to cover the waitress. Since I wasn’t sure who was at fault I decided to error on the side of caution a pay the waitress for her “mistake” via extra tip. It wasn’t until today that everything became clear and I was pretty certain that I had been taken advantage of. 1st: I showed her the picture of the bottle with the name and specifically asked about the whiskey. I even questioned the price and told her that was ridiculously low. There was no doubt in my mind that she knew exactly what whiskey I wanted. I do not believe for a second it was a mistake. This is a very “high end” restaurant with very well paid waitresses that know their job very very well 2nd: I recalled a story and reconfirmed it with a good friend. He had the same thing happen to him! He ordered a nice whiskey and they served him the wrong whiskey. He is much more experienced with whiskey and immediately knew it was wrong. He sent it back and was served the correct whiskey. He thought nothing of it and assumed (like anybody would) that it was a mistake and moved on. 3rd: Zachariah Harris is a $10 a bottle whiskey readily available at liquor stores. I don’t believe it is even on their menu ( I could be wrong). I looked at many other whiskeys on the menu. Things like Basil Hayden and Angles Envy were on the list for $9 a pour and those bottles retail for $35-$55. So why is he selling much better and more expensive whiskey for less than the bottom shelf Zachariah Harris? This point alone undeniably screams dishonesty and williness to cheat customers!

This all adds up to a disgusting level of dishonesty and lack of ethics. I don’t believe for a second that a high end restaurant can claim that this is all a misunderstanding. So was my wife’s wine what she ordered? Was the Tuna really from Hawaii or was it from China? What else are these people lying about? I will never be back and...

My husband and I have been going to The Union House for probably 20 years now. While it has always been expensive, the food was always delicious and the portions were enough (not necessarily large, but still enough). This time, however, with the new owners, we can't say the same. Every time we have went here we have gotten the Mushroom Tart appetizer. We absolutely loved it the first time we got it and so made that a staple with our order. This time, though, it was definitely different. It was more "open faced" with the mushrooms in the center and less of a rich pastry and filling. While it was still very good, this new version (especially because we swear the size has also been shrinking throughout the years) was just not as good as the original. For $14, we don't think we'd bother again with it. My husband ordered the Spiced Scallops and they were delicious, but there were only 3 of them over a small amount of polenta. For $40 that is just hard to justify! I ordered the Wild Mushroom Ravioli. This meal was good sized (surprisingly); however, it was extremely dry. It is served with brown butter, lots of pine nuts, herbs, and parmesan cheese. I couldn't see or taste any cheese or herbs, and there was not enough of the butter to cut through the dryness. It is unlike me to say anything but when the waitress asked about the meals, I actually had to tell her that it was dry. She did get me more brown butter (bless her!) which did help a bit, but this dish just missed the mark. The mushrooms inside were nicely flavored but even the inside filling was dry. They need to serve this with a sauce as ravioli is not meant to be eaten plain (I've been to Italy 3 times - I've never seen a "naked" ravioli on a plate before!) and brown butter is just not enough to give it moisture or enhance the flavor. I should say that the house salad and the Baked French Onion soup did not disappoint. Next, I ordered the Death by Chocolate which was delicious and a nice size. You do have to like a lot of chocolate, though! My husband ordered the Apple Tart which, unfortunately, was changed from the past. Now, instead of apples in a strudel like crust, it was apples thinly sliced and laid out like a flower in an open tart crust. Sounds good, right? Well, it was a surprise to my husband that it was spicy, and not like a cinnamon or nutmeg spicy, but a hot spice of some sort. He couldn't put his finger on it (which is unusual for him as he tends to eat things and then replicate them at home quite well), but that spice and the port wine soaked apples just didn't make it the best. The apples were also tough which is very strange for apples since they aren't naturally tough, especially when cooked. All this said, The Union House is now going more for a fancy presentation with high prices, smaller portions, and hit-or-miss dishes. It is a shame as this was our "celebration" restaurant, but now we aren't sure if we will return as it is hard to justify the meal with...

I’ll start this off by saying this used to be one of my favorite places to get a steak. Unfortunately, after last nights experience, this will be my last time dining here.

We sat down on Tuesday night and it took 20 minutes before our server even greeted us. We put in our drink orders and that took an additional 25 minutes to arrive. The server claimed the bartender was busy, but the bar wasn’t even full and we could see everything going on over there from our table. When two of the drinks arrived, they were the wrong drinks. When we ordered our food, someone in our party wanted a baked potato along with their steak, which they told us they don’t typically have but might be able to accommodate. It ended up being a steamed yellow yukon potato that they chopped in half and threw on a plate without seasoning or anything. My medium rare steak was rare, my wife’s medium well steak was medium rare. The pheasant that our friend ordered was so salty that I think the shaker cap must’ve fallen off while they were seasoning it. I can’t imagine how swollen someone’s eyes would be the next morning if they ate an entire plate of that. My dauphinoise potatoes, which used to be my favorite of all time, were cold. They would’ve been great if they were hot or warm even, but they weren’t.

I’m not sure what was going on in the kitchen on this day, but to spend the amount we did for that type of service and to get handed some lukewarm junk on a plate, is unacceptable in my opinion. I only wish they would’ve changed the name of the restaurant after the new ownership came in, because this is not the Union House that I remember.

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