The Poppyseed Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Hamburg

Went to Poppyseed for lunch last Friday (Oct 23) with my brother and mother. My highest accolades go to our incredible server whose name was Marina. If all servers in this world were as good and amazing - and kind - as this one was (well, in addition to looking forward to good food), people would SO look forward to going out to eat. She made our lunch experience such a happy and enjoyable one. My brother's a meat eater, my mother eats seafood but not meat, and I'm vegetarian (mostly vegan as I can). I will try not to belabor this review and make it too long, but simply say Marina was so accommodating in helping us to all enjoy our diverse likes. I applaud Poppyseed in offering a VERY delicious vegan chili soup that day (was so good - my mother and I both enjoyed a cup of that), and as well we both enjoyed the portabella mushroom sandwich which we split. My brother enjoyed what he said was a delicious chicken sandwich. We were all VERY happy with our lunch and that we had chosen this restaurant that day out of several we considered. I have given 4 stars (Marina I'd give 10 if I could), simply because the options for vegetarians is still quite limited (things like french fries are fine but not a nourishing option), and the menu was very hard to read (my brother couldn't with the small print on a poorly designed color background for purposes of reading). My mother and I also found it hard to read. But would we go back? Absolutely! The food we had was good, the server was amazing, and the seating was comfortable for a disabled, 84 year old mom! ...

What has happened to The Poppyseed Restaurant? Is it under new management? I have been going there for years. It has always been my go-to place for an exceptional, quiet lunch where I could collect my own thoughts or listen easily to those in my group. On my two most recent visits, however, while the food was still very good, the atmosphere was loud and anything but relaxing. And, most of the noise was employee related. From the loud, obnoxious music to employees catching up with each other's social lives to cleaning the rugs to stacking beer bottles and filling the ice bin, it was vastly different than previous visits. When asked to change the music, the waitress was very agreeable only to put on an equally obnoxious station with a DJ! It was music you would blast at the beach or paint your garage! I almost asked to have my order packaged to go but decided to eat and run. I am not sure if I will return. If I do and things are still the same, it will be a matter of three strikes...

Wow! I have to say I was beyond surprised with how good my lunch was from here. Went with a friend and we split our meals so I could write a proper review. I ordered the Belgian Burger ($18) which was one of the best burgers I've had in recently memory. The buns were waffles and aside from a bourbon and brown sugar-seasoned patty it came with bacon, mozzarella cheese and a grilled slice of pineapple. It was sooooo good! It came with a side of "sidewinder" fries.

My friend ordered the Violet Beauregarde sandwich ($17) which was crazy concoction that worked with Grilled blueberry bread, Cajun chicken, gorgonzola cheese and arugula. It had a blueberry glaze on top and came with sweet potatoes fries. This was also very delicious and I'm lowkey jealous I didn't order for myself instead of just getting half, haha.

The service was friendly and food came out fast. Highly recommend checking them out and I definitely would go back even if I'm not...