The Grove 1848 — Restaurant in Town of Kendall

The Grove used to be our favorite place in town, but something has changed. The quality of the menu items has significantly declined as well as the service. For instance, the bread in the cornbread basket was ice-cold in the middle, the service was incredibly slow despite the restaurant being almost empty, the chicken in two of our dishes was dry as well as the prime rib in the shaved prime rib sandwich special. Additionally, the dressing for the burger was brought out late, and four dinners were served while the other two in our party had to wait between 15 to 20 minutes for their meals. This resulted in some meals being cold and the others being almost finished by the time everyone was served. Two people even received the wrong dish and were blamed for not distinguishing between similar items. Hard to do when there is 15 minutes or so in between receiving them. Despite mentioning these issues to our server, nothing was addressed, and even the owner, McKenna, did not take any action besides offering dessert, which we declined due to the long waits we were experiencing thus far. She was rude, defensive, and unprofessional. This experience was especially disappointing as it was meant to celebrate my mother's 64th birthday. Overall, we have observed a decline in quality and service over the past year, and unfortunately, we can no longer recommend this restaurant. Which is a shame after having recommended this place to so many family and friends.

In response to the comment from The Grove: We have NEVER asked for compensation at any other time in the past from your establishment (or any place else if I’m being honest) for any meal or drink, ever. It hasn’t ever been necessary. The meals at the visit in question were not completely consumed. The server collected one meal which wasn’t even half consumed (sliced ribeye sandwich), and took it away, the other meal was sitting in the to go container on the table. We were hungry and needed to eat, so yes, the rest was consumed. As far as how busy the restaurant was, there may have been three other tables being served. In comparison to other Wednesday evenings that we have been there, this was a very slow night. I’m not defaming you at all. Just being truthful after we were treated so poorly. It’s really a shame that now you seem to be telling untruths. It’s ok to be criticized, it’s beneficial at times. As I said before, it’s confusing about what’s going on over there. Things have changed. Thank you for your response however, and best of luck. Hopefully this will help another customer in the future to not be...

I have eaten at The Grove about 5 to 6 times in the past and the food was good and service was quick, but it was not so last night. I met my children there for dinner as it was my birthday.

We ordered the flatbread which was tasty, but the cornbread that came out was cold, like it had just come out of a refrigerator after being in there all night.

The server was a nice girl, but was more interested in what was going on at the bar then making sure that we got our food and our drinks in a timely manner. She would benefit from further training and some gentle guidance.

My daughter and I ordered similar meals that were Greek in nature and I was given a meal 20 minutes before hers arrived. I didn't realize what I had received was her dinner until she was served my dinner. The chicken in my dinner was incredibly dry. My husband's shaved prime rib French dip and the fries were lukewarm at best. He only ate half of his meal.

These were the main issues, but not all of the issues. My daughter inquired about a small adjustment on the check because of all the issues. It took 20 minutes for the owner to come to our table and unfortunately she was defensive and very condescending. You don't wait that long to speak to people about their concerns when they're spending money ($168 not including the $50 that was spent at the bar) at your establishment! Free dessert was offered up, but after being there for more than 2 hours, and not wanting to be subjected to another extended wait time, I just wanted to go home.

Now, I don't know if the owner was having a bad day or not, but you do not treat customers who could potentially refer new clientele to your establishment (as well as continuing to patronize your establishment) the way we were treated last night.

Blaming us because we weren't complaining and we were consuming our dinners was utterly ridiculous. And telling us that they were super busy and that the staff was overwhelmed was just not true. There were more people sitting at the bar than people actually occupying tables.

As a small business owner myself, if my services are not up to par and I mess up my customer's order requirements, I don't blame them, I take responsibility for the mishap and their inconvenience and I take the blame myself. I then give them the proper compensation and apologies so I don't lose them as clients! And I certainly don't...

I’ve been wanting to check this place out and am so glad we finally did! We came here on a Friday night. We were able to be seated right away. We ordered espresso martinis, which I thought were made perfectly. For appetizers we got the arancini and the crispy artichokes. Both were absolutely amazing. The arancini came in a creamy sauce that really completed the dish. The crispy artichokes were phenomenal. I got the fish fry, which was large in size. My husband got chicken wings, which he raved about how great they were. I cannot wait to go back, I want to try the Alfredo ravioli next time! Service was also great. Very friendly servers and wait staff. This is a great addition to Kendall, and I encourage anyone looking for a delicious meal to come here to check it out. We live in Greece, and will be making the commute out...