Main Course Restaurant + Market — Restaurant in Town of New Paltz

That's one place I will never go back to. Yesterday, I invited my wife and two of her friends for dinner. We arrived around 5:30 PM. At that time there were only two people ahead of me in line. We ordered the food and I paid. During the checkout process I was asked to leave a tip. Since I usually try to be generous, I left 18%, even though I was clear that it was self-service - we order, pick up our food and utensils, carry it out and when we are done, we bus our own table. One of the basics of food service is being ready for the meal servings, to be prepared for the rush. My guests wanted lemonade without sugar. No luck. We ordered a bottle of sparkling water instead. After I paid, I asked for 4 glasses. The counter clerk handed me one and said the others were coming. What? The dinner service was about to get rolling and they had no glasses? I waited and 6 minutes later I go the second glass. Seven minutes after that the last two glasses were finally cleaned. While my guest were chatting, I was waiting for glasses to drink out of for 13 minutes. Then we waited for our name to be called and the food came after another 15 minutes or so. Most dishes were solidly good. My steak sandwich tasted good but the meat was very well done, which was not my favorite. After we finished our meal, my guests were ready for coffee and deserts. We ventured back inside and picked 3 little cakes from the refrigerated section. Before I could count to three, the place had filled up with dinner customers. The line stretched to the entrance door with at least 10 people in line. There we were with the cakes in line. I showed the cakes to the check out clerk and told her we would take it out and I would get in line. My guests went out and I got in the back of the line. Each transaction took at least 3-5 minutes, with the clerk having to answer questions and take payment. At least 25-30 minutes passed before it was my turn. I ordered 3 cups of coffee and told the clerk that I had three cakes. Two for $5.25 and one for $7.25. She told me that I needed the names of the cakes. I had to go back out and get the names of each cake. When I came back in, the person behind me was getting served. I waited until he was done and paid. She gave me three cups for the coffee self-help table. There were three coffee urns. Both of the regular coffee urns were completely empty. Yes, nobody filled the coffee before the evening rush. I told the counter clerk and she told me it would take some time. I waited 5 minutes and saw nobody work on it. I showed my face again, saying nothing but just making sure that they saw me. I am really busy right now, she said. It was true. I waited another 5 minutes. Finally she called for one of the kitchen staff to make the coffee. I waited another 10 minutes. By the time all was aid and done, I barely had any time with my guests. Overall, I spent an hour waiting, not counting the time it took for the food to come out. My evening was ruined. The reason I invited people out was to have the company, to converse and have fellowship. Instead I waited and for all that I paid 18% tip. This restaurant has its pluses. They are dog friendly, the food can be very good on a good day. But the operation is in serious need to build in efficiencies and to be ready for their services. What I experienced is due to poor management....

Main Course is the most professional, knowledgeable, experienced and delicious choice for your wedding caterer. We are so glad we chose them to cater our wedding at Handsome Hollow in June.

They counsel and provide advice during every phase of your wedding planning. They are there to answer every single question you may have! They provide a massive menu of drink selections, hors d'oeuvres, first course, entrees and desserts to chose from. They also let you customize anything!

In addition, they provide a phenomenal tasting experience! They let you sample all of your selections and simply wine and dine you. The are their to ensure you love everything and are willing to make changes based on your tastes and preferences! They are also there to talk about every detail of your wedding from your day-of schedule to what your "Welcome Refreshment" will be/where it will be served, if you would like a Private Moment as a couple right after your ceremony, your introduction/wedding party introduction, toasts, your first dance as a couple, parent dances, cake cutting, rentals that they coordinate on your behalf (taking care of linens, extra cocktail tables, plates, silverware, high chairs etc and any other items you may need). They iron out EVERY detail for you and even provide a timeline to work from!

I also need to praise the Private Moment - this was suggested by MC and essentially gives the Bride and Groom a few minutes alone together to enjoy some hors d'oeuvres and a cocktail and just reflect on becoming husband and wife right after the ceremony ends. THIS WAS WONDERFUL. This was one of the best things about our wedding - just being able to have those few moments alone to take it all in and EAT some phenomenal food! MC had everything prepared for us in advance and ready!

Their staff is the most attentive and professional. They truly were our favorite vendor and the one most vital to our wedding day having been so flawless. During the planning process, Amanda, was an absolute rockstar in communicating with me, answering my million questions and even coordinating rentals, setting up the tasting with my parents, sister, and my husband, creating our timeline, seating chart, and overall floor plan for our reception. She truly is brilliant and an expert at what she does. Emily was MVP on the day of the wedding. She was there for my groom and I to make sure we were not without a drink and that we were able to share a split plate with both of our entrees, and enjoy all of our desserts! She was always checking in with us and coordinated a million things so wonderfully with the owners of our venue. Literally the dream team! The entire MC team is amazing. Truly the servers and bartender were so attentive and polite.

Last but not least, the food is just the best. It's so fresh, so delicious and beautifully served. MC sources the highest quality local ingredients. It was the most magical culinary experience and tons of our guests told us that our food was the best they have ever had at any wedding.

I could seriously go on and go. Just hire MC for your wedding. What are you...

This is a review for our wedding catering which took place October 12th in Rhinebeck NY. Let me just say that my wife is totally amazing! And this was the best party I've ever been to, the best day of our lives.

We had an outdoor ceremony on a sunny day with rolling hills of fall foliage for a backdrop surrounded by 144 happy family and friends.

Our designer, wedding site, rental agency, dj, and band were some of our many awesome vendor experiences.

Main Course, was, unfortunately, a dud.

Bruce, the head chef, is a very talented cook who has decades of experience and uses an elaborate network of local producers and local fresh ingredients. Bruce was pleasant to talk to in the first meeting and promptly disappeared from involvement after that.

The organization of this catering business was very poor in our experience. Over the final several months leading up to our big day, it was very difficult get quality time on the phone or in person with Main Course Staff.

When lobbying for our business, a Main Course selling point had been that Bruce said he would be there for our whole event, he was conspicuously absent on wedding day. Later when confronted on this point, Bruce said he was there for the setup.

At the wedding, Main Course provided good appetizers and a nice harvest table but the main entrees and soup had much diminished flavor when compared to our wedding tasting date.

The butternut squash soup was not thick and richly flavored, the mother of the bride thought it was celery soup it was so watery. The serving sizes of the entrees and the family style vegetables were very small compared to what was discussed at the tasting.

Heather, one of the Main Course staff, had asked Kathleen if she wanted flowers on the cake, we had answered yes. Kathleen ended up using her bouquet to decorate a flower-less cake just before the cake cutting. Later Bruce said it was our responsibility to plan any flowers for the cake with a florist.

Moreover, many dozens of rental units of our dinner rental, including more than 100 dessert forks went missing at our event. Main Course was very difficult to work with after the event; it took them 14 days to respond to my email and a full month to set up a phone meeting.

Main Course added many required rental charges one week before the wedding including an expensive stove and a caterer tent. They up-charged staffing for the event and up-charged vendor meals. Main Course ice/mixers are priced at $10pp, our friends who were married in August in upstate NY paid $4 for ice/mixers pp.

The wedding was the best day of my life, but, for you, I would recommend recruiting one of the many other talented Hudson Valley Caterers who seem eager to work with you. You should be able to find this at or below $71 meal pp we...