Timber Stone Grill — Restaurant in Town of Urbana

First visit to the Timber Stone Grill while on vacation for my wife's Birthday. They have a nice outside patio seating section to go along with the inside dining and bar. The ambiance is pub style yet the menu and execution are upscale, along with the prices. We started with the Hearts of Romaine salad ($12) to share, a well dressed salad with shaved Parmesan cheese, peppercorn and baguette croutons which was very tasty. Next we had the Tuscan Style Calamari ($16), capers, olives, scallions, sweet peppers, this was very interesting and quite good, not your standard Calamari for sure. The Birthday girl had the Bistro Tenderloin ($38), with green beans and roasted garlic whipped potatoes piped into a decorative pillowy mound. She throughly enjoyed all, the tenderloin cooked to a perfect medium as requested. I went with the Bone in Ribeye ($46), topped with bacon, scallions and blue cheese crust with the green beans and whipped potatoes. My steak was a bit past medium as requested (one side stayed on too long as demonstrated by the uneven ring), the bacon and blue cheese where a nice addition as the steak sans crust was not that flavorful. I didn't feel it warranted the price as this in the league of steakhouses I frequent and this steak wasn't on that level unfortunately. We ended with 2 Lemon Cheesecakes ($8) served with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and regrettably raspberry sauce garnish which I feel they should ask if you would like added as neither of us like it. The Birthday girl had hers comped which was very nice. Our server Brian was a star, extremely personable and attentive, it was a pleasure watching him work his other tables as well and make time to chat, then wisk away to handle his next task. Overall we had a very nice time at the Timber Stone Grill, a pub with a fine dining menu and...

I stopped into this restaurant for a late lunch and a place to read my book. I was welcomed by a gentlemen who offered any table to me. My server, Sarah, was as polite as she was professional and very knowledgeable in the offerings, including local wines, and daily specials. I ordered a glass of one of the local wines, "Bully Hills". I believe it was a resiling, but don't hold me to that. It was nice and sweet which is how I like my wine, not too sweet, but just enough sweetness.

I ordered the steak salad and a side of the house fries. The fries were freshly cut, per Sarah. The taste was just the right combination of fresh and crispy. No salt was added prior to my consumption, and thank goodness for that. My salad included a generous portion of nicely cooked steak with mixed greens, red onions, cheese ( I substituted the blue cheese for sharp cheedar) and cucumbers with balsamic vinaigrette dressing served on the side. It also included tomatoes, but I don't eat them. I added a little salt and pepper to the salad for extra flavor, but other than that it was yummy. I finished my late lunch with the brownie Sunday, which came with a large brownie, topped with one scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, whipped cream and a juicy, fresh cherry. I removed the whipped cream and devoured the rest of the dessert.

Overall, the combo of the satisfying food and wine, coupled with a very relaxing, open, and inviting atmosphere, and complemented by wonderful service was "just what I needed" this afternoon.

Thank you so much for an experience that was "just what I...

Amazing food, sub-par wait staff.

The food was absolutely delicious and I wish I could give it 5 stars just for that, but the experience with service staff was so poor that I had to dock it a star.

We ordered some vegetarian meals (grain bowl with tofu, and a beyond burger), and although the burger said it came with fries or salad, our waitress must have assumed we wanted salad because she never asked us which we wanted and that's what we got. When we got our food, I asked for some fries (and said I'd pay extra for them), but we didn't get them until after we were almost finished with the meal and ready to order dessert, and they were given to us in a to-go box. I did not want fries "to-go" while I am on vacation, I wanted them with my meal.

In addition, our waitress was nowhere to be seen for our drink order so we eventually flagged down another table's waitress to place a drink order, and my water glass remained empty for most of the meal until someone finally came around to refill it. When sitting on a hot patio with temperatures in the upper 80s, I would think someone would be making rounds with water more frequently. Especially since the restaurant was very quiet (no one was there when we arrived), and there seemed to be quite a few wait staff standing around inside and chatting by the bar every time I went inside.

So yeah, to repeat another reviewer on here, 5 stars for food, 1 star...