Yard of Ale — Restaurant in Town of York

I've been cooking from scratch since 7, dined in many fine establishments. Here's my critique: a 1 for the garden salad basically lettuce, w/1 grape tomato, 1 cucumber sliver & 1 bell pepper sliver, why not at least double each, add shredded carrots, diced apple, pickled red onion, offer a local NY made cheese and homemade dressing? The bread/warm pretzel bites w/3 spreads? The pretzels bites were yummy. The butter, olive and plain olive oil? The oil could be seasoned w/a warm roasted local NY garlic, fresh herbs, cracked pepper otherwise the oil isn't desirable. We sat at 6:45, it took over 30 minutes for a table of 2 to receive our salad w/no appetizers ordered. From the time we sat to dinner served? 85 minutes later my cider was no longer cool to drink with meal, only one acknowledgement that our dinner was coming out soon after sitting for an hour. And after the table of 6 next to us had been flipped once and another 6 sat and was served drinks and hot appetizers before our dinner?! My Tournedos was the worst I've ever had as they are normally a thick cut of filet not thin. I wasn't served 8 oz of filet (2 of 4oz) as the $39 menu claimed and the hollandaise, wasn't skillfully made. The garlic mash side was too thick didn't taste freshly made, not hot enough to enjoy and the flash frozen veggie medley wasn't fresh, the broccoli looked perfectly blanched yet tasted like the squash parts. I brought a dinner date who was excited to taste the Scallops Alfredo he saw online, only to see it wasn't listed on the menu w/ disappointment. I requested it be made for him, being a favorite dish, it was truly the best I've tasted in a long time. It gets a 4 rating, they should've offered a fresh cracked peppercorn or freshly grated parm cheese to add for finishing touch, extra flavor and garnish with fresh parsley. At the end, we never complained we just laughed and spoke of the other places we could've gone. I think we were approached by either the manager or owner once but at that point I wasn't going to say one word as "we care about your experience" boat had already sailed. Later when I couldn't finish my dinner and just asked to take it home, the waitress insisted on offering complimentary desserts to even take home at least they knew they had blown it. I opted for a second chance tasting, hoping it would redeem the experience as I'm embarrassed by now w/my guest who drove an hour for dinner. Instead? They were horrible. The worst molten lava cake I've ever tasted. It had a drier chalk texture & taste, obviously warmed in a microwave, huge no no, the ganache center should be a warm truffle to melt in the mouth but wasn't, just a little liquid & missing a warm chocolate sauce. The fruit cheesecake? tasted old. For a restaurant w/high prices they under delivered. Suggestion: Offer desserts made from scratch and take pride in offering them or don't at all, I could make each one at home and shame you w/ the results. My bill was $102 for only 2 dishes, 2 beers and one cider with free comped desserts. Their coffee was perfect, but that just makes this review well, sad and disappointing as my gratitude dinner for my friend felt more insulting. He was the one who watched the table of 6 flipped while we were ignored. Later we're told with apologies by the waitress the number of large party tables they were serving, the party of 18, 16 (actually listed the 5 numbered groups) that apparently were more important than all the small table guests. Any restaurant that's been in business for their length of time should know how to handle this situation without sacrifice and ignoring tables waiting for their meal. To offer another round of bread to your starving guests, so we fill up on carbs and barely have room to hardly eat or enjoy our meal? So no, I won't be returning. The exterior of the restaurant is beautifully perfectly decorated and makes you think you are about to have the best dining experience, not the case. They leave much room for...

The yard of ale is a older resturant which is comfortably designed from the inside and out. White linnen tablecloths provide an elegant atmosphere along with hooks which are lined up next to the tables to hang coats or sweaters. The bar area has wooden heavy tables as well as booths to sit at. It was a busy New Years Eve the evening we dined. We had to wait no more than 5 minutes for our table to be ready so we headed to the bar to order a yard of ale. I highly reccomend the dub light. It was perfect ice cold with a hint of smokiness to add to the flavor. Both the bar tender and the hostess were kind enough to help me with the yard of ale since it's large and can be awkward to carry with out spilling. Service was both promp efficient and friendly exspecially since it was an extremely busy evening and all tables were taken. Our server greeted us with a smile and started by informing us what the specials were for the evening. We started with the delicious warm hand made bread ( a nice amount) which accompanied the meal and came with 5 different dipping sauces. Ever so delicious. The appetizer of choice and one which I highly reccomed is the fried dilled spears. Once again a nice portion to share not greasy but batter coated and fried just right. The dipping sauce was a creamy pepper one which was a perfect match for the spears. I also ordered a small cup of French onion soup which was one of the best soups I've had. The broth was anything but bland instead a nice amount of onion and cheese which completed the base. Entree of choice and comes highly recommended is the Chicken Maryland. A chicken breast stuffed with crab and broccoli with the right amount of hollandaise sauce provided without making the chicken taste soggy. The outside crust added to the chicken was crispy and delicious. The garlic smashed potatoes couldn't have tasted better nice chunky potatoes with a hint of garlic. And last but least the vegetable melody which accompanied the entree was made with fresh veggies and tasted like summer. I highly recommend the yard of Ale. It will not disappoint. Thank you Yard of Ale I'm looking forward to my next visit. Check web site for hours and days the resturant is opened....

Thought I was on candid camera but it was real life. Lets prime this story with the website which calls itself upscale and fine dining. We initially are sat at a table directly against a wall, and in the middle of the room; people bumping into us and trying to squeeze past the table. We were eventually switched to another table, however we were shivering now as the A/C was on in 45 degree weather. Not a big deal- we are from Buffalo. We get some bread, 2 bite size pieces and some frozen butter. 15 minutes later we are able to place our drink order and to save time we also place our whole order. We ordered: an old fashioned, glass of Chardonnay, clams casino, prime rib, and a tortellini shrimp Alfredo. Enter our drinks; cant mess up wine. The “old fashioned” though was served in a juice glass with an entire orange slice, a cherry from the Charcoal Corral and an entire sugar mine on the bottom; another 15 minutes and a Wegmans salad later, we are asked how everything is. We don’t want to make a scene so we hand back the “old fashioned” and order a double of bulleit bourbon with a splash of ginger. In comes the same glass with ginger ale. We state our problem and it is “rectified” with a shot of bourbon in a candle holder. We get our food and the great barrier reef of salt is served under our clams casino. Uncooked vegetables from Wegmans or Sysco with the prime rib and pasta with shrimp tails still attached. $104 dinner. Waitress comes again and drops the mints on the floor, says “sorry” and gives them to us. Charged an additional fee which is not mentioned anywhere, but honestly for this trip in Disney World I would too. Oh and by the way, the hostess or the owner was slamming the same old fashioned...