Winslow's Table — Restaurant in University City

Something has happened to Winslow's House and it isn't good. Twice we have recently been there during the dinner period. After going there for years we will probably not go back for a very long time and never bring anyone unless we know the restaurant is fixed. We got to Winslow's at six PM, the restaurant was 2/3 seated, we waited ten minutes and were seated. There was no one ahead of us. No one except one table with children eating pancakes had food. Over ONE HOUR later most of the tables had food. Our waiter apologized that we had not been served and that the gazpacho soup and brisket sandwich had been sentt to the wrong table. Twenty minutes later a brisket sandwich was given to the people next to us who came in after us. We asked the waiter why we hadn't been served and he told us it wasn't ready yet. Something is wrong with the chef and management at Winslow's. The wait staff can't control what is wrong with the kitchen but they seem unable to have any input. Also, the main menu is the breakfast lunch menu for the entire day. How long does it take to make hamburgers, salads, sandwiches and pancakes?Be aware of the chef's idea of a family style menu. They charge $30 adults and $10 children. The food is served family style so bowls are plopped in front of you. Don't get it per person. So for $30 there was a salad, meatballs plopped on top of polenta, terrible looking steamed broccoli and cauliflower, something else and a slice of their hummingbird cake. I heard the few people who ordered that meal complain about the food and they were not told that they could have shared one order (although both orders were placed in the same family style dishes dropped in the middle of the table - it was serve yourself for $60). We were tired of being told our food was coming out after an hour and a half so we left and went to Mission Taco in the loop where we were fed promptly in a VERY crowded restaurant at 7:45. Winslow is a mess - it is disorganized and in an odd way dishonest and most important it is a disappointment. No wonder no one is going to that restaurant in...

To call this a general store is generous. If this is a modern general store, we've somewhere along the line completely forgotten the meaning of the term. A general store should carry most or all of one's bare necessities, preferably conveniently, in a single condensed location. Winslow's Home borrows the nostalgic image, but skips the actual practical requirements to fit the bill.

Rather, it's a restaurant/café that happens to sell some stuff - mostly high-end gift items with a vaguely eco-chic bent, plus some fancy sodas, and a small sampling of unspectacular wines. The way the interior is designed inhibits any serious 'shopping' experience, as all the wares are tightly pressed against the outer walls (which are only accessible by awkwardly navigating around diners), seeming to function more as ambiance than shoppable items. Though there are a few gems hidden throughout the space, the layout and abundance of novelties here make these unfortunately hard to find.

We do appreciate that their menu provides specific sources for some of their meats, which for the most part are of at least decent to surprisingly high quality for the restaurant world. We were told also that much of the restaurant's produce comes from Winslow's own organic farm, less than an hour's drive away, which is great.

We ordered an heirloom tomato and arugula salad with a poppyseed dressing, and the acclaimed pulled-pork sandwich. The heirloom tomatoes of the salad were beautiful both visually and in taste, and clearly fresh. As was the arugula. The poppyseed dressing though, might as well have been poppyseed water. Even after asking for an extra side of the dressing, it remained practically tasteless. The pulled-pork sandwich featured pork which through preparation wound up somehow more resembling tuna salad in both its texture and flavour. Though both dishes looked good, neither of them followed through, or left us interested enough to try something else.

Overall, Winslow's Home feels more focused on image and ideals than content...

Very busy when we went. I really do not like the system used at this restaurant/cafe. Rather than waitress table service, it is necessary to line up, pay, then line up and wait for drinks, then sit at a table (if there are any available ) and wait for food to be brought to the table. All of the tables were full and there was a line out of the door. I'm not sure what happens if you place your order, pick up your drinks, then cannot find an empty table. I guess you just have to stand around with drinks waiting for someone to leave. We managed to find a place to sit with our drinks and wait for our food to come out. I did notice that very few people sitting at tables had been served their food, most were also waiting like us. The wait for drinks was long enough but the wait for food to be brought to the table was very long. We eventually received ours but only after I asked why it was taking so long and when it would be ready. By the time the food was brought to out table we had finished all of our drinks, which spoilt the whole meal for me, I wanted my drink with my foodl. One of our party was served coffee in a mug with lipstick on. When he pointed this out the server seemed very annoyed. She took the cup back, slammed it down on the counter, took another cup and just poured the coffee into the other cup. We were horrified, expecting to be served a whole new cup of coffee not get the coffee out of the dirty cup. I will never go back. Obviously customers are...