Epicurean Garage — Restaurant in Upper Uwchlan Township

Have you been traveling and decided to sit down for a meal at an airport on a long layover? You find a place in the airport that doesn't look too dirty and disheveled, you walk up to the garish colors and decorations, order you meal, look at your cardboard plate and think, "Did they really make me pay $15 for this?"

This is the essence of Epicurean Garage. Apparently I've lucked out from choosing to eat at local, family-operated restaurants for the last several years, because this place is a first-class ripoff. I wanted to check out this place because they are supposedly taking over the Chester Springs location of the inimitable Stickman Brews.....The restaurant markets itself with "farm-to-table" food in a "funky, comfortable setting" that is "regularly raved about in online reviews" (direct quotes from their website). However, you money is more worthwhile spent at Burger King ordering a Whopper Jr. I ordered the "Mustang Sally" burger for $14.50: the menu said it was an angus burger with bacon, lettuce, tomato, provolone, and rosemary garlic mayo. What I got was indecipherable from a frozen Bubba burger microwaved to a pinkish-brown on a grocery store bun with two slices of tomato, a leaf of lettuce and tasteless ranch dressing. No bacon. Served in a small cardboard tray. The side of fries were medium temperature and relatively soggy, even though my food came out only 5 minutes after we ordered.

The atmosphere of the place was off, to say the least. The places feels like it was designed after an auto mechanic-themed escape room, and the waitstaff was off-kilter, awkward, and inattentive. Nobody made eye contact with us when our order was taken. The waiter spoke to me sparsely from about 8 feet away and kept talking to me even when he was walking away. From my table, I witnessed our waiter stir my beer with a drink stirrer, which made me uncomfortable and anxious. Maybe he was doing that absent-mindedly because my girlfriend ordered a cocktail - our waiter spent a good portion of our visit engrossed in the Phillies game. The portions were small, but we still managed to leave without finishing our plates.

I expected this restaurant to be a hipster-divey, family friendly restaurant similar to a Red Robin. But I have literally had fresher, tastier meals at an airport - literally: Wolfgang Puck Express has way more game than Epicurean Garage. I give them credit (and that one extra star) because nothing went wrong and neither of us threw up, but that's about it. I wouldn't have been as upset if we had paid fast-food prices, but no. My burger was almost $15. My girlfriend's andouille pasta was $20. A glass of Levante beer is $9.50. Prices are double what they should be.

You can spend less money at Montesano Brothers across the street an get the absolute meal of your life in an amazing neighborhood establishment. You can go to Five Guys and get a better burger. You can get better service and a better meal from Wawa.

I would not be surprised to find out they paid people to write 5-star reviews. I would not be surprised to find out they got their "farm-to-table" food from the Acme they share the shopping plaza with.

Go to Montesano Bros. across the street. Go to Liberty Union in the same parking lot. Go to Stolen Sun down the road. Go to Ron's. Go to Iron Hill. With these places, you'll get more than you pay for in food, drink, and atmosphere.

Epicurean Garage is a...

4 Nov 2018 **

My wife had the Epicurus garage sampler. Portion control is a problem. It looks like quantity come before quality.

My wife’s meal sampler had two pancakes the size of the dinner plate, approximately eight inches in diameter. The berry jam/compote that accompanied them was good. The home fries were not appealing, they were very dark and not crispy. The portion of potatoes was enough for three people. The poached eggs were not drained properly thus making them watery. Her sausage was flavorful and not overcooked. The bacon was overcooked. Her coffee was good.

I tried a three egg omelet with veggies, provolone cheese and some bacon on the side, limp not crispy. Well, the massive plate of food that came out was not anything near what was ordered. The omelet was more like a mess/frittata with the cooked eggs on the bottom and the veggies on top, with the cheese placed on last as an after thought. It was flipped upside down with brown marks showing over cooking on the bottom. The cheese was not melted which was now on the bottom and not folded into the omelet. The potatoes, enough for perhaps three people, were also not crispy. The side of bacon came out crispy almost to the point of bacon bits. The toast was not toasted. It was a slice of bread cut in half diagonally.

I asked for limp bacon and it came out overcooked, I sent it back and they cooked it some more. It appeared the cook had placed the bacon into the deep fryer to make it more crispy. I guess the cooks think that if the food is not to the customers liking then it needs more overcooking. The cooking staff clearly was not listening to the wait staff and are coming up really short on cooking skills.

The food was so bad I refused to eat it. The manager came over and I gave him a detailed report on the poor condition of the product leaving the kitchen. He was polite and removed the massive plate of food from in-front of me.

As a point of reference, I usually don’t complain, however this meal was so poorly presented, cooked and served that I was not having any of it.

I tried this place a couple of weeks after they opened and told them I would wait to expect a good meal when they had their procedures worked out.

Nice atmosphere but we will not be back any time soon. I think the cooks need more training. Price to value is not present. Sixteen dollars for this was way...

Edit to my original review: I appreciate the offer of a gift card but no thank you. Not after I’ve read the reports on the state’s website regarding health and safety violations. Seems as you’ve got bigger fish to fry besides improving customer service. I stand by my review based on my personal experience and I only feel compelled to ADD to it because as a young Millennial (the response referenced Gen Xers and Boomers of which I am obviously neither), I am confused how the comparison to an age group vs work ethic even factors into any of it. I was simply commenting on the fact that some just aren’t cut out for the hospitality industry. It is not a trial and error issue, it is lack of training. I should add that the analogy about Ryan Reynolds and some other gaslighting word salad was just that- A WORD SALAD. Hire the right people, maybe those who aren’t under age would be a start. If the snowflake was in tears because of my comments, she definitely has a long way to go in life. Get a helmet.

Here’s the original review: DO NOT recommend at all. Ordered probably one of their simplest meals to prepare: chicken and waffles through a delivery service. Poor driver waited close to a hour just for someone named Ella to inform them that the restaurant was no longer accepting online orders because they were too busy and severely understaffed. I ended up canceling the order and getting my money back but this is the outmost unprofessional way to handle things. By the way, I’ve had my dealings with this Ella gal and she has no business working in hospitality. She not only lacks fundamental interpersonal skills to handle a volume of people pouring in and out of that place but cannot adequately explain over the phone why my online order got held up for an hour. I will NEVeR order from this place again. This allows me for an opportunity to mention that last summer I ordered a pasta dish from Epicurean and got a long coarse hair sitting on top of it. No one apologized but was told instead that “things happen.” Who runs this place? It’s...