The Stables Kitchen and Beer Garden — Restaurant in Upper Uwchlan Township

I'm eager for this place to thrive, so let me start by saying the venue is fantastic, offering substantial beer choices and promising food. However, some extra service training and kitchen staff could make a difference. I'm sharing my review after two visits.

During our first visit on trivia night around 7 pm, we had a blast with excellent food and service. Despite enjoying our time for about 2.5 hours, we encountered a double charge issue, which was later resolved after speaking to a manager. It's understandable due to the busyness. Personally, I found their crushes underwhelming and overpriced, so I'd recommend sticking to canned beers or on-tap options.

On our second visit, a Sunday at 5 pm, I was disappointed with the quality of both the food and service. We were able to talk to the manager, I want to highlight the issues we faced.

Starting with service, there were evident growing pains and possible understaffing in the kitchen and food runner department. Despite a relatively calm environment upon arrival (note: you seat yourself), we waited 10-15 minutes for a server. After requesting assistance, we were informed somewhat impolitely that a server would attend to us, waiting another five minutes for menus. Once we ordered, it took about 7 minutes to receive our drinks – two cokes and a Cider. This seemed different from our previous busy trivia night experience, where we enjoyed prompter service despite a packed house.

Regarding the food, we ordered chips, which are house-fried and hand-cut. However, they were missing upon arrival despite discussing how excited we were to try them and saying how hungry we were! All of our food arrived at once after a 35-40 minute wait, but the quality was a letdown.

We tried the Crispy Chicken Cuban, although it bore no resemblance to the classic sandwich. A thick fried chicken breast on a regular bun (which was supposed to be ciabatta, ) with semi-melted cheese and a few chunks of blue cheese made up the dish. While the chicken was well-fried, it lacked seasoning and distinctive flavor. Mostly, the taste was dominated by blue cheese. I suggest adding slaw or mustard for authenticity and better flavor. We could choose chips or fries as a side and went with fries, assuming we'd get chips as an appetizer. The hand-cut fries had mixed quality, with some being overly crispy and oil-heavy, impacting the enjoyment. They also lacked salt which could be good for those with sodium restrictions. These fries didn't come with sauces, requiring a request for ketchup and hot sauce packets, which for the price of fries for around 6-8 dollars, a plastic cup of ketchup would be nice.

We also ordered a personal-sized broccoli rob and sausage pizza, which could serve as a shared meal for those less hungry. While I can't recall if cherry tomatoes were included during our initial order, they were present this time, though they didn't enhance the experience. The pizza was a bit oilier and the broccoli rob less fresh than our first time, leaving it less impressive than anticipated.

Finally, a friend visiting from out of state ordered the Stables burger (see picture). It was pressed too hard on the griddle and cooked for too long. Considering it's named after the restaurant, it should have been up to par. I'm unsure if the chef was understaffed, but this burger turned out dry, flat and charred. When we informed our waitress and the manager, they both responded with, "That’s how they are made." I'm not certain if we misinterpreted the menu through the QR codes on the tables, but if a charred and smashed preparation is intended, it should be mentioned in the description. We returned this sandwich and opted for the somewhat more appetizing chicken sandwich instead. At that point, we were all dissatisfied and just wanted to leave.

In conclusion, the venue's ambiance is great, and the beer selection is commendable. Prices for the food are reasonable, but consistency and quality need improvement. This place is perfect for relaxing with friends or family over a beer.

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This past weekend my husband and I hosted a large (about 70 people) wedding anniversary event with the Stables and we absolutely could not have been more thrilled with the experience - the Stables truly went above and beyond to make it easy and special for us.

First, I just have to give a massive shout out to the staff. Ally, the Event Manager at the Stables, was so attentive and helpful in helping us plan this - she made it easy to figure out the event flow and was such a pleasure to work with. She paid such amazing attention to what we were looking to do to give us better suggestions on how to facilitate and was incredibly communicative and responsive throughout the entire process. The day-of staff was nothing short of fabulous - I didn't get every staff members name, but as a whole they did a great job. Sarah went above and beyond in getting our A/V to work and Molly was so patient and on-the-ball serving our guests. I can't say enough nice things about Jen, who was with me every step of the way during the event to make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be and every detail was what I had wanted. She was so, so helpful from start to finish, and even the next day when I stopped by to pick up some forgotten items. There were so many other folks on that night who I didn't manage to get the names of, but every interaction we had with them was wonderful - so thank you to you all!

The food was even better than I had hoped - all our guests were absolutely raving about the pulled pork sliders, street corn pizzas, and pierogies. The staff even wrapped up all our leftovers to make sure we got our full money's worth. We had guests with dietary restrictions who had to put in a special order and this was handled tactfully and smoothly. The cake we ordered through the Stables was fantastic and we are definitely enjoying the left overs.

We got so many compliments on the space - we opted to do just light decor to really let the rustic space shine, and it met our needs perfectly. We rented out both the front and back room, and having both spaces created a great flow for our guests.

I cannot thank the Stables crew enough - they really helped make our event special and everything exceeded my...

I'l start off by saying the atmosphere is great. I had been there a few times before when the space was leased out by Levante, but not since it changed hands and since they added a kitchen, etc. We went for a small work team outing from 3:30-5:30pm on a Monday the week of 10/8/23. The bartender was great when we first arrived - she took our first round of drinks and then proceeded to tell us that at 4pm, a waitress would take over for her at our table. That's where it all went downhill.

We were the ONLY table there and the waitress didn't come to our table until almost 4:45. And the only reason she came is because I went up to the bar and asked the bartender if someone could come take our order. The entire time prior to her coming to our table, she stood off to the side of the bar talking to coworkers and doing stuff on her phone. It was mind boggling.

Anyway, she finally took out order and once the food arrived, it was just blah. The falafels were flavorless, the pizza was meh, and the mushroom burger was ok but underwhelming. The wings were pretty great though, as was their tap list. I had asked the waitress about their happy hour specials and she didn't know what they were.

But speaking of beer, the waitress never once came back to ask us if we wanted another round. During happy hour! That's literally the easiest way to increase the gratuity on a bill. It's not like they were busy, we were the only ones there outside of a few folks sitting at the bar.

Once we were ready to go, we had to flag the waitress down again so we could ask for containers to take leftovers in. One would think this means she would then bring us the check. Nope - it took another 10 mins to get her attention again so we could pay for the meal.

Maybe it's a growing pains thing - and maybe I'll give them a try sometime next summer to see if things improved. Just a really underwhelming experience even though the atmosphere is great and they carry solid brews on tap (Hill Farmstead,...