Maynard's Restaurant — Restaurant in Washington

7/16/21 This evening we decided to dine at Maynard's. The extravagant pricing of the menu doesn't correspond with the look of the restaurant. I honestly was expecting a more upscale look and feel than what I would consider a nice cafeteria setting.

We were seated in the bar area, which happened to be having a retirement party going on, so the ambiance was pretty noisy. I did request a table with a view, but now I wonder if there weren't other tables aside from the one located in the bar that we could have been seated. The time we arrived, it wasn't busy aside from the party going on.

Looking over the menu, I boiled it down to having the Pesto Primavera, and my hubby settled for the French Dip.

My dish included fresh fettuccine pasta mixed with pesto, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts (mushrooms that I skipped on ) topped with parmesan cheese and basil, and three small, thin pieces of extremely tough, weirdly chewy bread. I enjoyed the taste of my pesto primavera. It had the definitive flavor of pesto and background taste of artichoke; although I only found one small chunk of artichoke, there was a few pieces of sundried tomato but not a lot of flavor of the parmesan cheese. I honestly wasn't sure if my dish was supposed to have been saucier or not. Still, the oddly tough chewy bread could have used the help of having something to dip it in, although that being said, I put a piece of my bread in my hubby's au jus sauce for several minutes, and it came out the way it went it, tough and chewy.

My husband's dish was a french dip sandwich with smoked Havarti cheese and a dish of veal au jus and french fries. He said it was ok but the best part of his meal with the french fries and the au jus. I agree with him that those french fries were nice and crispy, and the au jus was bold in flavor and not overwhelming in salt. Although the "veal" part was a little bit of a turn-off, I still felt the need to try it and give my honest opinion on it. About our drinks, my hubby had a dry martini, and mine was a mockhatten; I think that is what it was called; basically, it was a Manhattan with very little actual alcohol. I'm not much of a drinker at all, but it is nice to know when I do want a drink, I don't have to rely on a Shirly Temple ;)

Chris was our server; I'm sorry to say that he did his job at a minimum, but he gave us the impression that he didn't want to be there, or we were an inconvenience to him; either way, I was a little embarrassed how little time Chris spent on us, we saw other servers coming to our aid more times than we saw him, in fact, we sat waiting and waiting on our bill, let me remind you, we were seated in the bar area next to the actual bar where he and the other bartenders were. Eventually, we were able to flag him down.

The restaurant looked clean; no dirty floors or tables; however, I would suggest they clean their windows; those were pretty spotted. We did not use the restrooms, so I am unable to verify their condition.

I did purchase an americano at the little store espresso, which also had the espresso drinks. For a small 8oz, it was 2.95. The coffee they use is by Cafe Cocina Coffee Roasting Company, which is another local roaster right out of Poulsbo, Washington; it's always awesome to hear companies using local small businesses. I think the flavor would have been there, but it was overwhelmingly bitter and robust; the barista didn't ask if I wanted a single shot or two like all of the other coffee houses I frequent. But if I had to guess, I would say she used two shots. I couldn't drink it; after the third sip, the americano really upset my stomach.

I think it is great that Maynards exists because this area needs choices on fine dining, but I personally feel that they lacked a lot of the oomph of an actual fine dining experience in my opinion.

Maynards location is 2251 NW Bucklin Hill Rd. Silverdale, Washington. They are located across from the Tractor Supply Company and close to the US Social Security Administration.

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From start to finish: Making a reservation was irritating. There was no way to talk to a human about anything through their automated telephone system. When you tell the automated system you want to make a reservation, it texts you a link to do so online. That requires giving a 3rd party reservation site your information, with no possible way to opt out of marketing emails. There was an option to enter a special occasion and a comment area for requests or concerns. There's a lot of parking available, but you will likely have to walk quite a ways. i could only find 2 disabled parking spots, and they were, of course, occupied, so we had to walk across the entire upper parking lot where the open spots were located. There is wheelchair accessibility. Despite having a reservation (for which we were 4 minutes early), we were told we would have to wait, because, "there are several other groups ahead of you." That seemed like an odd response, but other groups without reservations were being told the wait was about 10 minutes. Two other groups that didn't have reservations were seated before us, but we didn't have to wait very long, fortunately. When making the reservation, i had requested a table with a view, since we were celebrating a birthday. Apparently, none of that information was relayed to the staff. When being seated, we requested the host seat us at a nearby table that had a view. The ceiling are high, which helped mute the noise of a fairly busy dining room. The place looks nice. Our server was fairly new, but she was fantastic. As we recall, her name is Laura. She paid special attention to our dietary restrictions, and was very courteous and friendly. There was a water carafe on the table, but she still made the effort to top off my water for me - the experience is in the details. My wife ordered a steak, and i ordered a burger, both with customizations. Everything tasted good, and the steak was a generous cut, with my only complaint that the burger patty was served much cooler than everything else - just above room temp. Which means the kitchen didn't time things properly. The baked potato was very good, as were the Kitsap Potatoes - a unique dish, where small potatoes are soaked in vinegar, seasoned, and deep fried. The result was a tangy potato nugget with wonderfully crispy outside and a steamy, fluffy inside. Definitely worth trying. If they know there's a birthday, they will usually bring a particular dessert, we were told. Since we had dietary concerns, they were gracious enough to find one that worked better for us. Again, our waitress was fantastic. The check has a code on it which allows you to pay online through the same 3rd party site that does the reservations. We opted to have our server run the card. They have a rewards program that runs through that site, too.

They have a patio area that seems like it'd be a pleasant seating option on a nice sunny day.

They have a tomahawk steak that serves 2, which would be a fun option, but be aware that it takes about 45 minutes to prepare.

My overall 4 star review takes into account the stellar service we received. The 3rd party reservation site was a really bad way to start the experience, and nearly had me choosing another restaurant... except my wife wanted to go there. Being signed up for 3rd party marketing emails in order to make a reservation is egregious. The food was good, had some unique flavors and textures, and was cooked properly... but the burger was cold. All in all, the positives earned back more than a few stars.

i've included pics of the menu, the building, and the...

My husband and I had high hopes for this restaurant. We went for dinner just before a movie. The host and hostesses were friendly and welcoming. However the atmosphere, though modern, was cold. The bright white overhead lighting completely destroyed any attempt and ambiance. There was a fireplace and an interesting waterfall, but the bright soft white lighting and the glaring lights from the kitchen (which really should be blocked by some kind of barrier) made for an eyesore. I felt like I was dining in my college cafeteria rather than a “nice” restaurant. The beautiful architecture and the elements of interest were completely washed out by the harsh bright white overhead lighting.

We had a reservation and was seated on time, but we waited a full 15 minutes before a server appeared at our table. Mind you there restaurant wasn’t busy.

The food was completely hit or miss. We ordered the “roasted” asparagus appetizer, the bread platter, and the smoked beets ( which we specifically requested as an appetizer but the server forgot to order it). The asparagus looked promising at first glance but upon closer inspection the asparagus NOT roasted. It was boiled. Never, under any circumstances, should asparagus be boiled I’m a restaurant. Grilled, steamed, or roasted, but never boiled. The hazelnut garnish was toasted and the ham was well prepared but everything fell apart with the soggy watery boiled asparagus. Thankfully, smoked beets and the bread platter were delicious.

Our entrees ranged between too salty and completely bland. My husband ordered the Argentinian - Style Flat Iron Steak which he thought was far too salty. I ordered the Greek Style Lamb Shank which was completely bland, absolutely void of any seasoning. We walked in intending to have dessert and really explore the menu, but with the inconsistencies witnessed with what we’d already ordered, we’d pretty much had enough.

Lastly, there was a severe lack of attention with the service, which one wouldn’t expect from a restaurant that had been open for three weeks or at all. I get that kinks have to be worked out, but this is just restaurant basics. Never at anytime during our meal did our server come back to check with us on the quality of our food. My husband ordered a steak and the server never asked if it was cooked to his liking. Never did he ask if we were even enjoying our food which we weren’t as it largely sat untouched. I understand that it can get busy on a Saturday night and having worked as a server in an exclusive restaurant during my undergraduate studies, I can certainly empathize. However, regardless of how busy it may get, never forget to check in with your tables, especially when a dish is cooked to an individual’s tastes. This is universal across all restaurants, from the Mom and Pop diners to the most exclusive downtown establishments.

From the cold ambience, lack of attention to service, and inconsistent food quality, this was a complete let down. Hopefully, management or the owner will see this review and use it to work towards improvement. My husband and I will not be returning however, my hope is for others to avoid the disappointment my husband and I...