The Porter's House — Restaurant in Weddington

The Porter's House is a great place for a date night. The vibes are really cool. The staff are all amazing, from the greeters at the front door to the wait staff. Each one was so attentive and genuinely cared about us. We made a reservation and showed up a little bit early and tables were available. We were told we could sit wherever we wanted in the bar area, so my wife and I chose a table against the wall. The person who brought our menus over next said we looked a little cramped and wouldn't we want to sit in a more open table instead? Yes we would, thank you! Because of that little bit of paying attention, we had a much more comfortable meal. Our waiter was incredible with the way he described the food on the menu to the way he poured the wine at our table. He was a bright highlight of the evening.

The Porter's House is a steak house. For some reason, my wife and I both went with seafood. In retrospect, that was a mistake, as we should have stuck with what the restaurant is known for. I started with a tomato and mozzarella salad, which was quite tasty and fresh. I liked it best of all the food I had. For my main course, I ordered salmon over risotto. The risotto was bland and under seasoned and not very flavorful. The salmon was fine. It was cooked properly and tasted like salmon. But nothing about it stood out or made me think I would order it again. To share, my wife and I ordered the Brussels sprouts. They were cooked okay and were drizzled with a balsamic glaze. But the sprouts just didn't have a lot going for them. Maybe they were baked in the oven and therefore no charring took place to enhance the flavor or texture? Not sure. But we both agreed that something was lacking in these sprouts. Other restaurants in the area do phenomenal jobs with their Brussels sprouts. I wouldn't recommend them at The Porter's House.

Will we give this place a try again? Definitely. The staff was too good and there is too much promise in the items on the menu that are in the restaurant's wheelhouse. The food was disappointing during this visit, yes. But everything else about The Porter's House screams greatness. We'll just have to remember next time that when going to a steakhouse to...

Early Valentines Dinner courtesy of the fiancé (he has to work on the 14th) - The Porters House in Waverly - great food, generous portions, fantastic service.

We will definitely be back. Got there at 520pm for a 6pm reservation but they took us early. Not busy when we arrived but packed and people waiting outside when we left around 7pm.

LOVED THE APPETIZERS!!! The pimento cheese beignets were beautifully, lightly crisp on the outside and a wonderful, molten lava of creamy pimento cheese inside.

The calamari were strips versus rings or legs, we loved the texture and flavor, breaded and fried - very light garlic, caper sauce drizzled over the top.

Wedge blue cheese ranch salad, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, mushrooms and onions as sides.

Amazingly soft, light airy, rolls with garlic herb butter.

Bone in 32 ounce Porterhouse for two, medium rare, with pickled veggies over a little bit of arugula.

A slice of coconut cake to go.

Truly excellent food, I like the mashed potatoes better at Dresslers, cream spinach wasn’t bad.

Mushrooms and onions were my favorite side!

Our steak was cooked, seasoned perfectly - excellent cut, lovely texture and the grilled outside had a great flavor.

It comes with four sauces - my favorite was the horseradish which is very light, not strong. Followed by TPH Steak sauce.

Not a fan of the chimichurri (love a good Colombian chimichurri!) and peppercorn cream (it was too sweet like caramel).

The coconut cake was more of a dry cake versus cream but it was fantastic. Not overly sweet but very flavorful.

Great place to walk around, we sat on a swinging chair and watched the kids play in an open area after our walk. Stopped in at Whole Foods after dinner for groceries (awesome trea leche and key lime pie at WF)!

Worth the trip!!!

We have two more John Dressler restaurants to try. Dogwood and Fin and Fino. Still love Dresslers best 😍

The staff are almost all long timers - one of the them has worked for Jon (Rare Roots Hospitality) for 15 years! He treats his staff very well and it shows in their service...

This was a new steak spot for us and because it’s one of the restaurants under the umbrella of my favorite Dressler’s restaurant I had high hopes. I usually don’t write reviews but I am compelled to write one now.

#1 I LOVE pimento cheese so anything made with this in it I am going to try. Not only were the Pimento Cheese Beignets really glorified hush puppies they were not hot. I mentioned it to our server who was very gracious with bringing another order only for me to realize that my same order was just “reheated”. I knew this because the number of beignets in the original order wasn’t in the second order and this “second” order was most likely nuked in the microwave.

#2 The Braised Short Rib was delicious! I substituted the mashed potatoes for the risotto. Only again, my food was room temp at best. I asked for the manager this time who was again, gracious and said she would have everything in OUR order REMADE to ensure we received hot food (my wife’s filet mignon was good but not hot as well). She stressed the wait we would encounter since our food was being completely REMADE. A few minutes later we were shocked when our meals were brought out. Hers was a new filet because she had cut into hers but my food was still room temp!!!! To make matters worse I didn’t receive the full portion. It looked like they nuked and replated the short rib I hadn’t eaten and added a little new risotto and broccolini…again not the same amount as the initial order. Sadly, I had to ask for a full portion.

I am not one to ask for concessions and did not here but because of our experience I expected more from the manager. Comping a drink or side would have shown us, in good faith, a tangible apology that we could feel. Needless to say we will not eat here again. Experience is part of the meal and if management doesn’t value how they fall short and find a way to try to make up for it, however good the food is...