Archibald’s Restaurant at Gardner Village — Restaurant in West Jordan

I wish the star system was a little more nuanced, because I'm at a 3.5 in my head, but my opinion is "it's okay," which I have to put at three stars with the current system. Not outstanding, not bad, just okay. There are things Archibald does great at, and things that need improvement.

Pros: Clean, friendly staff, most of the dishes are really good. Almost everything tasted really good, we've been a few times now, and the only exception I can remember is in slightly more detail below. The dessert menu is worth going there alone. Location is really fun, especially in the fall for Halloween and winter for Christmas because Gardner Village goes all-out with their decorating and themes.

Cons: Most of this is going off the most recent visit, but it didn't seem abnormally busy yet the kitchen staff was apparently struggling. The most picky member of our party couldn't eat hers as it was, so it was sent back (and to their credit the staff handled it well and took care of it), but my meal and my wife's were also both slightly off - she got the lemon chicken pasta and said it tasted like they had forgotten to add something and it was really bland, she fixed it by adding more salt and juicing the lemon from her water on it; mine was supposed to be medium rare prime rib but I got someone's medium well, but otherwise the Prime Rib and sides tasted great (for being overcooked ;) ). We ate it anyway without complaint because our poor waitress already acted like she was too swamped as it was. I'm not sure what people put the staff there through because every one of the staff apologized over everything - the wait, not being able to be attentive enough, etc. - so we decided to just relax and enjoy what we had. That doesn't mean I don't expect better from a place that comes across as trying to be a bit nicer than a big chain all-night diner, but I'm not going to take it out on the staff.

Take ownership, do better, and next time if things are better I'll...

We went to Gardner Village to shop for furniture. We live in Utah county, so we had no idea what Gardner Village even was. We saw Archibald's in the same building as the furniture store, and made arrangements to come back in a few days to try it out. You can't beat the atmosphere. Nestled in a historic flour mill building dating back to the late 1800's, it is surprisingly bright, warm, and clean, with interesting decor and photos of the place over the years starting in 1880. The servers are very friendly and efficient. The food is nothing to write home about. Good, but not great. We started with their famous fried green tomatoes appetizer. They were green tomato slices, breaded and fried, with a dipping sauce similar to fry sauce. Well seasoned and good, just not amazing. My dish, the lemon chicken, is one of the self proclaimed menu favorites, and was touted by the server as his second favorite dish on the menu. It was fine, don't get me wrong, but if they hadn't called it "lemon chicken" I would have never caught the fact there was lemon in the sauce. The rice pilaf (what exactly is pilaf anyway?) And steamed broccoli and carrots it came with could have been served in a cafeteria. The overall quality, flavor, and presentation reminded us very much of Cracker Barrel. My wife had a half sandwich combo with french onion soup. Again, it was good, but similar to fare at other local places, such as Zupas and Kneaders, with nothing to set it apart in any way. A nice little sandwich, and tasty soup. I'm glad we went, it's a nice place, just don't expect the food to be a surprise, because you've probably had food just like it...

My wife and I are frequent visitors of this establishment, and love both this restaurant and Gardner Village. We love the food and shops, and love watching it grow. The atmosphere and culture and enrichment surrounding this beautiful establishment have been what frequently brings us back. Something happened Friday night while dining in Archibald's, that solidified this for myself, but even more so, for my wife. While there Friday night, and elderly homeless man came in to eat, by the looks of him, he probably had been out there for a while, hadn't showered, and was not a customer you see here at the Village. However, something happened that instilled such profound empathy, warmth, and pure love, that it left a deep impression upon myself and my wife. Our waiter, Tom treated this homeless man the exact same way he did my table, tha family across from us, and the table behind us. In listening to him interact with all these different people, he did one thing. He made each of us fee like family, and like we were the only table we had in the whole restaurant. (Even though we knew we weren't.) We rarely remember servers names, but for him to do that for a fellow man that most would pass by, or treat differently impressed us so greatly. We believe that is exactly the kind of culture, atmosphere, and character that Archibald's and Gardner Village has. We will be telling everyone we know what wonderful employees this place has, and the positive things we have seen...