White Oaks Restaurant — Restaurant in Westlake

We had dinner here on New Year's Eve. It was the first time, and the last time, we will ever dine at White Oaks.

AMBIANCE: My husband called before Thanksgiving to make reservations for 8 pm on NYE. It was not a last minute reservation so we thought that maybe we would have a nice table. Nope. We were placed in a side room that looks like it is only open for holidays...and maybe deep cleaned every 5 years or so. Our table for 2 was against a wall in which the wallpaper is peeling off the wall and there were food stains all over it. The chairs were wobbly, at best. There is an unused bar in the room that had linens in a large pile on the floor behind it. Not folded, just thrown back there. I was unclear whether they were dirty or clean. There was no attempt to hide them. There were 2 large parties also seated in the room. Because the room is on the smaller side, the volume of noise is far from quiet. I believe there are windows in the room but they were all covered up. There was a fire in the fireplace which would have been nice if the room wasn't already packed with people and on the hot side to begin with. The small room, combined with large groups of people, covered windows, and warm temperature, made for a very claustrophobic feeling.

FOOD: My husband had the Prime Rib and I had the Beef Wellington. We started off with 2 cocktails, a Moscow Mule and a White Russian. Both were good. We had a small basket of bread & butter which was fine. Dinner salads were small, standard fare. The Prime Rib was medium rare, as it should be, but it was barely lukewarm. It was accompanied by a twice baked potato and some steamed vegetables. The twice baked potato was so TINY. It was half of a very small potato and, again, barely warm. I couldn't tell if the vegetables were frozen or not. Either way, they were just standard--nothing special. The Beef Wellington was...well, it just WAS. The pastry was soggy and it was barely warm. It was just mush surrounding a piece of meat. The filet instead was good. It cut like butter, but, it just wasn't warm. A good piece of meat ruined by its surroundings. My dish had the same sides as the Prime Rib. A very small, twice baked potato and vegetables. We opted to skip dessert because the meal was so disappointing.

SERVICE: When we walked in, there was one couple waiting to be seated. Apparently, their table was still being prepared. So, we were the only other couple standing there. Not one person greeted us or acknowledged our presence. There were 4 people at the counter. One who was doing coat check (she was the nicest one at the front), one at the cash register, and two taking care of the list of reservations. I walked up to one of the people who was working from the reservation list and there was no response to my greeting. I finally just stated, "We have a reservation for 8pm." She asked our name, grabbed two menus, and rushed into that side room. She left the menus on the table and disappeared. There wasn't even a chance to ask if there was another table available because this one was kind of gross. I have to say that our waiter was so nice. I believe his name was Casey (?). It's NYE, so he is beyond busy, but he never made us feel unwelcome or like we were pushed to the side for the larger parties. I have absolutely no complaints about Casey. The poor guy was having to deal with other people requesting their food be taken back because it was cold. I think one table even sent their food back twice. So, it wasn't just our table that received lukewarm food. Misery loves company. The young person assisting Casey that evening was very nice, also. He kept our water filled and stopped by occasionally to see if we needed anything else.

Our total bill came to $136.74. It was the worst NYE dinner we had ever had...and that's including the previous NYE when we both had COVID and drank chicken broth out of coffee mugs to ring in the new year. We left a $35 tip in cash for our waiter. He deserved it and I hope he got it. It's a crime that we paid that amount for that abomination...

The staff were great, very nice and responsive, service was quick and prompt with a smile. However, that is where anything good to say ends. The food was odd in some cases (getting cottage cheese and celery sticks instead of bread or some normal free-starter) and awful in others. The beef wellington was soggy, barely any mushroom patte, the sauce was likely sitting for longer than a week prior to serving, and the duck was dry; additionally the sides they came with were some extremely bland steamed vegetables with no seasoning whatsoever; the rice was soggy and also lacking flavor.

The entire bill was ~$200 and despite finishing the meal, we were extremely displeased by what was supposed to be an acceptably expensive and nice night out. Despite the atmosphere being fine and the service being great the food quality was so bad that I would not recommend anyone go here until they can bring up that quality a LOT. The pictures attached show exactly what I'm talking about, I cannot stress enough that this meal was not worth $40 much less the $200 charged.

Extremely dissatisfied and never going back, I have never felt so badly about a place that I left a review after eating there until now.

Edit to reply to the owner: No thanks, I cannot justify your price point for the quality you are happy to deliver to your diners. It was worse than fast food and I regret being too polite to bring it up during service.

I am not a fan of your use of my review to advertise your quality in your reply instead of addressing the actual complaints, look at the pictures; the duck was dry, the wellington was soggy, the vegetables did not have any seasoning, and the rice was swimming in water. My dining experience was mostly good, the food is what sucked. I rated the service highly and the atmosphere fairly, I really like the big open windows with nature available but it was kind of dingy. I did not have a bad dining experience, it was just the food that turned out awful. Just apologize for the terrible food, not service, food.

Edit2: Maybe don't charge so much if you're not willing to take the steps to guarantee quality. A hallmark of a good restaurant is not having experiences like mine and a hallmark of a good business owner is being able to...

What a restaurant!! This place is the "go to place" for a very classic evening out on the town! The White Oaks restaurant is an honest to goodness speak easy from the 1920's prohibition period. The mens bathroom door is the original speak easy door that was used in the 1920's!!! The creek is not there just for the view, it is a fact, that when the police, in the 1920's, would knock on the original locked speak easy door, all of the bootleg liquor would be immediately taken through a trap door in the floor of the bar, loaded on a small boat and sent down the creek. Then and only then, would the heavy speak easy door be open to let the cops inside to investigate, of course they never saw anything incriminating! (little did they know)😄 I have read some of the comments on here that said "White Oaks should be updated, its old fashion, they should remodel"...Really? I guess you same people would like to remodel Washingtons birthplace? Maybe put in some granite countertops and some state of the art appliances. Well, just like with White Oaks, you don't remodel historical places!! I worked at White Oaks Restaurant for many, many years. And have met multiple celebrities that have frequented here. Tom Wilson, the creator of the "Ziggy" comic strip being one of the many. I used to like to see him sign his check with the same signature that was always on his comic strip. He and his wife were very nice people. This is a family owned restaurant, the family and employees take great pride in serving the highest quality and most delicious food possible! I know, because I saw first hand, behind the scenes. So much love and care goes into everything they do and this restaurant ALWAYS puts the diner first and they go out of thier way to make sure that your dining experience is 100%! And 99% of the reviews on here are glowing reviews! I will always recommend this place first and foremost and can guarantee that if you dine here, you will be getting top quality food , service, a remarkably beautiful atmosphere and fabulous views of nature. ( Not to mention a gorgeous fireplace in every room!) White Oaks Restaurant is simply the best, there simply...