Powerhouse Eatery — Restaurant in White Haven

"Please bring our party of four an assortment of room-temperature food with a side of managerial hostility and don't skimp on the disappointment!"

I will explain. Sunday night of Labor Day weekend, reservation for four for 7:15. We arrived on time and were greeted by very pleasant front of house. In the narrative that follows, we have nothing but praise for our waitperson TONI, who went above and beyond in adverse circumstances.

We ordered appetizers and drinks (my lemonade arrived in its plastic bottle, a classy touch I wish more restaurants would adopt). Bread arrived, then after an interval, two salads. The women of the party looked at the empty space where there might, in an expert restaurant, have been food.

An interval passed, and our truly apologetic waitperson arrived to explain that the kitchen was a man down, there were large parties, and things were backed up. We accepted her explanation politely and waited. I did tell her that my wife was hungry and unhappy, and asked if she could liberate a baked potato, which she did. At 8:10 our entrees had not arrived and we called her over to say that we were distressed, and that we couldn't pack up and go to another restaurant. She looked genuinely unhappy (on our side, not the restaurant's) and checked with the kitchen to tell us that our orders were the very next.

A few minutes later, a man I presume was the manager arrived, in a white polo shirt decorated with what looked like Rorschach tests. If we expected him to be nice, to apologize to us, we were dismayed by the tenor of his response: somewhere in that middle ground between menace and suppressed anger. HE had heard that there were unhappy diners, and he wanted to know why. The unspoken assertion was that there was something wrong with us, and he actually said that he didn't think waiting an hour for a meal in a restaurant like this was anything out of the ordinary.

Had this been someplace more urban, I would have asked for the check and left. But the options available us were few if any, so we waited. Our sullen manager in the ink-blot shirt comped the one member of our party a glass of house Cabernet, almost forcing it on him.

Eventually the entrees arrived: the women of the party said there's were OK, unexceptional. My friend's duck was overcooked, his side dishes overseasoned. My beautiful steak (requested rare) was overdone and everything on the plate was tepid.

Toni, our waitperson, was genuine in her apologies. We never saw the manager again. It was, in its own way, quite a relief. He might write to respond to this to say how unreasonable some diners are, but if you check my other Yelp reviews, you will see I rarely write to complain.

It would have been annoying to wait for food, to find the results poorly done. But add in the spice of condescension and anger --- imagine our feelings.

If you read this, I suppose there's no way to circumvent such an experience. Perhaps being one short in the kitchen is rare. But the manager's behavior was, to us, inexcusable. I am sure there are other restaurants in this area. ...

So my family went to Powerhouse Eatery last weekend. We are not from the Pocono's and were in the area to celebrate a special occasion. I made reservations online for outside seating. When we arrived (party of 7), we were told that our reservation had been changed to inside because they had a party of 30 seated outside on the patio. This wasn't exactly what we wanted, but it wasn't the end of the world. So we sat down at our indoor table. Our waiter Jaden (who was phenomenal and we tipped despite the disaster of the night) came to take our drink orders. He forewarned us that the bar was a little backed up because of the large party. Cool. Things happen. Two of us ordered mixed drinks, one a virgin drink, and another two each ordered beer. It literally took 45 mins to get our drinks and they were absolutely horrible. I had a flavored mojito and my sister, a different drink. They were terrible to the point that we sent it back-and I never send things back. Despite people just ordering bottles of beer (aka something that can just be grabbed from the fridge), it still took 45 min for theirs to arrive as well. We were starving and frustrated, but still ordered food because it was getting late and alternative options were slim. I ordered the clams with mushrooms in a sauce. There were literally zero mushrooms and the dish must have been sitting for a while because the fat in the sauce began to solidify/congeal a little on the surface. The clams were probably below average, but not unpalatable, so I ate them (again we were starving at this point). Our food was ordered. Another 45-50 mins go by and still no food. So at this point, we are nearing the two hour mark with no dinner. We see the people from the party of 30 beginning to exit the restaurant. We see people who came after us have their meals and leave. But yet, here we are with absolutely no food-and though I hope that is not the case-the only group of black and brown customers in the restaurant. At that point, none of us could justify giving them any more money than we already spent. So we told Jaden (who again was awesome despite the circumstances) to cancel our meals and also we would like to speak with the manager. The manager took a little longer than anticipated to come over to speak with us, but ultimately he did come over. He politely (but superficially and dismissively) issued an apology. Then said that he would comp our bill (the 3 appetizers and two beers because the mixed drinks were sent back). We then exited the restaurant disappointed that we actually didn't get the meal that we were looking for on a special occasion. To add insult to injury, we then had to waste more time trying to figure out what restaurants were actually open (it was already around 9:30pm). Fortunately, we found a Mexican restaurant and the food was delicious. Oh! And we were supposed to go hear a band play at a concert that night, but because of the horrible service, we also missed that...

Good morning,

My friend and I have started a sort of tradition of driving up state to catch up and find great places to eat. We had driven past the Powerhouse Eatery a few times during our drives and always wanted to try it. We finally did on our most recent trip. It is very cool because it is situated on its own road and the restaurant sits alone with nothing around.

We were greeted by a very nice young man who sat us. Our server, Wilson, who has a long history of restaurant service in many fine restaurants both here and in NYC, was extremely friendly and very knowledgeable with the menu. There were chipotle chicken fingers on the menu that he suggested as an appetizer which we decided to try. We then asked Wilson about the ribeye steak and he stated that they were the "best". We both thought that was a bold claim and decided to try them.

I have to honestly say that the chicken fingers were absolutely amazing and this was just the beginning! We received our steaks and they were equally amazing. They were cooked to perfection and just out of this world! We were both so very impressed that we had to have desert! Wilson suggested the creme brulee and lemon chiffon cake. I was really kind of full but I did get some ice cream. My friend opted for the creme brulee which we were told was made in house. Wilson brought us our deserts and even gave us a sample of the lemon chiffon cake to try. Those deserts were truly off the charts!!!

That truly was the cherry on top for our amazing meal! We were so impressed with Wilson and the food that we asked to speak to Wilson's manager. An extremely friendly executive chef named Dylan came out to greet us. He was extremely cool as we expressed our gratitude for the service and the meal. After talking to both of them, you can certainly tell that they love the place they work for and take great pride and care with the food.

If you are ever up in the White Haven area or at the Poconos for a visit, please give Powerhouse Eatery a shot, you wont regret it.

Thanks

Jim W....