Julia's 1902 — Restaurant in Willoughby

Phenomenal Food - Fine Dining Fail. We loved Felice in Larchmere and we were excited to try Julia’s 1902 for more of Chef Coronado’s food. The good news? The food was delicious. Vegetable and proteins were all well-seasoned and the portions were appropriate for individuals. We had pork belly and Thai cauliflower appetizers which looked great and provided a glimpse of more good tastes to come. Our table ordered the ribs—plentiful and falling off the bone, a duck leg special—well-developed flavor, and halibut pozole—plentiful balanced flavors in every bite. The bad news? The service was incredibly poor, which reflected badly on the front-of-house management more than it did the many young servers who were struggling with basic issues like greeting diners upon being seated, remembering what orders had been sent to the kitchen, serving and clearing without knowing who ordered what, reaching over diners to serve and clear, and removing some diners’ plates while others were still finishing their meals. When we spoke with management at the end of our meal, they acknowledged that many of the young servers had not been sufficiently trained. The restaurant is using a non-tipping model in which diners are automatically charged 20% gratuity. The menu and website state that this model “enables Julia’s 1902 and Willoughby House to recruit, hire, and train full-time, permanent staff and provide them a living wage, paid health care premiums, paid time off, and profit sharing.” The challenge, then, is that the model is not yet aligned with the level of service being provided at this young establishment. From the outside, the restored mansion looks beautiful, and the restoration work inside is also a feast for the eyes. The sound levels in the dining spaces, unfortunately, are quite loud due to a lack of sound absorptive materials. We sat in a room with three smaller tables and one large (8-person) table. The noise being generated from the large table was overbearing to the point that our server had trouble hearing our orders and we had trouble with conversation at our own table. This situation is a fairly easy fix, and we hope the restaurant will invest in improvements to allow the internal ambiance to match the architectural splendor of this building. We also hope that the service will eventually rise to the level of fine dining, because then it would match the outstanding quality of the food. Until then, we’ll explore other fine dining options in the Greater...

It's easily the nicest, fanciest restaurant in Willoughby and probably Lake County. The building is amazing - complete with a local history lesson or 5. The dining room is open, large and bright, with views of the area. The openness allowed one loud table to make it impossible to hear either the server describe the specials or each other across the table. Something to absorb some of the sound would be a welcome addition. The staff, while very friendly and clearly happy to be there, were not exactly what we would hope for in this caliber of restaurant. Our waitress didn't know the menu well enough for us to order wine as sangiovese or pinot noir (one each only on the menu), she needed to write the name of each also. She wasn't comfortable with the words describing the ingredients either. She was not a 20 something, so neither should have been an issue. She also did not manage the meal's coursing well. She did not know how to manage the order so we had time to enjoy our appetizer before the salad arrived. (Part of this responsibility also lies with the kitchen/ food runners) We shared an appetizer and a salad based on advice that both were large enough. The salad wasn't split into two portions and was messy to divide. We had the stuffed aubergine. It was excellent, though I would have removed the stem to allow that portion of the eggplant to cook completely. The salad was crisp and refreshing. Our dinners, flat iron and halibut were excellent. The food was prepared nicely and presented well. The steak was tender and flavorful. The halibut was delicious. We also shared a side of the charred broccoli. I don't love charred, but the broccoli was crisp, and the sauce complimented it well. Our entire visit, from the entrance to exit was 1 hour and 10 minutes. That's much too quick. A comparable dinner would be at least 2 hours at almost any other fine dining restaurant. In our opinion, Julia's 1902 was very good, but with some experienced wait staff and refinement, it could be excellent or better. The wait staff from Matchworks Tavern, Epic, or John Palmer's were professional fine dining wait staff. Hiring even one of these people as a head and trainer could really elevate the staff here. We look forward to enjoying Julia's in the future, especially once all the wait staff are up to the task. To employ the school metaphor, this visit was a B, but with some improvements, this could be an...

Wow, great service, ambiance and most importantly, expertly prepared food! My husband and I visited on a Saturday night, definitely make a reservation, the earliest reservation we were able to get a few days before, was 7:45. There was mandatory valet parking ($10), out front. There was a sign stating that lot parking was full. We were warmly greeted by each and every staff member that we encountered from the valet, to the host stand, and subsequently to our table. Our water glasses were filled, as soon as we were seated. Our server, Clare, approached our table and proceeded to take our order. We ordered wine, to start. We then ordered bread and split a Caesar salad. The bread was fresh and warm, served with an olive spread and herb butter on the side. The salad was freshly made made, and included anchovies (optional) and roasted tomatoes, which was a nice touch. We proceeded to order entrees. I opted for the broken rice with shrimp. My husband ordered the Angus burger with fries. He was leaning toward the chicken diavolo, but changed his mind, when told the chicken was bone-in. Our entrees arrived a short time later. The broken rice was prepared perfectly. Nice ratio of veggies to rice, flavorful, topped with a soy cured egg yolk, and accompanied by 4 large shrimp. The serving was more than generous. My husband's burger was perfectly cooked, accompanied by hand-cut fries and a side of tomato aioli. I opted for desserts. The dessert options were plentiful, I chose the bread pudding which was just ok. I am a baker and a bit of a dessert snob. The bread pudding was underwhelming for me. The serving was small for $14, and there was just not the flavor that I had hoped for. 20% gratuity is automatically added to the bill, no additional tipping allowed for valet or service. The best part of our visit, the service! Clare was an outstanding server, she was attentive without being overbearing. The downside of our visit, the dessert. I highly recommend Julia's,...