Kevin S.
Yelp
The food is very good and the servers are friendly, but it doesn't come anywhere close to justifying the stress and time involved in getting a parking spot or the wait. They really need a better system for managing parking and managing service.
First attempt: We went on a Tuesday about 11 a.m. The restaurant parking lot was full, so we went to the larger secondary lot and it was in gridlock. There were about 50 parking spots that were all full, and about another 50 cars all trying to circle the lot looking for a spot. Even if someone got in their car to leave and open a spot, they couldn't get out. There's only one way in and one way out. Thankfully we did a 3-point turnaround in the driveway and got out before we got stuck inside the parking lot.
Second attempt: We came back around 2:30 p.m. the same day. This time the cars were at least circling the lot, and I won the lottery when someone came and got in a car right in front of where I was circling the lot. We parked and went into the restaurant. The hostess informed us there was a 4 hour wait for a table, or we could place reservations to come back another day. I told her all we cared about was trying the legendary popovers and could we just order a popover to go. She said no, the popovers are ONLY sold to TABLE-SERVICE. We made a reservation to go back on Thursday at 11:15.
Third attempt: On Thursday, we arrived at 10:30 for our 11:15 reservation. I dropped my family off at the curb so at least they could go in and eat if I didn't find a spot. The restaurant parking lot was full. The secondary lot was also full and nearing the gridlock condition we witnessed on Tuesday. I gave up and just figured my family would eat and bring me some leftovers. Then I won the lottery again and someone got in a car to leave right in front of me. I got into the restaurant at 11:10 for our 11:15 reservation.
Much to my surprise, there was a sign saying if all you wanted was a popover, there was a separate line outside to JUST get a popover. That was frustrating since that was all I wanted on Tuesday when we tried the first time. But hey, here we are and we have a reservation, so we sat and had lunch.
It was a very hot day, but there was a nice breeze blowing through the open windows in the dining room. The servers were very friendly.
The food was VERY good. I LOVED the grilled brie and lobster sandwich and the coleslaw. We finished our lunch entrees and told the waitress that we would like to order one of the legendary popover sundaes for dessert. She winced, made an air-sucking-through-teeth noise, apologized, and informed us that the PEOPLE IN LINE OUTSIDE for JUST popovers were prioritized for receiving popovers.
YGTBFKM
She said there would be a long wait for a popover because there were so many people waiting in line outside for popovers. What happened to "we only serve popovers to table service customers" from Tuesday??? We figured, well, we came all this way and we battled the parking lots three times now just so we could try a popover, so we'll wait. We ordered a popover. We took turns going to check out the view of the pond and check out the gift shop. After a while, the waitress came back, apologized again and informed us they RAN OUT OF POPOVERS and that it would take them a while to make another batch. She asked if we wanted to wait or if we wanted to cancel the order. We said fine, cancel the order. My son went out to start the car AC. My wife went to get in line to refill our water bottles (there was a line of like 12 people). I stayed to pay the bill.
No sooner had they all left the dining room (waitress with my credit card, son to car, wife to water station) then a different waitress came to the table and delivered our popover sundae. ((Palm slap to forehead)) Of course, there's NO cell service here, so NO phone calls or texts. I asked the nice ladies at the table next to us to please not let the staff clear our table and that I would be back. I ran out to the parking lot to get my son and to the water station to get my wife, and we returned to our now-melting sundae.
The popover sundae tasted good, but it was nowhere near good enough to justify the stress and frustration of trying to get it.
My advice: Don't bother. It's NOT worth it!