Cody Pinault
Google
We chose Renata’s Hearth for a special birthday dinner and left feeling disappointed. While there were some highlights, a continuous series of small mistakes and oversights made the evening feel more ordinary than special — not what you expect at a high-end restaurant inside the Biltmore.
When making our reservation, we noted that my wife has a dairy allergy. Unfortunately, this detail never made it to the staff. Both the hostess and server asked about allergies again, and it quickly became clear they weren’t confident about what dishes were dairy-free or could be modified. While they eventually pieced together options, the process was clunky and slowed down ordering. At a restaurant of this caliber, we expected smoother communication and better staff knowledge.
We both ordered the summer three-course menu. My meal started strong: the tetela and Caesar salad were outstanding. Unfortunately, the wagyu brisket tacos were a letdown — the meat was just okay, the tortillas lacked quality, and the salsas leaned overly sweet without any real heat.
My wife had guacamole and chips (the only dairy-free starter offered), a modified Caesar salad without cheese, and the seabass as her main. The seabass was excellent, though it came with a $25 upcharge and was the only entrée option she could safely order. Each step of her meal required back-and-forth checks with the kitchen, which again chipped away at the dining experience.
One bright spot was the wine service — the sommelier listened carefully to our preferences and recommended a bottle that we thoroughly enjoyed.
But beyond that, the evening was marked by small missteps. Our birthdays, which were noted in the reservation, were acknowledged inconsistently. The hostess seemed aware, but the server was not, and when the manager stopped by, his gesture felt rushed and impersonal. These little errors, paired with the allergy confusion and uneven food quality, took what should have been a memorable evening and made it feel forgettable.
Our bill was around $350, which is what we expected to spend, but the experience didn’t measure up to the cost. For future visits to the Biltmore, we’ll skip Renata’s Hearth and put that money toward extending our stay instead.