Anthony S.
Yelp
My family and I had the opportunity to have dinner here a few months ago, so this review is a little overdue. I really *hope* that things have improved at The Wellington, because in all honesty I would really like to see this place succeed in Belmont Center, especially considering the history of revolving stores/banks/restaurants in this area.
The Wellington is advertised as an "everyday neighborhood eatery" offering eclectic American cuisine, craft cocktails, and an extensive selection of local and imported beers and wines. I have dined at Il Casale and Dante in the past (both of which I enjoyed), so we were all looking forward to trying the newest venture from restaurateurs Dante, Filippo, and Damian deMagistris.
The highlights for us were the design/general vibe of the interior portion of the restaurant and their great drink menu. Our next visit will be to the bar, as our drinks were delicious, our bartender was super friendly, and we enjoyed the ambiance from this part of the restaurant. They have an excellent beer & wine selection (if you can afford anything over $10), which I am hoping to dive back into during our next visit. With that being said, we were all very disappointed with the overall quality of food and service that we received during dinner.
Our waitstaff consisted of two servers, one of which was training. It seemed like it was a busy Friday night for them, so I think all of us figured that we would have to be a little more patient/understanding given the circumstance. Overall, the waitstaff were friendly and cordial, which left a nice impression. However, both servers forgot my mother's food order and subsequent allergies, and also forgot to give me a steak knife - even after asking several times throughout the course of the meal.
When we first sat down at our table, we noticed that we had been sat in the part of the restaurant that is a little quieter and more closed off from the rest of the dining room. The tables were a little crammed together, and I immediately noticed that there were a few large pieces of uneaten food on the floor under our table. Personally, not a huge deal, but also not what we were expecting from a formal dining experience.
As I had mentioned earlier, my mother has some food allergies (mainly soy, sugar, dairy, and nuts), so she ordered the wedge salad without dressing with a side of olive oil, and a plain cooked salmon filet on the side for her entree. She made sure to check with both servers to see if the kitchen staff could be amendable to her food restrictions, and also checked to see if the bacon on her salad did not have any added sugar in it for fear that she would have a reaction. They assured her that it did not and she was super pumped about it. My girlfriend ordered the Winn Brook burger and I had the Steak Frites - both of us ordered our meals to be cooked medium rare.
Before dinner was served, we were unexpectedly given two appetizers from the house - a pleasant surprise! However, the Pão de Queijo (Portuguese cheesy bread), was the same food that had been on the floor when we first arrived, and the chicken lettuce wraps that we were given tasted like Chinese take out sweet & sour chicken. Both items were incredibly random and unappetizing. We did not finish either of these items.
My mom was then served her wedge salad with a vinaigrette on the side. The salad did not have bacon on it, so she reminded the waitstaff of her allergies (the vinaigrette has soy in it), and requested the bacon and a side of olive oil. At this point, I had asked both servers for a steak knife - both before and after they returned the salad to her. When she began eating the salad, it was clear to her that they had put bacon crumbles (bacon bits) on top instead of real bacon. The next day, she informed me that she ended up having an allergic reaction because of this. This to me is ***completely unacceptable*** given the amount of attention we brought to this situation, both before and during our meal.
The rest of our meal was okay. My girlfriends' burger, although cooked correctly, was incredibly overpriced ($18). My steak was cooked at the right temperature, but the sauce on and around the steak had so much smokey flavoring in it (I'm guessing liquid smoke?), that the whole dish tasted like I was eating a glorified hot dog - not what I was expecting for a $29 steak. In addition, I ended up eating half of my meal with a butter knife because the rest of my family had pretty much finished their meals by the time I was given a steak knife. Needless to say, we did not stay for dessert.
Again, I would like to stress that I hope things have changed here. I really enjoyed the bar/drink menu, and think that The Wellington is in an excellent location to be successful. However, the food menu leaves a lot to be desired, and the organization/communication with dinner service needs some serious improvement if this place is going to make it in the long run.