Alicia D.
Yelp
Had lunch there today for the very first time, and the experience left me feeling torn...
Some background: I'm not vegetarian or vegan, but I'm always open to trying new foods, and coming from an asian background, I'm used to dishes wihout meat, though very rarely have I eaten meat substitutes, i.e., seitan "meat", chick'n, beyond/impossible burgers. We wouldn't normally eat at a vegetarian restaurant, but were meeting family there who were visiting St. Louis - they are vegan, and had heard good things about Tree House and wanted to go.
That said, I really enjoyed the food! My husband and I split their gouda patty melt + egg, with a side of potatoes. It was my first time trying a beyond burger and I really enjoyed it! My husband, who is less into vegan/vegetarian "meats", enjoyed the meal as well. We also ordered two mocktails, which were great - it was tempting to just chug them down lol.
The waiter we had was nice - he was attentive, quick to refill our waters and brought out an extra plate for us immediately when requested. Considering we were seated outside, this was particularly impressive - i've had many experiences with slow service because of wait staff getting held up serving their inside tables (although I don't know what the inside was like today, or if it was particularly busy in the afternoon). He seemed friendly when we did interact with him!
Here's where I wasn't particularly impressed:
To order, we were required to scan a QR code at the table and then order through their online app, like you would a to-go order. I guess if you don't have a cell phone with you, they might have menus available, but we didn't get a chance to ask.
The app itself was clunky. We had to pass the phone back and forth, as ordering on separate phones would mean each person having to pay their own bill, which was disappointing, as we had intended to pay for the entirety of the bill, but ended up splitting the check simply because our companions ordered on their phones, and we ordered on my husband's.
Ordering through the app meant very little interaction with the waiter. The fact that you pay as soon as you put in your order, and it asks for tip then, makes it hard to justify tipping 20%. If you tip less, and you find that your interaction with the waiter (brief as it may end up being) has left you wishing you could tip more, you better hope you brought cash (we, regrettably, didn't), because it didn't appear that there was any way to do so through the app once the order was finalized.
The whole experience, unfortunately, left us kind of regretting going... Which was sad, as our company had been excited to try it. We want to support our local businesses as much as we can, but if the online ordering system is a permanent thing, I don't know if we will be returning in the future.