07/09/09

Not worth it - snotty service

by CSMobileUser

My husband took me here for my birthday dinner. While the food was okay , not great, what really stood out was the service. Clearly the house specialty is being rude to female customers and making sure I had a miserable time. While the waiter fawned over my husband, it was as if I barely existed. I will never eat there again.

01/27/09

Rude people, overpriced food

by alaboutnow

My family flew in from the East Coast for my sister's wedding. It was a small affair, so instead of a reception we went to Wildwood for dinner. The food was good, though overpriced. The main reason I've rated it so low however, is because of how we were treated when there. My two year old daughter came with us to eat and you would have thought I'd walked in with a bag of sewage instead of a cute well behaved little girl. At one point the manager actually came over and told me she was disturbing the other guests. This would have been somewhat understandable, though still rude, if my daughter was misbehaving but she wasn't. She was babbling a little, but her voice was no louder than anyone else's in the party. On top of that, there weren't even any other guests near us. Our party was so large it dominated the area where we were seated. I was planning on ordering dessert, but I decided to take my daughter outside instead. It was January so I bundled her up and we sat in the little smoking corner outside in front of the window. My daughter played quietly but every so often the manager would walk by and glare at us. Eventually I took her out to the car to play so I wasn't there when my party left the restaurant, but I was told the manager rushed them out the door and asked them to hurry up because they were crowding people. I was only in Portland a short time, but I saw enough to know that there are surely 100 better places to eat than this one.

10/16/08

Delicious food and friendly service but at a steep price

by Stella809

I took my parents to Wildwood when they were visiting from out of town. I wanted to show them fresh Northwest cuisine, and we were not disappointed. We went on a Sunday night and I shared the double-portion chicken dish with a friend. It was delicious - the mushroom sauce was flavorful but not overwhelming and the potatoes and spinach were a perfect complement. Our waiter was friendly and accommodating. Sometimes places like this are snotty if you don't order lots of wine, but I did not have that experience at all. My mom wanted herbal iced tea because their normal iced tea has caffeine in it, and he brought her hot herbal tea with lots of ice. My friend is allergic to gluten and he made sure the ice cream was served on the side of the brownie so she could enjoy that part of the dessert. My parents went back another night and my mom had the eggplant, which she absolutely loved. She asked if the chef would give her the recipe, and he said he would email it to her after making some adjustments for ingredients that she probably couldn't get at home, like smoked hazelnut husks. How many restaurants would do that? The downside is that, although delicious, it is expensive!! This is not New York or San Francisco, but this restaurant charges as if it were located in a different city. I would save this for a special event but it is too pricey to visit regularly.

• Pros: Decor, food, service
• Cons: Expensive

09/30/08

Why do people eat here with so many other reasonable priced good restaurants in town?

by myfri

I ate here tonight with friends, after not eating here for a while. My gnocchi at $19 was more like an $8 appetizer size. It was so lemony, I could hardly eat it. It was also dripping in butter. The pepper grinder was empty and the waiter brought it back full at the end of the meal. My husbands' steak was tough and the white plate had no color. White plate, white leek, white potato, tough meat.$35!!!!!

My friends' beet salad looked dull and her lamb appetizer with one small chop was overpriced. The gin and tonic was the best part. What is it about this restaurant that keeps people enjoying it?

• Pros: Waiter was fine
• Cons: Food was overpriced and not even good

07/22/08

Open Table reservations don't mean a thing....and the food was nothing to brag about

by colleend55

I made this reservation through opentable for 8:00 p.m. and we were not seated until 8:40 p.m. (please note there was availablity in the dinning room but not on the patio at the time). They gave away the last patio seating to someone without a reservation (right before us). We had a drink in the bar and about 25 minutes into the wait with some complaining OSHA (great customer service) offered to buy us an appertizer. We were finally seated on the patio. The watier on the front part of the meal was attentive and provided us with tastings of wine to accompany our meal. Once the meal came the service after that, was thin and very lengthy....so lengthy that I had time to cancel what I ordered (a glass of wine). When the food arrived I have to say for the price (Do they think they are in the wine country with those prices) was not so great. Over all it was a bad impression and I would never spend my hard earned money there again...bacon wrapped chicken tasted like...hum...nothing really...no flavor...and this was all on a Thursday night. That Sunday I went to the Thai food rest. up the street and it was FANTASTIC and only a $35.00 meal instead of $163.00 meal.

• Pros: Location to the hotel, OSHA the Hostess
• Cons: Value for the $, LOUD, Reservations don't mean a thing, Taste of food

07/01/08

Great date spot

by wineguy76

One of the best dinners I've had in Portland was at Wildwood. Their menu is amazing, they're really commited to using freash, local ingredients . Server was friendlly and helpful, and made great suggestions for wine and dessert. Be prepared to spend some money, but it is worth it!

06/28/08

We would have had a better time at Red Robin.

by sorlova

My family and I have been here before and had a good time. Today, it was their anniversary and we had a HORRIBLE time. We stepped in and noticed it was extremely hot. We mention this to the waiter and he says, "The air conditioning is broken, we should fix it any second." 90 min. later we are about to pass out. It was physically unbearable. All the staff could say was, "We're sorry."

When you pay $200 for dinner, I find this absolutely inconsiderate. The staff could've: a) warned us of this before we came in, granting us the opportunity to reschedule our reservation b) gave us a discount for the TORTURE, or c) sprinted down to the nearest store and bought a couple of $15 air conditioners.

"We're sorry," doesn't cut it in this scenario. It's not just about saving money, its about treating your customers with respect. Actions speak louder than words.

04/24/08

GREAT Experience

by mbgrant

I had dinner there this past Sunday (4/20/2008) with my boyfriend and another couple, all four of us in from out-of-town. The staff were wonderfully accommodating of our schedule, fitting us into their busy night. We were seated right away (in quite a neat little booth), and our waiter was a wonderful resource, guiding us through the menu and recommending a very nice local wine. The food was outstanding! Everything was cooked perfectly (clams and halibut fritters to start; and gnocchi, duck, pork chops, and halibut as mains), including the things that are often taken for granted (like greens). Dessert was a masterpiece -- It's hard to choose which won between the caramel pine nut tart with rosemary ice cream or the chocolate panna cotta because they're just so different. And it was VERY reasonable for the experience. Highly recommended!

• Pros: Excellent staff, food, wine selection
• Cons: It's not in Chicago (where I live)

04/08/08

Mixed bag - some good/some bad.

by omnivore2006

Good atmosphere in the bar, very comfortable. Drinks were mediocore - my manhatten seemed very watery. The potato Gnocci was bland, however, the Gem salad was very good, and the duck was done to perfection - crispy on the outside, tender and moist inside - very flavorfull. Overall good, but not great.

• Pros: Great Duck
• Cons: Mediocore Drinks

04/07/08

Riding on reputation rather than execution

by artoriusrex

We were disappointed in our Wildwood experience after hearing so many good things about it in the past.

Although our waiter was outstanding, we found the food offerings to be limited. We had to hunt for interesting choices around bad or odd side dish choices.

Appetizer (crab cake), ordered from the bar menu because it wasn't listed on the regular menu, was outstanding. Entree choices were lacking based on their reputation. Wife had rockfish with crab risotto and watercress salad. Sides were excellent, but the LARGE chunk of too-simply seasoned fish was disappointing. I had a goat cheese tart on mushrooms and root veggies (undercooked). It was interesting, but lacking as neither piece could stand alone and be great.

The desserts were excellent and showed an attention to taste and detail that the main courses didn't. This was the reason for an average rating rather than below average.

We had hoped to be amazed by this place's cuisine and weren't. Next time we'll stick to Caprial's or Higgins.