Wednesday, June 11, 2008

September's Restaurant in Hendersonville : Part 2


As promised, I went to September's Restaurant at The Streets of Indian Lake to form my own opinion. Here's the scoop:

Who went: Me, Mary Elizabeth, Cierah, Alison, Maggie, Alison, and Norah. At the last minute, JuJu, Isaac and Luke got to join us. They were at the free movie and it got out right as we got there. Perfect timing.

When we went: Today at 11:30ish.

The details: Alison, Norah, M.E., Cierah and I arrived first. Alison had her stroller as we stopped by Gymboree before going in. When we told the hostess 4 adults and 3 high chairs, she seemed a bit confused but told us to sit for a sec and she would get it set up for us. We were seating quickly and had the whole side room to ourselves which was great because I later realized that had we been in the main part, our kids would have annoyed everyone. Plus, Alison had plenty of room to park her stroller without worrying with breaking it down or leaving it somewhere else. Our waitress, Jessica, arrived and took our drink orders while we waited. Several other women including the bartender also came over and gushed over the girls which was sweet and one lady even had crackers at the table before we could even ask. I had their yummy fruit tea, Alison had diet coke (I think). No kids' cups, but they totally didn't mind bringing us water in a cup for Norah's sippy.

My sister arrived with Maggie, JuJu, Isaac and Luke in tow. Since we weren't expecting them, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the staff acted in adding an extra table to our already long row. Jessica immediately got their drink orders while the same lady that brought the crackers told us about the kid's menu (it's not printed). They actually had a great selection of kid's food: hamburger, cheeseburger, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, chicken fingers, ham sandwich, turkey sandwich. We looked over the menus and this is what we ordered:

Brea: prime rib burger with american cheese cooked medium with grilled veggies as my side (side was included)
Cierah: kids chicken fingers with fries
JuJu: sonoma chicken sandwich with grilled veggies
Alison: sonoma chicken sandwich and fries?!?!
Norah: grilled cheese with fruit cup
Alison: prime rib burger with american cheese cooked medium well with fries
Luke: grilled cheese with fries
Isaac: grilled cheese with fries
M.E.: just kidding, wanted to see if you were paying attention

Our drinks stayed full and did I mention it was great having the side all to ourselves. I'll take a minute to tell you that the restaurant is REALLY pretty. You can tell they put a lot of thought into laying it out (except for the restrooms, they are in a WEIRD spot) and the wine collection looks impressive. I didn't see a wine menu (nor did I ask) so I can't tell you how vast it really was, but it looked beautiful.

Jessica made sure it was ok to bring the kids' food out first. The portions were really large and the kids dug right in. Our food quickly followed and everyone was impressed. Everything was cooked to perfection and tasted GREAT! Not much conversation followed as everyone was too busy eating. The burger was HUGE, so big in fact that I ended up taking half of it to Jonathan to eat for lunch (aren't I a good wife?) As we finished lunch, we were all impressed and talked about how we definitely intended to come back.

Cost: $62 plus tip. I left $12 for tip. Jessica was GREAT and deserved every penny. The kids' meals were only $4 each. Yes, $10 for a burger is a little high, but the atmosphere and the food was totally worth it. For those that have complained about the price, the menu is RIGHT AT the front door so I feel you should definitely check that out before you commit to eating there if you are worried about cost. If you don't check out the menu or the website before dining, it's your own fault for being shocked at the bill when it comes (just my opinion). I didn't feel the price was high at all for what you got.

Final impressions: GREAT! I am very impressed with this restaurant and will DEFINITELY be back. September and Kirk (the owners) had no idea I was there nor did I receive any kickbacks for giving my honest review. They may have had a few bumps in the road starting out (like any restaurant probably would), but if today was any indication of future trips we will definitely be back.

P.S. I was a hog and ate Norah's fruit cup which was DELISH...definitely try a cup of their fresh fruit! It was full of kiwi, strawberries, mango, blackberries, etc. YUM YUM!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

actually, i had the bleu cheese cole slaw and it was also good - but definitely only for those of us who like strong bleu cheese.

we brought home half of our grilled cheese and half of our sonoma chicken sandwich as well. definitely could have split it with someone - and i was HUNGRY when i sat down.

the bathrooms, though oddly placed, were very clean, all touch-free (soap, sink, paper towels) and had a great changing table.

it was a great lunch - even if we were "those people" who brought a bunch of kids to a nice restaurant!

Destry said...

I'm glad that you guys had such a good exprience. Maybe they have some of the kinks worked out.

The first time that I went, things were fine. It was the subsequent trips that were not so hot.

I agree with you on the price...the menu is posted. You're paying for the atmosphere, which I don't mind doing.

I haven't decided if I'll go back...