The Farmhouse At The Grand Colonial

The buffet was overpriced and offered very average, ordinary food.

During German week, I was disappointed to find that there were no sourdough dishes or spaetzle on the menu—just Black Forest cake, which was quite good. However, I was hoping for a wider selection of German desserts, and the overall experience lacked authentic German hospitality.

I have dined here before and enjoyed my meal, but this time I was quite disappointed. They offer special buffets, and last week featured German cuisine. It seemed like a good idea to sample various dishes, and there was a wide selection, which I appreciated. However, when we began to eat, we found that the flavors were lacking. The sauerkraut was bland, and the pork was so thinly sliced that it was tough to cut. I was relieved I missed the Southern buffet last week, as I imagined I would have been even more let down by the absence of any spicy dishes. The service was excellent, and the decor was nicely done, but the layout of the room was somewhat unappealing. I might give this place another chance, thinking it could have simply been an off night for the chef.

I was first at the Farmhouse for a baby shower. I found the restaurant lovely and charming. The host of the shower paid for us to partake in the Sunday brunch which was very enjoyable. Because of the updated, colonial charm, I thought this would be the perfect place to enjoy Thanksgiving. I did not realize we were going to dine in the ballroom. It was not the atmosphere I had hoped for. Plus, they had the room lit very brightly which affected the dining atmosphere. We had to wait almost 40 minutes following our reservation time to be seated. After 35 minutes, I asked the hostess if she had any idea of how much longer the wait would be. Her answer was, I have no idea. As soon as the next table of 4 leaves. I thought that was an unusual response for a hostess and decided to take a quick peak in the dining room. That is when I saw that we would be sitting in the ballroom and that there were 2 empty tables of 4. We ended up being seated 2 minutes afterwards. The waiter was nice enough but appeared really busy. We did have a drink at the bar before dinner that was enjoyable despite the bartender being somewhat aloof. My brother-in-law and I thoroughly enjoyed the extended raw bar that was part of the buffet. Very nice! Even though we did not have the latest reservation available, the stuffing, mashed potato chafing dishes were empty and there was only one piece of pumpkin pie left. I hope you know that this is just constructive criticism so you can make adjustments. I am a frequent diner of fine restaurants. I am not a complaining type but wanted you to know so you can make improvements to your lovely establishment.

Thanksgiving Dinner- Hostess did not greet us and I had to get in her face to be recognized. After a reasonable wait, we were led into the ballroom where the noise level was high and unacceptable, the lighting was on high, also unacceptable. It was like a bad wedding reception. However, the food and service redeemed the dinner for us. As our seating was at 4PM, many tables were leaving so the noise level calmed down. Although it was late, the food dishes were replenished readily. If something was out a waitress went to get a replacement and actually brought it to our table. I'm glad we did not got earlier. I would not recommend this for a dinner where so many people are seated in the ballroom. You need to assess the noise and lighting.