Harvest Seasonal Grill

[FrancisdeR]

Anyone try this place in Glen Mills? We are going there Thursday and I would like views, recommendations, etc.

Thanks.

[Bacchus101]

Ugh! This place is a bad joke. We have been there twice. Going the second time to verify that we had not just hit a bad night. It is a convenient place to meet my mother-in-law for a quick lunch or dinner. Our first concern came when we were in the middle of a dish towel throwing fight between two servers. Oh well playful youth, right! The food, every ones, both time was just NOT good at best along with being way over priced. Good luck, for your sake I hope things have changed. Another suggestion just over the hill is the Chadds Ford Bistro, good interesting food, nice place, friendly, professional servers.

[sal_acid]

Agreed. Appetizer-sized entrees that are "under 500 calories" are too small to satisfy and are priced like a real entree. Proteins generally overcooked. Servers over-familiar and not all that good at their jobs. But they seem to get enough business, so somebody must like it, there does seem to be disproportionate number of women dining there.

BTW, I see Harvest is metastasizing to the Penn Campus at 40th and Walnut.

[cwdonald]

Harvest is owned by the same folks that own Doc Magrogans. They opened a Magrogans in the old La Terasse site near U Penn. Guess they think the market is good for expansion.

[sal_acid]

We were there recently. A youthful place, both servers and diners. Food was just OK (duck underdone ) and the entrees are appetizer-sized but priced like mains. Server pushed dessert way too hard even after I gave her a firm "no thanks". I see no reason to go back.

[amt10]

I have eaten there a few times and the food and service is always fantastic. Everyone that I went with also enjoyed it. The watermelon salad is delicious and the bison burger was the best burger I have ever had. The cheese plate is also incredible. I highly recommend this place.

[bluehensfan]

To quote Cindy, even more curiouser...

Kind of reminds me about the review written by someone new to the board who wrote gushing comments about Twelves Grill only to admit later that they were one of the owners.

[CindyJ]

Single-topic posts are almost always a dead giveaway.

[sal_acid]

BTW Twelves is no better than it was. Went back after a 3 year absence. Its the same mediocrity.

[bluehensfan]

I'm surprised they are still in business in this economy. I guess people are too lazy to drive to Kennett?

[sal_acid]

I think that they have found their market...the Jennersville retirement community. I think that Twelves is their closest place.

BTW I had a very nice meal at Muse in Oxford a while ago. I need to go back there. It is a bit of a schlep though.

[CindyJ]

I have the impression that the Jennersville crowd also likes the Farmhouse restaurant at Loch Nairn Golf Club. I was only there only once -- for lunch -- with a Jennersville resident. It was nice enough, but it's totally off my dining radar.

[sal_acid]

I like the Farmhouse OK. Its fine dining-ish at dinner; don't know about lunch. The place is competent if not special. The diners do look Jennersville-ish.

[srk908]

I went once and the food was ok but pricy and very small protions. I got the crabcake and it came with an ear of grilled corn. Both were not hot when thjey came to my table. They could have rounded this out with a green vegetable, after all the food is supposed to be fresh seasonal harvest..It came with 2 tablespoons of mango salsa that was good.There was no presentation to speak of. I asked for cocktail sauce and the girl delivering my dish said they don;t ahve it. I asked the waiter and he said that he would make some and it was good since the crab did not have the freshest taste.
It was very .loud and there were an abundance of very young girls at the front. I don;t know why so many. I think you have to have certain looks to work there. I used the handicapped stall and it didn't flush. When I wen tout I told one of the female hostesses who said which stall? I said the one on the end. And she said oh yeah, the big one, it's been like that.Duh!

[danbee1]

Am I missing something here? I'm under the impression Harvest has only been open a few weeks (or maybe a month or two?). But their website indicates they're an "Open Table Diner's Choice Award 2010". What does a place do to earn such a lofty honor in such a short time - or do I have the wrong place?

[CindyJ]

Without going into details, I recently questioned another local restaurant's Open Table accolades, and was chided by one poster and the restaurant owner for questioning the data collection methods used by Open Table. Interestingly, some of the the threads on that post were subsequently deleted. Curiouser and curiouser...

[FrancisdeR]

Very large, very loud, very oriented to the 18-30 female set (if you think I'm joking, just sit by the front door for a while -- we had the table in the window by the front door, and I got a full view on the demographics, which were striking).

Service also very youthful. We got asked at least 8 times if we needed anything, each time loudly cutting us off in midsentence. She (sweet, attractive, charming, clueless, probably 20) would then take off quickly, often before we could answer. When they picked up plates from the appetizers, your knife and fork (dirty) were politely handed back to you (?!?!?!).

Food was mixed. Scallops and salmon were fine, rotisserie chicken way overcooked. Edamame and hummus were serviceable (hard to get wrong). Quesadilla passable.

Their theme is that no dish has more than 500 cal. For that, I am thankful; I am always looking to eat less, but better. They do come through on the "less" side, and I don't mean that in a negative way.

Coffee was surprisingly good (so few restaurants really pay attention). Desserts (we only tried one, the apple crisp, which is neither local nor seasonal at this time of year, even if the fruit are all early) was poor.

Overall, it's a bit of a theme park. They are pretty faithful to the advertised theme. Up to you if it's your kind of theme or not.

[bluehensfan]

Thanks for posting about your experience... As much as I like the prospect of dining at a place that has heathy, seasonal choices, it sounds like I'd be disappointed (by the food). It sounds like more of a meal for the eyes rather than the palate! It still strikes me as being odd that there is this Seasons 52 chain that just opened in King of Prussia that seems to have many of the same items you mentioned on their menu: http://www.seasons52.com/menu/default...

[barryg]

Apple Crisp could in theory be local; some local varieties could have made it in cold storage this long and some fresh apples are actually out--Fair Food is selling fresh Gingergold Apples. But I doubt there is enough out for restaurant supply and I do agree with you that Apple Crisp is not a seasonal dish.

I had a "summer citrus salad" at City Tap House the other day which consisted of romaine lettuce, orange wedges, and a dressing with almonds or some kind of nut. Nothing was a summer crop at all, at least around here.

[KateForbes]

Well that stinks! I am only reading this now and have a reservation to go on Tuesday. Fingers crossed it is better than you have heard. I will report back!

[FrancisdeR]

I wouldn't get too negative yet. The Yelp reviews were mainly positive, with a few disappointed people, one of which said "too early to judge". I'm committed already, so we'll go, and I'll post tomorrow. Looking forward to reading what the rest of you think if and when you try it.

[bluehensfan]

I'm looking forward to the reviews. The menu looks very interesting and I want to try it but was leery because of what I read...

[Buckethead]

I was thinking of checking it out for lunch this week, if I do I'll post back.

[CindyJ]

When I first read about it, I was really taken with their farm-to-table concept. I haven't been there yet, so I'll be eager to hear your impressions.

[bluehensfan]

I was thinking about going myself until I read the scathing reviews on Yelp. Pretty bad from what I read and it seems as if the concept has been scavenged from the Seasons 52 chain.

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Seasons 52
2000 Route 38 Ste 1145, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002