The Greathouse - West Chester

Just got back from a wonderful meal. Sorry no pictures but it it a very pretty restaurant with truly GREAT service. We split the crab dip for an app and it was one of the best we ever had. We had a crab cake sandwich and the Buffalo chicken sandwich off the bistro menu. Both were Excellent. It was very quiet for an early Wednesday meal and everything was top notch. Can't wait to return! Well done!

May I just say... the CRAB CAKES! There's no breading or filler at all. The best crab cakes I've ever had. With that said, I've also had steak, pasta, antelope, escargot and other dishes at The Greathouse. All of which were delicious. The drinks are boozy and the room is big and airy. We'll be back!

It didn't start well, and never improved. No, that's not fair: the room is large, airy, and attractive. It was only after we sat down that it declined. Strike one: a water glass covered in lipstick from some previous diner. [No, back up: seating us in the one, cramped corner that had three other tables already seated, rather than at any other of the maybe fifteen empty tables not great. Strike two: the mini palmiers offered as a bread service looked great, but rather than being made with butter were clearly based on palm oil or similar, and oil that was somewhat rancid at that. (This was the item that really turned me off. How that got past any form of quality control is inconceivable. Strike three; managing to turn eggs, peppers, onions and cheese into a gelatinous, under seasoned, and almost tasteless mess rather than the scramble the menu promised. And...we're done. [To be fair, the potato pancakes were very thick and well formed, quite tasty; and the sausage at least flavourful, even if the flavour itself was somewhat off. But is there a reason to ever return? Nope.

I had lunch at the Greathouse today and thoroughly enjoyed my experience. I had the opportunity to have a bourbon that I have never had before that was excellent. The petite fillet was medium rare and the accompanying vegetables and potatoes were very tasty. The menu has enough variety so almost anyone should be able to find something that they enjoy. I had Keylime pie for dessert. It was a little sweet for my taste. I like Keylime pie very tart, But it was very good. I really like the atmosphere that is classy but still casual and cozy. The service was attentive without being overbearing.

We had dinner here on Saturday night in the great room... which is a beautiful space. It was a spacious, relaxed, and elegant setting. Unfortunately, from there, almost everything went down hill. I don 't understand.... the menu for the great room is the exact same as their 'tavern ' menu for the bar area around the corner. The food is completely uninspiring; when we saw the menu, nearly all of us wanted to get up and leave (it 's mostly bar appetizers and sandwiches, which is completely unfitting for a Saturday night dinner in such a beautiful setting . The beer list is incredibly unimaginative, mostly consisting of mass produced and flavorless domestic beers. The wine list mostly had expensive wines that did not at all match the price or style of the entrees (actually, there was a $25 bottle of Cotes du Rhone that we got that was excellent, but most bottles were priced at $40 and up and uuup... and they were also out of the first bottle that we ordered . I got the spare ribs, which were too tough for spare ribs (though the flavor and sauce were ok . The ONLY vegetable that they had available to accompany the mains with was green beans... which I thought tasted fine, but a little choice there may have been nice (not everyone likes green beans . The mash potatoes were tasty, but a bit dry... with no sauce to accompany them. There were complaints all around about presentation. The service was quite poor. It took the wait staff a good 30 minutes to bring out bread (we had to go ask for it , which came out after our salads. Speaking of which, my wife and I both got the blue cheese dressing, and it was awful. Little tiny crumbs of blue cheese; the dressing was thin and light on flavor. One of the other dressings (a sesame honey? received faint praise from across the table. We also got the kid 's menu fish and chips, which was awful. The batter was no good and they put crappy flounder in it; even the fries were bad. Speaking of kids, though, at least the space was kid friendly; it was spread out enough and seemed to absorb squeals and squawks pretty well; plus, there was lots to look at. The dessert list was beyond uninspiring (looked like nothing was made in house anyway ; we opted to end the debacle there. As for mains, the gumbo was nice and spicy, and there were no complaints about the meatloaf. Also, people liked the fish they got (it wasn 't flounder... twas cod or something of that sort . This place would do well to overhaul their food and drinks menus and improve their wait service; the atmosphere is lovely.