North Pond

12/30/10

North Pond

by NGL at Citysearch

I took my mother to North Pond for a post holiday dinner. When I called, I asked to be seated in the dining room with the fireplace. The room is nice and warm, and you can look out on the pond. There were two tables available, a two top and a four top. I asked for the four top, but the hostess denied my request. She said it was reserved for a party of four. When I called earlier, they told me they didn't take reservations! My mother is hard of hearing, and I need to sit at her side so we can have a discussion. I decided against the two top and went into the other dining area where there were ten four tops available. Throughout our dinner we noticed that the table we originally requested remained empty. I mentioned that to the hostess, who was indifferent. We had our dinner. Final bill was $150: two glasses of wine, two entrees and one desert. The dinners were okay. Nothing special. I will never go back to this place. I read other reviews about customers complaining about seating at this place. I don't get it. Never again. Mom Ami Gabi is just down the street for a good dinner for half the cost and less the attitude.

09/15/09

Amazing Food HORRIBLE Hostess!!

by EatingFood at Citysearch

So my family and I have gone to North Pond more than a few times, it's one of our celebration restaurants. Everything had been great up until maybe a year ago or so. My wife, mother and Wife's mother went there for a relatively early dinner.

The first problem started when there was no Valet taking cars. So i waited in the car for someone to come, only to get a call saying "The hostess says someone will be there in 5 minutes". Well five minutes passed by, ten, and eventually twenty minutes later i went looking for a parking space, which took a good 15 minutes, about 5 blocks away. So i get inside and the Hostess looks at me with a shit-eating grin "your party is right this way" Like i couldnt see them sitting at the bar 2 meters away. I exclaimed that she told me someone was on his way to get the car. Her response: "Oh we don't have a valet working today" Well what the hell is her problem. I had been there maybe twenty times before and no problems, the wait staff knew us and was always polite. Whoever this Hostess is RUINED a great little spot in the city. And she was the source of every unsatisfactory time I have gone there. Before she arrived it was my favorite place. Now that she's there, the atmosphere is ruined!

As long as this hostess works there I will never return!

• Pros: The Food is near unmatched in the city
• Cons: Snooty hostess, a very uptight feel

08/09/09

A Very Bad Start

by ymw at Citysearch

We made a reservation for 9 people and were told that we would have to have a set limited menu or be at two separate tables. We opted for the latter. When we arrived, the first of our group was seated and there was an empty table nearby. We asked if the rest of our group could be seated there so we could at least sit near each other. We were told they could not accomodate us on that. When the hostess was pressed on the point, she told us that if she sat us in nearby tables, we would be constantly "visiting" the other table and therbey blocking the aisles and making things diffucult for the waitstaff. She really said this! And in a very rude tone. It is important to note here that almost our entire group was over 60 so rampant table hopping was unlikely. In any event, our friends were given a table on the other side of the room. The table next to us stayed empy the entire evening. We had a good chuckle over the pettiness of the situation (which seemed to be a retaliatory move in reponse to our choice not to have limited menu). The food was lovely. Too bad the service did not rise to the same level.

• Pros: Good food
• Cons: Rude staff

10/06/08

Wine lovers pay a price

by friargee at Citysearch

An excellent special-occasion place. The setting is unique and the food very well done. The prices are higher than one might expect with $35 the average main course (that means the tax and tip alone on that $35 is $10). My major gripe however is the mark-ups on the wine. Bottles I have seen retail at $30 are $90. I know North Pond is not alone in this, but that much of a profit seems a bit greedy, especially if wine is an integral part of a meal. Come on guys -- don't destroy the goose that lays that golden egg.

10/06/08

Had to wait 30 minutes on a reservation made 2 months prior

by Havemeyer7 at Citysearch

The setting on a pond in a park is lovely. The Arts & Crafts style decor is striking and unique, but these very good first impressions were offset by the fact that, despite having made our reservation two months in advance, we had to wait 30 minutes for our table. We had a party of 11 people and, therefore, were told we had to narrow of choices for each course to a selection of two. In addition, we had to make this decision TWO WEEKS in advance. We happily complied with this request and narrowed our options for the entree to grass fed beef and Arctic Char. Upon finally sitting down and receiving our "specifically designed menu" we noticed our selection had been changed to Wild Salmon in place of the Arctic Char. Although service was very good, the food did not come anywhere near to being the quality it should have been for a restaurant of this caliber and price. The beef contained so much fat it was impossible to cut through most of it and, in the case of one diner, it had to be replaced with a different cut of meat. Half of the group ordered the Wild Salmon and left it virtually untouched as the preparation was so insipid. Since the manager had been so insistent about us making our dinner choices two weeks in advance, i wish she would have shown us the courtesy of informing us that they needed to make a substitution.

• Pros: Setting in Park
• Cons: Having to wait 30 minutes when one has a reservation