Great Sage

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

My GF and I are both veg, and were taken here by a friend, I dont remember the food being outstanding but it was exciting enough to have another option when eating out. Weve been back several times since then and my final assessment is an overly earnest attempt to create a veg fine dining experience without really delivering. The atmosphere is pleasant enough, though, again, it feels like its trying too hard. From photos of Peruvian farmers in the bathroom to the clay teacups and ornate kettles, everything screams how worldly it is. I suppose this is charming for some people, but it feels pretentious to me. Everything on Great Sages menu is organic, somethings can be made gluten-free, some things served with your choice of soy, rice or hemp milk. Its nice of them to be so accomodating of various dietary restrictions, but Id be willing to give up the choice for some flavor. The food isnt bad, but our meals were very inconsistent, usually wed have one delicious meal (usually an appetizer) and the rest of the was pretty bland. Good meals Ive had included french toast, a grilled Reuben (which has a weird texture, but got the flavor pretty much spot on), and a bean burrito special. They have gone all vegan for the new year, which I dont have a problem in principle, but when we went to have brunch there recently we noticed that their cinnamon buns (which were pretty consistently a good starter) had really fallen off. They were tough, gummy and bland, whereas before they were everything a good cinnamon bun should be. I expect more from a place so close to two major urban areas as Ive been able to find better meals in more remote places, and the prices make a bad meal that much more depressing. In the future, I may be willing to roll the dice again and hope for a good meal, but the good will I felt towards the place initially has largely gone.

AL

Allison Swift

My significant other and I went to dine with another couple on a Friday night. The restaurant was moderately busy but we were seated right away. The layout of the restaurant was nice and the ambiance was...okay. The menus didnt have many options especially for entrees, but of the 5 or 6 choices everything sounded pretty good. The cocktail and wine list, however, was quite extensive considering the size of the restaurant and most offerings were organic or sustainable. I had the "La Rosette", a mix of Organic Rosé champagne and St Germain Elderflower Liqueur. Though the flavor was nice, there were barely any bubbles. We started with a spinach and artichoke dip which was delicious. I had the veggie burger and homemade chips. The burger was very good, possibly the best veggie burger Ive had and quite filling, but the chips were oily and hard. I had to ask for ketchup and it took a while for it to be delivered to the table. Our water was refreshed regularly, but we were not asked for a second cocktail. We had to flag down our waiter for further drink service and ordered a bottle of Masciarelli Montepulciano for the table. For dessert we ordered the special, the "Cheese"cake and espressos. The espresso was luke warm but tasted good otherwise. We had to ask for sugar. The dairy free cheesecake was terrible. Completely flat and flavorless. I have heard from others that the other dessert options are much better. Prices were all inexpensive compared to other similar style restaurants in the area. Service was lacking. The server was unkempt in appearance and didnt do much to check on the table. He didnt seem very enthusiastic about the food or his job, really. We will probably give it a second chance since it is close by, the food was pretty decent for the price, and since others have had better luck....

NI

Nicole G

DELICIOUS!!! My husband and I went here for the first time last night, for our anniversary dinner. We started with the soups of the day (curried chickpea was one, corn chowder was the other)--they were knock-your-socks-off amazingly good. If the soups had been all we ate, we would have been happy, but we couldnt resist trying several other items from the menu. Everything we tried was delicious and BEAUTIFULLY presented (tofu hand rolls, caesar salad with grilled "chicken", green chile burger, cherry crisp, super green juice, freckled lemonade, hot chocolate, latte--yes, we ate way too much but it was all SOO good). You can tell the chefs are top notch talented and put loving care into each and every dish (it is so RARE to see this). We knew going in that this place had great reviews, but it really did live up to them, so I had to add my own! Having a seafood allergy, it can be challenging to go out for a nice meal without having to avoid 75% of the menu (and be worried that the other 25% has cross-contamination). But at Great Sage I didnt have to worry about that, the whole menu was open to me! And to top it off it was healthy, clean, beautiful, and no animal had to be killed in the making of my meal. On top of the delicious food, the service was just impeccable. Our waiter was kind, patient, helpful, and there were several other waitstaff attending to us throughout our meal--keeping our water topped off, taking away old dishes and bringing out new ones--every employee was friendly, down-to-earth, professional, calm and yet energetic, and seemed happy to be there. I just cant say enough good things about Great Sage and cant wait to go back!!! We will be making our visits to Sage much more regular than just anniversary dinners. Wish there were more restaurants like Sage in this world!

A

A Private User

We had high hopes for Great Sage, and the two times we went we came home disappointed. We dined there during two different seasons (spring, summer)...tried some "seasonal" dishes each time and simply were not impressed. The black bean soup we had during our first visit tasted and looked like canned black beans dumped in dish water. The pasta primavera was ice box cold. Some folks like their pasta primavera cold (we personally prefer a warm pasta); however, this cold was too cold (as in hurt your teeth cold). Totally muted whatever flavors the dish was supposed to offer. The spring vegetable risotto was good - thumbs up for that dish. The risotto we had last night with summer vegetables tasted off and the rice was undercooked. Most risotto cooks will suggest that the rice still have a "bite" to it; however, this rice was stiff and hard (risotto rice should not crunch and stick to your teeth). The black bean and corn burger was OK - could be better, could be worse. It spread too much when you took a bite and the burger eventually ended up in a big crumbled pile on the plate no matter how gently we tried to eat it. The bun was horrible - totally store bought and it seemed much like one you would find at a popular fast food chain. We would expect better bread choices. Salads were so-so. The lettuce was certainly store bought and not "farm fresh". We buy our produce every week at a local farmers market and know "farm fresh" vs. store bought. We came away with mixed reviews the first time and so hoped our second dining experience would be better. After two disappointments, we cant say that we will return. :( Hopefully others will have better dining experiences.