Sunset Grille & Tap Room

We visited Saturday 10/7 for lunch to celebrate our previous trip when the four of us were in Stowe and ate there, which had been a great 1st time experience. This 2nd visit was very different. The hostess did not greet us whatsoever, almost expressionless with little to no eye contact like she was wishing to be somewhere else. She said nothing to us until we sat and told us someone would be with us shortly. Our bearded waiter was cold and short from the start. When he rushed away to bring us our drinks, I tried to catch him to let him know my wife would also like a drink. He returned with 3 drinks and when I told him we had a 4th and she would like a water, he rushed away again and returned, and literally slammed my wife's drink on the table and rushed away to kitchen. We were all taken back. We waited nearly an hour for four simple meals. It felt like he intentionally was trying to give us poor service, not checking in with us, not giving creamer, bringing us barely warm, almost cold food, very poor server etiquette and not once apologized for the wait. He obviously was miserable and made sure we felt the brunt of his bad day. I forgot to mention, there were flies flying all around, more than a couple. The other tables in the room seemed to receive excellent service from the tall waiter, nice guy who even commented he liked my hat when we left; almost as if he knew we had a horrible experience. Sunset Grill set the bar high with our first visit, but we will not return. There are simply too many other choices on the mountain road with better food and far better service.
8 years ago (09-10-2017)

Ordered take out on Sunday 8 October 2017. Food quality was ok to good. Nothing stood out as great and we found the ribs to be over cooked and dry in the competition plate we ordered. Definitely not the quality we expected for a signature item and the chicken was the best meat of the four. Order was quoted to be ready in 15 minutes and I arrived about 5 minutes past the quote time. It still wasn't ready for an additional 15 minutes so I got to wait at the bar area. Here is where I was able to see the staff working and in my opinion it looked like an unmanaged mess. The bartender was working hard and slinging drinks while having to attend to the high top tables in that section and process dining room drink orders. Clearly he could have used some help and most surprising to me was he also had to keep checking with the kitchen in the back for my order while the hostess stood at the podium. It seemed as though each staff member had their own section/duties and there was no cohesiveness or team work going on as the hostess could have easily popped in the back to check on orders to help out. This results in more work for some staff while slowing service for all patrons. The place was packed with locals and is one of the few establishments open late so competition is low and it seems the business doesn't have to try very hard. A side note is we tried to order the day before but it was a busy Saturday and nobody answered the phone while attempting to call for over an hour. I expect they just couldn't take time away from the peak of the eat in orders to take phone orders too. I believe if some additional focus is put on food quality consistency and team building then service would flow and the guest would get a good product but after my experience I will be unlikely to return. Fruit fly presence noted in another review was confirmed and the staff even commented on how heavy it was during my 15 minutes there. I understand it is common for fruit flies to pop up occasionally at the bar especially in the warm weather but a deep bar cleaning is necessary and evidently needed to improve the customer's impressions. Be proactive not reactive and reviews like mine would easily be 4 or 5 stars.
8 years ago (10-10-2017)

First..I wasn't acknowledged when I walked in. I looked around and had to ask if I can get a table or am I to sit anywhere. The guy was rude....Other than that, the ribs melted in your mouth and the Mac and cheese was creamy and even the balsamic dressing on the salad was a good!! My waitress was very attentive and nice. I would've graded higher if it wasn't for the front guy.
8 years ago (05-09-2017)

Sunset Grille and Tap Room provided us dinner for 30 over our wedding weekend. Everything was delicious and the owners, Nancy and Hobbs, were so easy to work with! Our guests were all raving about how delicious it was! Thank you for your part in making our weekend fabulous!
8 years ago (14-08-2017)

Popular with the locals. Great place to watch the game on a huge screen. Good burgers. Fair prices.
8 years ago (02-10-2017)