A moment of silence for sustainability…

Image: Jett Farrell-Vega

I want to emphasize that through this entire experience, the hosts, servers, and management remained a highlight. If nothing else, warm hospitality and welcoming smiles remain a high point for The Garden Grill, and the characters are still as charming as ever.

We once again had two special diet visitors with us (a vegetarian and pescatarian this time), so we were given a special menu highlighting that their meal would include a few of the normal feast items along with a veggie loaf, green beans, rice pilaf, and mac n’ cheese. It didn’t quite meet the high expectations of the previous visit, but we assumed the best. When we asked about the sustainable fish, we were surprised to learn it had been removed from the menu.

This was the first of many disappointments to come. The sustainable fish-- whether catfish, mahi-mahi, or other breeds-- have been one of the best items at The Garden Grill, so it seemed odd that something so closely tied to the Living With the Land attraction would get axed. The menu still touted that many of the vegetables were grown in the greenhouse, so we expected this would be a singular issue.

From harvest feast to harvest farce…

Garden Grill Standard Meal
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega

The first of many signs that something had shifted came with the salad. The rich, delicious farmer’s salad has been replaced with a mediocre mix of lettuce and a few scattered veggies. They very well may have still come from the greenhouse downstairs, but the previously exceptional quality of the produce has diminished. Also, the egg included with the salad was frozen.

Now, I know the Garden Grill is a high-volume restaurant. My own husband worked in high-volume fine dining, but in what situation do you need to be keeping hard boiled eggs so long that they need to be frozen at a restaurant known for farm fresh food?

The main meal sparked an immediate reaction of raised brows. Across the board, the entire spread had taken an unprecedented shift to the mediocre. The flank steak and chicken have been replaced with gravy smothered turkey breast, pot roast, and Italian sausage of passable quality. The rest of the plate was entirely made up of starches: mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and spongy stuffing that all carried the distinct flavor and texture not of being farm-fresh (or even freshly made) but of being mass-produced, frozen, and reheated from a package.

Garden Grill Vegetarian Meal
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega

For the vegetarians, things crossed from disappointing to dismal. They received the same parade of starches along with a tomato sauce smeared mystery cube that made up the veggie loaf. It wasn’t awful but not exactly appetizing either. Paired with this was a giant pile of oil-soaked sweet potato fries, and… worst of all… a small cup of mac n’ cheese that might have come out of a Kraft instant-mac box, dotted with goldfish crackers. While this might have been an adorable addition to a children’s meal, it felt like salt on the wound for a meal that cost nearly $50 a person. The shortbread dessert at the end also fell short of expectation, carrying the same distinct “squeezed-from-a-bag” taste.