cafe osage

elegant sunday brunch. went for brunch with friends on the weekend. will go back.

the food: amazingly light, fluffy, tasty multi grain pancakes with scrumptuous strawberry/rhubarb compote. so good, tw wants them again, six hours later, while writing this review. egg scramble with cheese over potatoes and topped with microgreens was not as outstanding and could have used a bit of a kick but was lovely.

the vibe: charming space, maybe a bit too busy on a weekend morning. love how they present the check! therestaurantis part of bowood farms, a lovely garden center, so the setting couldn't be prettier.

laissez-faire service, inconsistent. i live fairly close to thisrestaurantso i've tried it on several occasions, 3 times for lunch and once yesterday for brunch on sunday. it seems like the kitchen is typically on track but thisrestaurantcomes across as one where there is not a front of the house manager. the hostess usually does not come out to greet customers by the sign asking customers to wait there, usually you have to go and find her and on every occasion i've been there customers are always asking each other if they've been helped yet--maybe because there are not enough bussers because she also helps clean up and set the tables, but then incoming customers get neglected and it's very disorganized. on 3 out of 4 occasions service was slow and underwhelming, so having poor service 75% of the time is not enough to keep a customer no matter what the other charms are. on another occasion servers were standing around talking loudly in the bar area about their personal lives, which of course would be fine as long as it wasn't in front of or where customers can hear--it came across as very unprofessional. i've given thisrestaurantseveral shots because of the wider variety of vegetarian options. yesterday was the first time the food was bad, every other time it's been great, but yesterday my eggs for the osage scramble were so overcooked they were actually rubbery and my husband's breakfast sandwich was cold. we waited 10 minutes to get waters and 25 minutes for our drinks, no exaggeration. our server joked that the bartender would get to it eventually and laughed nervously. even a beginning bartender in a completely packedrestaurantis faster. i think if you wait that long someone should initiate taking something of your bill, but my husband would just rather never go back than complain or ask for that. there are just too many other restaurants that have great food and organized, professional service.

terrible. i was so disappointed in today's experience. i love the nursery butrestaurantwas terrible. long wait which was ok as we browsed. when we finally sat we did get water and ordered right away. 1 hour later no food and no explanation. when food finally came my order was wrong. my friends had eggs with salmon, cream cheese and capers. no capers. the waiter took my plate without saying a thing. i said i hoped it wouldn't take as long as it originally had. we called hostess over to inquire about capers. she acted like we were being a pain. she said she would get the manager and then came back and said manager on cooking line and too busy to speak with us. no one ever apologized and they acted like it was our problem not theirs. it will be too bad if marginal food and crappy service reflect badly on bowoods. not sure if they are owned and run by same entity.

blaugh !. went to therestaurantlast week. ordered the tuna, rare. only choices for side dishes were high carbohydrate- didn't appreciate that and they did not offer a salad instead. when i asked about that, the waiter told me, "it is what it is..."
so...the tuna was not fresh, nor a good quality. it was not cooked at a high enough temperature to create the sear on the outside and the tuna smelled fishy (old).
hot tip...fresh fish smells like fresh cantaloupe...there is not fishy smell.
well, it tasted awful...i could only eat one bite out of the whole lunch....they did not ask how it was and/or if they could get me anything else....
my friend's lunch was a few little pieces of toast spread out on a big plate and a few little (maybe 1 tablespoon) of sample spreads.....could have been placed on a coffee cup saucer....
and, by the way, therestaurantwas cold......mentioned it to the waiter several time...
very third rate...won't ever go back....

heavenly neighborhood cafe. attached to a garden center, this wonderfulrestaurantbenefits from vegetables and herbs grown on site, not to mention all of the other ingredients are selected from small local purveyors. lovely warm ambiance, small space, v friendly staff, and inviting music all combine to make this the best breakfast and lunch establishment in st louis (no dinner as yet). highly recommended!!