the owl house

...we went to the owl house for lunch, which is a cute restaurant we found through urbanspoon. it was in a renovated house and we actually ate in the backyard on the patio – i felt like i was eating at someone’s home! they had really de

this was my third visit to the owl house and we try to make sure we try different items on the menu each visit. the pub steak, mac n cheese, and califlower wings were excellent-we would highly recommend. we also ordered one of the specials, sausage tacos-they were very disappointing. my daughter ordered the veggie burger and was also a bit disappointed-too spicy and mushy for our taste.

wonderful in every way. we had dinner at the owl house before a theater show. we were all pleased with the service, the atmosphere was great, and the food was original and delicious. we had the catfish and the vegan "mac and more" and couldn't decide which was better. will certainly go back!

not great. contemporary vegan cuisine has very much come into its own in the past ten years. in larger metropolitan areas gone are the heavy handed casseroles, replaced with sophisticated and sublime dishes which reflect an intrinsic understanding of the ingredients.
i was pretty excited about going to the owl house. located on a side street off lower monroe (think where the old glass onion and olive tree used to be), the ambiance of the re-purposed turn of the century house kind of hand this cool gatreau's pre katrina (new orleans) vibe.
unfortunately, all the dishes we had were a sloppy mess and exceedingly heavy-handed. rather than coming together flavors became subsumed by over seasoning. likewise, things just were not properly cooked. (some way under some way over).
while it is vegetarian/vegan "old school", save up a little time and money and treat yourself instead to a night down in ithaca at moosewood. nothing super original, but always at least well cooked.

great gluten free food. this place makes eating gluten free a treat. the selection and creativity is continually a very nice surprise. and the wine list is creative and very reasonably priced.

on the down slide. been going here for a while. the food is good but i have noticed that lately, the food hasn't been as good. it is still a great place for veg/vegan food but the food has gone from great to mediocre. flavors aren't as good anymore and like others have said, portions in the dishes have also been on the decline. hit and miss sadly so my wife (vegan) and i usually just opt for another of roc's vegan friendly eats.

best dining experience in a long time. almost ready to give up on finding the owl house, we stumbled across it on a side street right beside the marshall. the drinks, the food, the service! all were spectacular. the bill came at the end and i was expecting a $100 bill - but nope, $63!! i would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone.

- founders breakfast stout
- pomegranate old fashioned
- black walnut manhattan
- chefs snack
- maple/mustard pork loin on sweet potato mash
- the loaf (bacon wrapped meatloaf on a bed of beans)
- joe bean coffee
- death by chocolate cake

server was sara - she was awesome

trendy and tasty all at once!. yep,just a walk from the local organic co op is this small house style eatery thats cozy with the "in crowd" with art of the locals, and anyone can escape there for a meal. the menu includes vegetarian and vegan as well as fair that i will eat with passion. a burger was great.it was good and i have gone back again.still good.order anything and see what specials are first. later, i had a raspberry pancake thing that was very good. trendy sometimes the bar is packing people in and makes it hard to get a table.i saw outside seating though.try it!

great place. wonderful food, and wonderful people. definitely a favorite of ours. the menu is different and exciting, and the beer is stellar. great options for vegetarians and meat lovers alike. one of our favorites.

we went there for dinner this evening and it was nothing special. my husband and i eat out a few times a week and love to try new places that have good reviews but unfortunately this place fell short. the hostess upon arrival was not friendly at all. the food was average, nothing stood out as something that i thought was great & would make me want to return. they will charge you for any condiment you ask for even if you never got it. extra charges for a side of mayo & ketchup. yes, it's homemade, big deal. coffee was cold when we received it. my husband & i will not return nor recommend.

a favorite but a little unreliable. i started going to the owl house when it first opened...amazing! the food is creative, i almost always order whatever the appetizer of the day is just to try something new because i have a hard time getting away from a few favorites on the regular menu. the prices are great, my boyfriend and i can go to have dinner for $25 on nights when we don't feel like drinking.

we have noticed that they have started cutting back on ingredients in some of our favorites though. for example, the seitan cigarillos once contained much more seitan. the saigon and cherub sandwich are both now a much larger portion of bread to everything else than they used to be.

disappointed loyal fan of the owl house. let me start by saying i used to love the owl house. for few years the owl house has been my go to restaurant when getting a chance to go out. the last time i went to the owl house i made a 5:15 reservation. i arrived at 5:07. i had 2 very hungry children (ages 3 and 7). i needed to sit down! i'm pretty damn sure the table we reserved for 5:15 was open considering the time of day and there were many open tables in plain view. instead of seating us right away, which i would even expect at denny's, the hostess made us wait until exactly 5:15. people that have kids may be able to relate to this better. my kids needed to sit down. i needed to sit down. it was not busy. there is no place to stand and wait at the owl house, especially on cold winter days. the only reason i got seated was i stood in front of the hostess for 2 solid minutes holding my 3 year old while she stared at the hostess ipad and tried not to look up at me. keep in mind it is 5:13, i had a reservation for 5:15, i had 2 little kids and i am 99.9% sure the table upstairs was open the whole time i was waiting. i took the time to write all this out on the comments section of the owl house website 2 weeks ago. i received no reply. i am extremely disappointed in the owl house. despite all the good years and positive i've said about the owl house, i'm taking it all back. maybe they need to refocus on the customer.

awesome bartender, terrible service. i went to the owl house for the first time at the beginning of this week after reading a bunch of great reviews on urbanspoon and hearing some good things about it as well. i went with my boyfriend and we decided to sit at the bar first and get some cocktails and appetizers. i had the blood orange basil margarita and her had the winston. both were delicious. the bartender was very nice and personable and chatted with us the entire time. we ordered some edamame and cigarillos. we wanted to order the jerky, but they were out of it. the edamame and cigarillos were still delicious.

we didn't make reservations so we asked if they could squeeze us in anywhere when we were done. the bartender was again very nice about it and got us a table. there are only about 4 tables and the tables are situated along a wall that serves as a bench for one side of the tables. it was nice when we sat down because there weren't many people there. however, when it filled in there were people on either side of us and it felt like we couldn't have a private conversation.

after having such a great experience at the bar, i was hoping to have the same with dinner. we knew which bottle of wine we wanted to order when we sat down so i ordered it right away. she put the order in for it and came back to take our food order. i got the last order of fish tacos and he got a steak. while we were waiting some people had sat down and also ordered some food and drinks. those people got their food before we even got our bottle of wine. i was a little agitated but still looking forward to the food. about fifteen minutes after those people got their food, we finally got our food and wine. my fish tacos were completely cold and his steak was luke warm at best. it ruined the entire experience after everything at the bar.

i'm definitely willing to give this place a chance again just because the bartender was so great and they do have really good food. i'm just hoping the next time i go the service when you sit down isn't so bad.

my favorite restaurant!!!. this is my favorite restaurant in rochester! everything, i mean everything here is made from scratch. even the condiments. even the pickles. even the syrups and everything used in making their cocktails. and some of the ingredients even come from their own garden out back!

the cocktails are all custom crafted with a lot of house infused vodkas and liquors and such. they get the most amazing beers, i just had one with 16 hops, 16 malts, adn 16% alcohol last time i went!

their brunch is amazing! its the only place i know where you can get a real brunch like that. with all kinds of amazing food and even brunch cocktails!

and they specialize in both meat, and vegan options! and gluten free!!!

and the food is so delicious! this is some hardcore gourmet stuff! none of that little piece of salmon with a couple pieces of asparagus on the side and a little drizzle of sauce. no, were talking about good serious food!

it is small though and very popular so make sure you make a reservation when you want to go!

creative cocktails, lackluster food. we came back to dine here after being impressed by their cocktails (including a pimm's cup!) and ambience. our waitress was friendly but incredibly flakey, wandering away for 20 minutes after initially seating us so that she could find the specials menu. when she handed out the specials menu, she said something like "we're pretty much all out of the specials." then we asked if we could order and she said, "uhh... hold on a second" and took the order for the table next to us.

our appetizer (scant nachos with a strong raw garlic flavor and cold tofu) arrived long before our drinks and i had to point out that we were missing a drink to the scatter-brained waitress, who we witnessed being groped by another server at the serving station. we ordered sandwiches (saigon and big licky) and viva verde tacos and most of us opted for field greens instead of chips on the side. both people who ordered the tacos complained that they were uninteresting. the big licky sandwich had tasty bbq pork on a soft roll. the saigon sandwich was cold, did not have enough sauce, and was on a tough, chewy baguette. the side field greens, which came without dressing or other adornment, appeared to be tossed on the plate as a garnish rather than being an actual side dish. we were all disappointed. this is a cool place to enjoy an oddball drink, but i would pass on the food. if you do opt to eat here bear in mind that, based on the unprofessional service, you might be waiting for a while.