the owl house

so happy !!. i went to the owl house for the firsttimethis afternoon on a friend's recommendation .. i was so happy i did. this used to be "the city grill" back in the day for those of you who remember it. i loved the entire experience, from the moment i walked in i was greeted by a friendly staff member, was seated right away then was taken great care of during the meal .. staff = a+!! on to the food .. i ordered the chicken salad sandwich and a plate of fries as a starter .. the chicken salad was inspired .. one of the best i have had in a while and the fries .. omg .. thick hand cut .. real hand cut … not manufactured to appear hand cut .. these were awesome. my friend had the nachos and loved them; she took what was left home! they have a full bar .. so will definitely be back for dinner, make a resi though, the place is charming and i heard fills up fast! as we left some members of the staff said good-bye .. bottom line .. the place is comfortable and casual, portions are great, ingredients are fresh and the staff was wonderful! will be back soon with other friends!

wow!. it was a pleasure to be served by such a sweet young lady (laura), who had no trouble describing the selections of food and drinks. being knowledgable is a very good sign. i had the b.v.e. burger.......omg.....amazingingly delish! the roll alone was superb, now picture the tastiest burger with the coolest choices of condiments added, picture strawberry jam mayo. oh man it was awesome! the drinks were right on, and the atmosphere outdoors......fireflies in the garden....i haven't seen fireflies since i was ten! so lovely! my son zach was visiting from san francisco, he chose the owl house and i am sold on it! nexttimewe go i am having the shanghai chicken, i sampled my sons' meal, yummy!

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 littletimeand money and treat yourself instead to a night down in ithaca at moosewood. nothing super original, but always at least well cooked.

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 hardtimegetting 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 lasttimei 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 thetimeof 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 wholetimei was waiting. i took thetimeto 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 firsttimeat 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 nexttimei 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 lasttimei 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!

unreliable. owl house can sometimes be good but sometimes not so good. i used to love the olek's buffalo sandwich with tempeh but lasttimei ordered it there was very little sauce and flavor. i just tried their brunch and although my vegan nachos were good, my friend's orders were either overcooked, badly seasoned, or cold. it seems like they are getting a little lazy or just don't know how to cook breakfast food correctly. come on owl house! i know you have the potential to make great food but just try a little harder.
this restaurant is definitely inconsistent and unreliable.

so i finally made it to the owl house for dinner last night, and wow!! i have to say that i loved it! i conveniently made reservations online right from thier website and my friend i were seated immediately when we arrived. they have a vast selection of boutique beers and microbrews to wet any thirsty whistle. i opted for one of thier cocktails which was a unique and memorable experience. they had several cocktails on the menu that i had never heard of, and i'm sure intimei will try them all! the bartender is a craftsman and using complex and unique ingredients, is able to almost transport you within the very 1st sip of his concoctions. absinthe, homeade ginger syrup, bitters, cucumber...not what you get in your run if the mill cocktails! try one, you will not be let down! dinner was fresh and the service was warm and attentive! lots of options to satisfy vegans and meat eaters who crave a unique healthy meal bursting with flavors. i will be back, see ya there!

what took me so long???. after atomic eggplant closed, it was a longtimebefore the owl house appeared, but it was so worth the wait - saw the local reviews, and finally managed a visit after 9pm on a school night - and the food was fabulous! i had the olek's buffalo stance (best tempeh ever!) and my friend had the matty's moustache - and we started with the ginger-lime edamame... all our selections were excellent. my only complaints - they were out of the rosemary & cracked pepper fries, and we couldn't get more of the edamame sauce for our homemade chips - they should bottle the stuff..... and, the menu is printed in a small font - but i'll check it out on-line before my next visit, and i'm recommending the place to everyone. service was great, beer selection was interesting and plentiful.
on top of it all, not too expensive - what's not to love???

great for family. when i found out my sister's daughter's family (3 little ones) was joining us for lunch at my firsttimeat the owl house, i was a bit concerned. not to worry, very child friendly and adult friendly at the same time. wonderful choices for every appetite and food preference ranged from beef sandwich to tofu tacos to chicken salad to grilled cheese to blt. plus pony's of beer. we had a greattimein the spacious upstairs room. going back soon (9/4)

so fresh!. to be honest, my super-nice waiter wasn't the best waiter in the world. he was very forgetful, although very apologetic, and very helpful with the menu.
also, the food took a longtimeto come out.
and the place filled up with hipsters who spent a lot oftimelooking at their reflections in windows. this was after 9pm. hipsters give me hives.
that being said: i had the best. sandwich. ever. truly, that i have ever experienced. the ingredients on my vegan blt were fresh and the bread was glorious. and my three friends were all equally thrilled with their meals.
we also were fans of their drink menu. i, in particular, loved that they served genny cream ale (old skool, ya'll!!) and... the vegan chocolate mousse. soo delicious.
so go to the owl house. make sure you are not in a rush, or with someone who looks at their watch.