This restaurant had truly exceptional service! The staff went above and beyond, making you feel welcomed and valued from the moment you arrived. Paired with outstanding food, this place offered a memorable dining experience. Highly recommend!
Stuart Meyer
Wow, Alchemy continues to impress! New Year’s Eve dinner - unusual and tasty warm winter salad, petrale sole with Dungeness crab in a light bearnaise sauce, paired with a well-chosen Chehalem Three Vineyard riesling. The mocha mousse was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. Service was Michelin-class.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
David
Great food, drinks and service. I always feel welcome and sated at the Alchemy Bar and Restaurant. Happy hour is such a great value too.
Norm
Caesar salad had no flavor. Filet mignon was very small, overcooked on the outside, poor flavor. Soup was good. Potato grating was VERY small and tasted premade.
M Darling
Definitely the best bar in Ashland. Anytime we have guests in town we take them here. The vibe is cozy and the food is tasty too!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Josh
Alchemy is always excellent! Warm and inviting room, excellent service, and outstanding cuisine.
Ben
Food was well presented but heavily over-seasoned. Great service and nice ambiance. Especially good holiday decorations.
Brian Paladini Jr.
Great meal!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kevin
Perfect gourmet meal in every regard. Outstanding, mature, polished, yet friending service.
Jeffrey Blow
I really enjoyed my cocktail. Black Walnut Manhattan. Really nice space. FYI only cocktails, no food.
A Local’s Scathing (and Unfortunately Accurate) Take on Alchemy in Ashland
As someone who’s lived in Ashland long enough to know where the real food is, I went into Alchemy hoping they’d finally stepped up their game. Spoiler alert: they have not. If anything, my recent visit felt like a flashback to a restaurant clinging to its glory days like an old prom king who still brings up high school.
The Steak: Look, I’m not asking for perfection. I’m just asking for a steak that doesn’t taste like it was punished for my sins. Mine arrived with the kind of texture you get when you forget something on the grill… and then remember it after a small crisis. Let’s just say if a steak knife had feelings, mine would’ve called its therapist afterward.
The Salad: Calling it a “salad” feels generous. It was more like a handful of leaves experiencing drought conditions. If there was dressing, it must have evaporated during the walk from the kitchen. I’ve had more moisture come off the Rogue Valley air on a dry August day.
The Decor: Every local knows Alchemy used to look nice. Now it just looks… tired. Outdated in that “hasn’t-been-touched-since-Obama’s-first-term” kind of way. The chairs slump like they’ve accepted their fate. The tables wobble like they’re trying to escape the restaurant entirely. And the tablecloths? Let’s just say flipping them upside down to hide stains is a trick we all recognize, and it’s not the kind that inspires confidence.
The Vibe (A.K.A. My Partners’ Reactions): My business partners—who came in optimistic—left looking like they’d just discovered bad news about their credit scores. They were disappointed, confused, and questioning every positive thing I’d ever said about Ashland’s dining scene.
Local Word Around Town (My Personal Take): As a local, my impression is that people aren’t exactly raving about the place lately. The whispers sound less like “Wow, amazing!” and more like “Oh… you went there?” It’s the kind of tone we usually reserve for tourists who accidentally join the Shakespeare Festival line thinking it’s a coffee queue.
Salvation: Coco Rico Thankfully, we regrouped at Coco Rico, where the food actually tastes like someone cooked it on purpose. The dishes had flavor. They had energy. They had life. Coco Rico felt like the culinary equivalent of being rescued by a competent friend who knows how to fix every disaster.
By the end of the night, we were full, happy, and reminded that Ashland does know how to do food—just not at Alchemy right now.
If you’re a local, you already know where to go. If you’re visiting: learn from my mistakes. Start at Coco Rico and save yourself the emotional journey
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 4
Allan Bedwell
Great food and ambiance. Sophisticated menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
B6117
Charming '1930's decor, good location for theater goers, nice bar-great cocktails. My husband found his braised short ribs of beef satisfying. I enjoyed my "duck confit" which seemed to be a modern take on the dish-sort of deconstructed, with a layer of the beans and sausage on the bottom and a roast duck leg on a bed of frisee on top of it. I suppose it is less greasy this way, better for modern tastes. Service was good, prices are ok. My husband commented it cost less than another favorite restaurant we go to and I replied that we didn't order bread, salad or dessert and so weren't paying for them.
Luis Quezada's USA Soccer Camp
We make the drive up to Portland twice a year and always stay in Ashland for two to three nights. Alchemy is one of our favorite restaurants on the entire trip. The food and service make you feel like you’re dining in St. Helena. Absolutely delicious!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
vickiv852
We eat here every time we come to Ashland which is about 4 times a year. New chef new menu. I ordered the boneless rack of lamb appetizer. Ordered it pink to medium rare. It arrived blue. I should have sent it back, but that would have ruined the whole dinner. Tried to eat some of the somewhat cooked pieces but left most of it on the plate. No one asked why I didn’t eat it. Later that night ended up with horrible stomach pains which lasted four days. Won’t be back.
This restaurant had truly exceptional service! The staff went above and beyond, making you feel welcomed and valued from the moment you arrived. Paired with outstanding food, this place offered a memorable dining experience. Highly recommend!
Wow, Alchemy continues to impress! New Year’s Eve dinner - unusual and tasty warm winter salad, petrale sole with Dungeness crab in a light bearnaise sauce, paired with a well-chosen Chehalem Three Vineyard riesling. The mocha mousse was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. Service was Michelin-class.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great food, drinks and service. I always feel welcome and sated at the Alchemy Bar and Restaurant. Happy hour is such a great value too.
Caesar salad had no flavor. Filet mignon was very small, overcooked on the outside, poor flavor. Soup was good. Potato grating was VERY small and tasted premade.
Definitely the best bar in Ashland. Anytime we have guests in town we take them here. The vibe is cozy and the food is tasty too!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alchemy is always excellent! Warm and inviting room, excellent service, and outstanding cuisine.
Food was well presented but heavily over-seasoned. Great service and nice ambiance. Especially good holiday decorations.
Great meal!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Perfect gourmet meal in every regard. Outstanding, mature, polished, yet friending service.
I really enjoyed my cocktail. Black Walnut Manhattan. Really nice space. FYI only cocktails, no food.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
A Local’s Scathing (and Unfortunately Accurate) Take on Alchemy in Ashland
As someone who’s lived in Ashland long enough to know where the real food is, I went into Alchemy hoping they’d finally stepped up their game. Spoiler alert: they have not. If anything, my recent visit felt like a flashback to a restaurant clinging to its glory days like an old prom king who still brings up high school.
The Steak:
Look, I’m not asking for perfection. I’m just asking for a steak that doesn’t taste like it was punished for my sins. Mine arrived with the kind of texture you get when you forget something on the grill… and then remember it after a small crisis. Let’s just say if a steak knife had feelings, mine would’ve called its therapist afterward.
The Salad:
Calling it a “salad” feels generous. It was more like a handful of leaves experiencing drought conditions. If there was dressing, it must have evaporated during the walk from the kitchen. I’ve had more moisture come off the Rogue Valley air on a dry August day.
The Decor:
Every local knows Alchemy used to look nice. Now it just looks… tired. Outdated in that “hasn’t-been-touched-since-Obama’s-first-term” kind of way. The chairs slump like they’ve accepted their fate. The tables wobble like they’re trying to escape the restaurant entirely. And the tablecloths? Let’s just say flipping them upside down to hide stains is a trick we all recognize, and it’s not the kind that inspires confidence.
The Vibe (A.K.A. My Partners’ Reactions):
My business partners—who came in optimistic—left looking like they’d just discovered bad news about their credit scores. They were disappointed, confused, and questioning every positive thing I’d ever said about Ashland’s dining scene.
Local Word Around Town (My Personal Take):
As a local, my impression is that people aren’t exactly raving about the place lately. The whispers sound less like “Wow, amazing!” and more like “Oh… you went there?” It’s the kind of tone we usually reserve for tourists who accidentally join the Shakespeare Festival line thinking it’s a coffee queue.
Salvation: Coco Rico
Thankfully, we regrouped at Coco Rico, where the food actually tastes like someone cooked it on purpose. The dishes had flavor. They had energy. They had life. Coco Rico felt like the culinary equivalent of being rescued by a competent friend who knows how to fix every disaster.
By the end of the night, we were full, happy, and reminded that Ashland does know how to do food—just not at Alchemy right now.
If you’re a local, you already know where to go. If you’re visiting: learn from my mistakes. Start at Coco Rico and save yourself the emotional journey
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 4
Great food and ambiance. Sophisticated menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Charming '1930's decor, good location for theater goers, nice bar-great cocktails. My husband found his braised short ribs of beef satisfying. I enjoyed my "duck confit" which seemed to be a modern take on the dish-sort of deconstructed, with a layer of the beans and sausage on the bottom and a roast duck leg on a bed of frisee on top of it. I suppose it is less greasy this way, better for modern tastes. Service was good, prices are ok. My husband commented it cost less than another favorite restaurant we go to and I replied that we didn't order bread, salad or dessert and so weren't paying for them.
We make the drive up to Portland twice a year and always stay in Ashland for two to three nights. Alchemy is one of our favorite restaurants on the entire trip. The food and service make you feel like you’re dining in St. Helena. Absolutely delicious!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We eat here every time we come to Ashland which is about 4 times a year. New chef new menu. I ordered the boneless rack of lamb appetizer. Ordered it pink to medium rare. It arrived blue. I should have sent it back, but that would have ruined the whole dinner. Tried to eat some of the somewhat cooked pieces but left most of it on the plate. No one asked why I didn’t eat it. Later that night ended up with horrible stomach pains which lasted four days. Won’t be back.
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