Harper's Garden
31 S 18th St, Philadelphia
(267) 886-8552
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I hosted an engagement dinner for 20 people here- and would absolutely not recommend this restaurant for any private events. To start, after the initial contact was made with the event planner, Taylor, it was worse than pulling teeth to get responses and actually finalize plans and details. It took days, sometimes weeks, to get responses, and often the responses were incomplete. A few times we tried to plan a call and two or three of those times, Taylor either forgot to call or just chose not to and I did not get an email offering a new call until a couple days later. We finally crystallized the plans, signed the event contract and got ready for the event. On the day of the dinner, NO ONE from the events team, Taylor or anyone else, actually met us at the restaurant. The event was scheduled (per our many emails and the contract) for 5:30 pm - at 5:25 pm the hostesses told us the space would not be ready until 6 pm. We went upstairs at 5:45 pm at everything was still being set up. So, things did not get off to a good start. Taylor and I discussed and agreed on a specific table arrangement - that was not done. There wasn't even enough space to organize the tables the way we discussed, so we were given incorrect information on that. There was not enough room for people to move around and talk like we'd wanted. The event space is semi-private and upstairs and was VERY hot. Everyone was sweating and uncomfortable for the entirety of our event. There were two servers that helped with our event - they were both very rude, especially in the beginning of the event. Mind you, half the time no one was around to help us take drink orders and the appetizers we ordered for a cocktail hour were extremely slow to come out. I told one of the servers that after she made a round with each platter of hors d'oeuvres, she could leave the platter on the table to the side instead of carrying it back down the stairs, and instead she and the other server just started bringing up the platters and leaving them on the table for people to get themselves. There wasn't enough space for people to actually walk around and grab things from the table at the end, so my mom and dad ended up walking around with the platters, serving food. My mom in heels, my dad sweating in his suit. Absolutely ridiculous. Multiple times I had to run up and down the stairs in my heels to go to the bar for drinks because no one was coming around to take drink orders. Eventually, everyone just started ordering 2 drinks at a time, which helped solve the problem, but running up and down the stairs when I wanted to be spending time with my family and hosting an event was ridiculous. Taylor and I also agreed ahead of time and had on the contract that the servers would take my nephew's order for a kid's meal while the rest of the food was served buffet style. All the buffet food came up, and I realized my nephew had no food, so again, I had to run downstairs and try to track down our server to get her to take the order. My nephew's food came in almost 45 min after everyone else was already eating. To top it off, there was an additional 3% charge (after tax, 20% gratuity, and an alcohol tax) for using a credit card to pay for dinner, so we paid a great deal extra for what ended up being terrible service. FWIW the food was a mixed bag, but more good than bad. At a normal dinner, certain things with service slide, but our bill came up to over $4,500. I reached out to the restaurant event planning team more than three months in advance to start planning and avoid a last minute crunch, and they made it as difficult as possible from start to finish. I had hope that everything would be okay with this event because I've had good experiences here before, so I ignored the writing on the wall with how difficult the process was to begin with. It was really disappointing to see how little the team cared about making the event good for us, and I was sad that it couldn't be the event we envisioned. I would not recommend h
Good drinks, food was just ok
Four of us met for brunch here on a chilly morning in March. Tldr: food was excellent, but lots of missed opportunities, service-wise.
We were seated in one of the outdoor atrium rooms, right (*right*) next to the door. Servers and hostess were constantly in and out, letting in a cold wind each time. We asked to be moved to one of the 3 or 4 open tables we could see, but without bothering to ask a manager, or even consult the seating chart, we were quickly told our only option was to move to the bar. We just kept our jackets on, while the other tables remained vacant for most of our stay. Empty tea and coffee cups were passed by repeatedly, until we flagged down our waitress, who then brought cups of hot water with no tea bags.
The saving grace was the food, and the company of our friends. The broccoli and cheddar omelette and breakfast tacos were excellent, and we had a lovely time despite the minor annoyances.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Service very nice. Food can be better. The toast was overcooked.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 5
Duck lacked flavor and was over cooked. Server forgot about us 4 times and we had to get up and remind them to put in our order, bring our drinks, etch Chicken was overly salty. Lobster roll had too much sauce, drowned out the flavor. Grilled cheese was bland. Appetizers were delicious (brussels sprouts & golden beet salad), thats the only redeeming quality. I understand that they were busier inside, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of attention & poorly cooked food (and they didn’t apologize).
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Service was not good. Sat at table for a very long time. Finally had to go find someone. Someone finally came and then kept disappearing for long extended periods. Brought out appetizers but not drinks. Had to get up again to get drinks. Food was mediocre.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
Place is cute but it was our anniversary and the food wasn't cooked. It was literally microwaved and was cold in the middle. It was kinda expensive to microwave too. Was literally missing food it said it had on the menu. Couldn't exchange because there's not many options for vegetarians. Will never come back. Honestly ruined the night but went to a chain restaurant to actually eat afterwards and the food was more filling and better drinks.
Food is too bland to make up for any of the positives, service was good atmosphere is great but if you can use some pepper or salt to make it edible I couldn’t go back or recommend.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 4
Food was amazing, service was absolutely horrible. No water for 30 mins and the server didn’t once ask us how anything was or check up on us. Would recommend this place but service needs to change. Niman was our server and he was not attentive at all.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 1
I visited this spot with friends, and unfortunately, our experience was disappointing from the start. We were seated in the greenhouses, which remained uncomfortably cold despite the heat being turned up to the maximum. I wouldn’t recommend choosing the greenhouse seating, especially in colder weather.
As for the food, the B.E.C. pancakes were a letdown. Even after exchanging them, they were wet and undercooked on the inside, leaving a raw taste. The Turkey Chorizo Sandwich was equally disappointing—bland and lacking any flavor reminiscent of turkey chorizo. Instead, it tasted more like beans.
We also tried the roasted beets, mushrooms, and goat cheese omelet, which was another letdown. The vegetables tasted boiled and flavorless, with no seasoning to enhance the dish. The saving grace was our server Ribbon who was very nice and tried to help even with how disappointing our food was. Overall, the food fell far below expectations, and I wouldn’t recommend this place based on our experience.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Earlier today, my husband and I and our 5 year old sat in the outdoor area for about 20 minutes without anyone coming to take our orders. People came to bus tables that had left and even filled up water glasses on empty tables, but not ours. We eventually just got up and left.
Atmosphere: 2
Service: 1
Our group went here for a birthday party, we brought our own cake and we were told there would be a cake cutting fee of $25 which we were okay with. We made sure to inform them that it's a birthday and we'd like the cake brought out after the second course. And when we were ready, we asked for the cake and it was brought to us ALREADY CUT. I have never seen this happen elsewhere...including in places where there's a cake cutting fee. The whole experience was so disappointing and ruined a birthday moment. In the end we also had to pay the cake cutting fee. Over all such a big let down.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
I was underwhelmed. I tried to reserve a table inside but was only given an option for the heated patio, yet the dining room you first walk in to was totally empty. I read online that it was warm on the patio. I have to disagree. It wasn't bitter cold like outside, but it was still very cold, and you have to walk outside to get to it and so does your waiter, so your food is not all piping hot when it gets to you. I went for brunch. It was okay. The potato hash was so odd, like overcooked potatoes to the point they seemed more like chips with peppers and onions. Neither me nor my friend finished that. Staff was nice.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Harper's Garden is very charming. As you walk up the steps, you are entering an enchanted garden of delight. The drinks were very good and served by a bartender with great style and charm. The server was also personable. The food, on the other hand, was not impressive. I ordered the braised short ribs. While the short ribs were extremely tender, they lacked flavor. Wherever I order this, I'm used to this dish severed with bountiful flavor! The mashed potatoes had the texture of instant potatoes made from flakes, and the consistency was thin. The roasted petite potatoes were undercooked and hard to cut. I didn't send the entree back, although the server offered me to order another entree. I opted to take the dish home and will season it up a bit. The highlight of my dining experience was the dinner mates and the drinks.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
We came here since the chef was on tv making an omelette. French fries were so so. Service was rather transactional, omelette was ok but not like on tv. Will probably not come back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
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