It’s really too bad this place shut down. My family and i were regulars. Elizabeth (or Liz sometimes) was the best server we have had in a long time. Each experience she seemed to really care and make sure we ordered good entrees PERSONALLY based off of our recommendations. The environment was nice, but the manager seemed rude or even put off that we came in for dinner. I even watched him scold at our waitress for making small talk with other tables while the kitchen was “too busy”.Hey Elizabeth, if you ever check these reviews, I own a restaurant in downtown and would be thrilled to hire you! If you read this email me at the email provided for this review.The food was overall good due to solid recommendations. Even with us waiting long periods of time our waitress kept us updated and kept all drinks filled. This was a nice spot for Allen with a nice ambiance and i hate to see it go, because if you had more employees like my waitress and your food kept tasting the way it did, i think it would be a hit!P.S, to the man with the english accent, people can overhear your rude remarks. All the best! Thanks again Elizabeth.
JAndFam
We were seated at 11:30 off a reservation. Service was extremely slow not receiving our food until 12:40 of which we ordered poached eggs and they were hard boiled. Ordered a burger with the egg and the egg was a cold piece of rubber on top of a hamburger. Would not recommend until they get more cooks and service staff.
Franka
This was our third time at this place and will be the last one. Service was absolutely awful, the waitress didn't know the menu, was very slow, and seemed disengaged... wonder if there was a management/owner change.
RobG
Unimpressed with the quality of food for the price - I had the ravioli with pancetta, overcooked. My husband had the seafood pasta, flavorless with 2 shrimp and 4 mussels. Would not return.
Yolanda Glenn
Yesterday was the worst experience I have had at an establishment. I was here visiting from South Carolina to celebrate my sister’s birthday. We attended their brunch. Our reservation was for 11am, when the restaurant opened. We requested indoors, but they seated us outdoors. They told us it would be ok, they had fans and misters going. However that is not what we requested when we made the reservation. We were seated at 11:15am. Placed our order at 11:45am. We didn’t receive our food until well after 1:30pm. When we asked for the manager because of the wait time. The hostess came over pretending to be the manager and basically insulting our intelligence. When the runner brought our food because still no manager, he said you can tell me the issue. Again still not the manager. Finally when the manager came he wasn’t apologetic and didn’t even sympathize. He said they had $1.00 mimosa and they weren’t prepared for the rush. It was running about an hour for people to receive their food. However while we were seated we noticed other tables that was seated after us had received food and was leaving. When we received our food it was burnt and cold. The server didn’t care about how satisfied we were, she was only worried about us paying and her tip. When she went to the back, she must have been discussing it because they were peaking from the curtain and staring at our table. This experience was simply horrible and unprofessional. Needless to say, my sister’s celebration was a complete disaster..
Steve “Niner” Burk
Definitely a 5 Star experience!!!Great food, Great service and Awesome drinks!!!Chef even came out to check on our food and as early as we are they weren't too busy or loud at all... We really enjoyed the whole experience and will be returning again, soon!!!The chef coming out was a true mark of excellence!
Bre Duke
The Bolognese pasta had homemade noodles which was good, but the sauce tastes like Chili, straight up meat chili. Okay?The chicken fried steak tasted like crust with bad grease . The actual meat had zero flavor and had veins still in it. This plate usually comes with mashed potato’s and okra. My husband substituted the mashed potato’s for French fries…. They charged us an extra $4.00 to substitute…. !!!! No warning or anything. What a rip off . The kids meal chicken was good . Waitress was decent but we were the only people really here besides the few customers at the bar .Gave a 2 rating since the olympics were on and the waitress came to see if we were good multiple times .
Brian K.
When my wife suggested a second trip to Peppersmash, I agreed... perhaps not readily, but on our first visit we'd tried the Charcuterie Board and found it amazing. My entree for that first visit was the scallops, and I set aside the fact that I found them unusually briny to them being... well... not so fresh. Sunday is NOT a good day to order seafood and the server admitted that I was literally eating the last of the scallops. So I set my misgivings aside and told my wife that next time I'd get the chicken fried steak. Fast forward to visit two and the atmosphere had changed dramatically. A country band was playing with the volume cranked to eleven and my wife and I were shouting just to be able to hear each other. I ordered the chicken fried steak while my wife got the mushroom ravioli with shrimp. To my shock, the kitchen had our food ready in like seven or eight minutes. The first thing I noticed was that my CFS was greasy. I could see it pooling at the end. I cut it open, took a bite, and found that the meat hadn't been seasoned and the batter was soaked in oil. But the batter was also cooked, which told me that this slab of CFS had been pre-made, cooked elsewhere, and then tossed in the fryer on site. The lack of seasoning and fryer oil flavor made it inedible and for the first time in my life, I actually returned a dish. The server made it clear I was the problem. "That's funny. That man over there says he loves it," she told me, pointing to another table. The restaurant was kind enough to provide me another dish - the pork belly with pimento and fried egg and while I waited for that, I tasted my wife's dish - mostly because she didn't seem that happy either. The ravioli was... oddly flavored. The chef had added lemon to it and the flavors did NOT meld. As I watched her cut one of the shrimp, she admitted that the shrimp was severely over-cooked. Then my pork belly came out. The presentation was nice, but the delicious pimento cheese I'd tasted the first visit on the charcuterie board was not the same as the melted cheddar version I got on the pork belly. The underlying vegetables were soaked in oil and the whole thing, while edible, was overly salted because of the cheddar base of the pimento. Two visits is enough for me. Pretty much done with Peppersmash. I'm not sure if it's the recipes or the kitchen staff, but I'm not paying those kind of prices for food I don't like. Pro Tip: Bring ear plugs on Saturday. You'll still be able to hear the music, but at more tolerable levels.
Ken B.
The food is shockingly good. Seafood pasta and salmon are amazing. Sit at the bar and if you get Landon he knows his stuff and offers great service . Going to try and make the brunch menu next time !!
PamG
Great hidden jewel. Both times I have been here they have had great quality music. They really need to advertise more. I hope they can get more recognition. We love the patio and the bar is beautiful.
Food was excellent - we had the pork chop and the salmon. Cocktails were excellent. Service was fine. Not stellar, but she was pleasant and trying hard. Live music on patio was way too loud even inside. Could not chat. Majority of seating is at high tables - so a reservation might be best if you need a low table.
Silvina S.
Food is okay and drinks are also okay. The place is VERY loud because of the highway if you sit outside or if you sit inside by the open window. Not going back.
Steven K.
Went for Sunday brunch, the place was half full, we were not greeted by the host but asked if we had a reservation. Not a good first impression. Our waitress was very nice and showed us around the menu and gave suggestions. We ordered chicken and waffles and the split bird sandwich. The waffle was ok the chicken on the other hand does not seem to be fried on-site but rather reheated and served not worth 17 dollars. Breading was very dark it was eatable so one star for that. The split bird came out with a half melted Kraft American single with the same style of chicken as mentioned earlier only this seemed to frozen and thawed several times then when reheated became over done dark in color not eatable. Drinks bloody Mary came in a Collins glass leave a little to be desired and was ok. Mimosa were good too. Ultimately this place could be good looks like they need help in every area. Now hiring is never a good indication that everything is under control.
TexasVoyager_BW
I seriously should have checked the reviews on Trip Advisor first. I stopped in for a late lunch on a Sunday to give the new place in town a try. They were not terribly busy at the time and there were plenty of open tables. However, I stood alone by the vacant host stand for over five minutes before somebody noticed me. Once seated, it was another 10 minutes before the server stopped by to take my drink order. She dropped the water off right away but it took another 10 minutes for her to arrive with my glass of wine and take my order. It was then a lengthy wait for my meal to arrive. At least the burger was delicious. It would have been nice to have a napkin and silverware. I finally had to walk over to the bar to grab a pile of cocktail napkins. I should have filed a missing person report for my server with the Allen PD. The Jack in the Box down the road would have been a better choice. Never to return.
Jennifer R.
I wanted to love this place, but as other reviewers have said, reservations mean NOTHING to them here. I made a reservation for 7 p.m. When we arrived they said it would be a 15 minute wait. Ok, we have a hungry toddler, but we will try it. 30 minutes later when I am about to bail we are finally seated. Toddler is now a hunger monster, and then they seat us in HIGH-top seating. Really?? And I get a look from the hostess like, "take what you can get". Sigh. Ok. Honestly, why do you even take reservations if you don't plan to honor them? Wish I had read the other reviews first. We wouldn't have bothered. Food (ravioli for the adults, nuggets for the little) was just ok. Wine selection was very limited. For what it's worth, our server was amazing. Not her fault at all. She was super attentive and helpful, and great with the kiddo. We might give it another try after some time passes. Hoping they will correct their issues.
It’s really too bad this place shut down. My family and i were regulars. Elizabeth (or Liz sometimes) was the best server we have had in a long time. Each experience she seemed to really care and make sure we ordered good entrees PERSONALLY based off of our recommendations. The environment was nice, but the manager seemed rude or even put off that we came in for dinner. I even watched him scold at our waitress for making small talk with other tables while the kitchen was “too busy”.Hey Elizabeth, if you ever check these reviews, I own a restaurant in downtown and would be thrilled to hire you! If you read this email me at the email provided for this review.The food was overall good due to solid recommendations. Even with us waiting long periods of time our waitress kept us updated and kept all drinks filled. This was a nice spot for Allen with a nice ambiance and i hate to see it go, because if you had more employees like my waitress and your food kept tasting the way it did, i think it would be a hit!P.S, to the man with the english accent, people can overhear your rude remarks. All the best! Thanks again Elizabeth.
We were seated at 11:30 off a reservation. Service was extremely slow not receiving our food until 12:40 of which we ordered poached eggs and they were hard boiled. Ordered a burger with the egg and the egg was a cold piece of rubber on top of a hamburger. Would not recommend until they get more cooks and service staff.
This was our third time at this place and will be the last one. Service was absolutely awful, the waitress didn't know the menu, was very slow, and seemed disengaged... wonder if there was a management/owner change.
Unimpressed with the quality of food for the price - I had the ravioli with pancetta, overcooked. My husband had the seafood pasta, flavorless with 2 shrimp and 4 mussels. Would not return.
Yesterday was the worst experience I have had at an establishment. I was here visiting from South Carolina to celebrate my sister’s birthday. We attended their brunch. Our reservation was for 11am, when the restaurant opened. We requested indoors, but they seated us outdoors. They told us it would be ok, they had fans and misters going. However that is not what we requested when we made the reservation. We were seated at 11:15am. Placed our order at 11:45am. We didn’t receive our food until well after 1:30pm. When we asked for the manager because of the wait time. The hostess came over pretending to be the manager and basically insulting our intelligence. When the runner brought our food because still no manager, he said you can tell me the issue. Again still not the manager. Finally when the manager came he wasn’t apologetic and didn’t even sympathize. He said they had $1.00 mimosa and they weren’t prepared for the rush. It was running about an hour for people to receive their food. However while we were seated we noticed other tables that was seated after us had received food and was leaving. When we received our food it was burnt and cold. The server didn’t care about how satisfied we were, she was only worried about us paying and her tip. When she went to the back, she must have been discussing it because they were peaking from the curtain and staring at our table. This experience was simply horrible and unprofessional. Needless to say, my sister’s celebration was a complete disaster..
Definitely a 5 Star experience!!!Great food, Great service and Awesome drinks!!!Chef even came out to check on our food and as early as we are they weren't too busy or loud at all... We really enjoyed the whole experience and will be returning again, soon!!!The chef coming out was a true mark of excellence!
The Bolognese pasta had homemade noodles which was good, but the sauce tastes like Chili, straight up meat chili. Okay?The chicken fried steak tasted like crust with bad grease . The actual meat had zero flavor and had veins still in it. This plate usually comes with mashed potato’s and okra. My husband substituted the mashed potato’s for French fries…. They charged us an extra $4.00 to substitute…. !!!! No warning or anything. What a rip off . The kids meal chicken was good . Waitress was decent but we were the only people really here besides the few customers at the bar .Gave a 2 rating since the olympics were on and the waitress came to see if we were good multiple times .
When my wife suggested a second trip to Peppersmash, I agreed... perhaps not readily, but on our first visit we'd tried the Charcuterie Board and found it amazing. My entree for that first visit was the scallops, and I set aside the fact that I found them unusually briny to them being... well... not so fresh. Sunday is NOT a good day to order seafood and the server admitted that I was literally eating the last of the scallops. So I set my misgivings aside and told my wife that next time I'd get the chicken fried steak. Fast forward to visit two and the atmosphere had changed dramatically. A country band was playing with the volume cranked to eleven and my wife and I were shouting just to be able to hear each other. I ordered the chicken fried steak while my wife got the mushroom ravioli with shrimp. To my shock, the kitchen had our food ready in like seven or eight minutes. The first thing I noticed was that my CFS was greasy. I could see it pooling at the end. I cut it open, took a bite, and found that the meat hadn't been seasoned and the batter was soaked in oil. But the batter was also cooked, which told me that this slab of CFS had been pre-made, cooked elsewhere, and then tossed in the fryer on site. The lack of seasoning and fryer oil flavor made it inedible and for the first time in my life, I actually returned a dish. The server made it clear I was the problem. "That's funny. That man over there says he loves it," she told me, pointing to another table. The restaurant was kind enough to provide me another dish - the pork belly with pimento and fried egg and while I waited for that, I tasted my wife's dish - mostly because she didn't seem that happy either. The ravioli was... oddly flavored. The chef had added lemon to it and the flavors did NOT meld. As I watched her cut one of the shrimp, she admitted that the shrimp was severely over-cooked. Then my pork belly came out. The presentation was nice, but the delicious pimento cheese I'd tasted the first visit on the charcuterie board was not the same as the melted cheddar version I got on the pork belly. The underlying vegetables were soaked in oil and the whole thing, while edible, was overly salted because of the cheddar base of the pimento. Two visits is enough for me. Pretty much done with Peppersmash. I'm not sure if it's the recipes or the kitchen staff, but I'm not paying those kind of prices for food I don't like. Pro Tip: Bring ear plugs on Saturday. You'll still be able to hear the music, but at more tolerable levels.
The food is shockingly good. Seafood pasta and salmon are amazing. Sit at the bar and if you get Landon he knows his stuff and offers great service . Going to try and make the brunch menu next time !!
Great hidden jewel. Both times I have been here they have had great quality music. They really need to advertise more. I hope they can get more recognition. We love the patio and the bar is beautiful.
Restaurantji Recommends
Food was excellent - we had the pork chop and the salmon. Cocktails were excellent. Service was fine. Not stellar, but she was pleasant and trying hard. Live music on patio was way too loud even inside. Could not chat. Majority of seating is at high tables - so a reservation might be best if you need a low table.
Food is okay and drinks are also okay. The place is VERY loud because of the highway if you sit outside or if you sit inside by the open window. Not going back.
Went for Sunday brunch, the place was half full, we were not greeted by the host but asked if we had a reservation. Not a good first impression. Our waitress was very nice and showed us around the menu and gave suggestions. We ordered chicken and waffles and the split bird sandwich. The waffle was ok the chicken on the other hand does not seem to be fried on-site but rather reheated and served not worth 17 dollars. Breading was very dark it was eatable so one star for that. The split bird came out with a half melted Kraft American single with the same style of chicken as mentioned earlier only this seemed to frozen and thawed several times then when reheated became over done dark in color not eatable. Drinks bloody Mary came in a Collins glass leave a little to be desired and was ok. Mimosa were good too. Ultimately this place could be good looks like they need help in every area. Now hiring is never a good indication that everything is under control.
I seriously should have checked the reviews on Trip Advisor first. I stopped in for a late lunch on a Sunday to give the new place in town a try. They were not terribly busy at the time and there were plenty of open tables. However, I stood alone by the vacant host stand for over five minutes before somebody noticed me. Once seated, it was another 10 minutes before the server stopped by to take my drink order. She dropped the water off right away but it took another 10 minutes for her to arrive with my glass of wine and take my order. It was then a lengthy wait for my meal to arrive. At least the burger was delicious. It would have been nice to have a napkin and silverware. I finally had to walk over to the bar to grab a pile of cocktail napkins. I should have filed a missing person report for my server with the Allen PD. The Jack in the Box down the road would have been a better choice. Never to return.
I wanted to love this place, but as other reviewers have said, reservations mean NOTHING to them here. I made a reservation for 7 p.m. When we arrived they said it would be a 15 minute wait. Ok, we have a hungry toddler, but we will try it. 30 minutes later when I am about to bail we are finally seated. Toddler is now a hunger monster, and then they seat us in HIGH-top seating. Really?? And I get a look from the hostess like, "take what you can get". Sigh. Ok. Honestly, why do you even take reservations if you don't plan to honor them? Wish I had read the other reviews first. We wouldn't have bothered. Food (ravioli for the adults, nuggets for the little) was just ok. Wine selection was very limited. For what it's worth, our server was amazing. Not her fault at all. She was super attentive and helpful, and great with the kiddo. We might give it another try after some time passes. Hoping they will correct their issues.