Finally made it back for dinner after a few months. We learned they have a new chef and are making changes. We got to talk with Chef Abi and excited to hear about some new seasonal menu items to come.We started with Chefs crab cake special which was full of king crab with no real filler to speak of. It was accompanied by a southwestern sauce, black beans and corn relish. It’s a $30 appetizer, but delicious!!Our go-to favorite here is the Texas au Poivre 8oz. filet cooked perfectly to our liking, medium rare. The asparagus was broiled and crispy and the whipped potatoes were creamy and not overly seasoned.Our waitress, Jordyn, did an amazing job all around.We would have liked to have our drink before our appetizer, but Jordyn let us know the bar was backed up.Excited to see what Chef Abi had in store for Campfire. We will be back in a few weeks to review the new menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
darren dunavan
We stayed at the this hotel so our daughter could tour A&M. Campfire was convenient and looked inviting from the hotel lobby.Do not eat here. Parties of 5 or larger are hit with an automatic 21% gratuity. I’ve never seen a party of 5 considered a large party where tip is included.The food. Atrocious. The pork chop was blasted and it took effort and force to even get the fork and knife into the protein. The redfish was blasted. Tasted like rubber. The steak was ordered medium and was served rare.Casamigas drinks were $21 a piece. What you’d pay in New York maybe but College Station?This added up to over $300 bill after they removed an appetizer bc it took over an hour for our food to come out.If you want to wait for your food and then be disappointed by the quality, look no further.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Leslie Cowen
If I could give this restaurant negative stars I would. We were in town for an A&M visit and given my boyfriend is a Marriott Titanium Elite status Marriott member, thought we couldn’t go wrong based on Marriott’s impeccable service. This was the worst Marriott & dining experience of my life.It started with a wait to sort out the two people we were adding to our 3 party reso - 10 min to sort out our table in an empty restaurant. We were advised 20% gratuity is automatic for parties of 5 or more. That’s fine.We ordered the street corn appetizer which ironically the bartender said earlier was ‘fire’ but was delivered cold. Our meals (again in a not fully booked restaurant) took over an hour to arrive. The friend we were with immediately noticed her ‘medium’ filet was rare and could have walked off the plate. This was sent back and replaced.Our redfish was charred and overcooked - barely edible but with one complaint already we chose not to make a scene and ruin the evening. Then our daughter bit into her pork chop and the meat was so tough she had to chew it extensively to be able to swallow it. Again - I would have made a scene at this point, but in an effort not to embarrass our daughter and friend we just met, I bit my tongue.The bill arrived and although we were advised they could not split the tab, we expected to be able to advise on a dollar amount to put on one card versus the other. We were told only an even split was possible due to policy. This left us having our friend Venmo us and we put it on our card. Oh - and the tip was 21% not 20% - just one more final dig.PS casamigas is $21 per drink - my advice: go to the Dixie Chicken where Casamigas is $7.75 and they have one of the best burgers you will ever eat. A $40 dining experience to die for compared to this atrocious $300+ experience.Oh - did I mention the entire hotel is out of hand soap due to a supply chain issue??!! We check out tomorrow and I can’t get out of this hotel quickly enough.Marriott - do better.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Nick was one of our favorite servers ever, he's energetic and friendly personality was refreshing. The food was delicious, only down side was the smoker wasn't working for the s'more dessert but otherwise it was amazing
India W.
The food was good but it wasn't anything to write home about. The ambiance was nice and so was the customer service. Joslyn was great!
Mikkel
The only hiccup to a nice evening was the waiter taking away a partly-eaten steak and not asking if we wanted to take it to go and not bringing it back to the table in a to go box.
Sean Feely
Nice place at the hotel lobby area. Excellent service, good and drinks.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sarah M.
I had a great quick meal here after checking into The Stella. Ordered the grilled chicken sandwich.
This experience for a New Year's Eve dinner was phenomenal! We made our dinner reservations in advance, and the Campfire staff, and the Stella staff was on point at taking care of everything for us. We were already fans of the Stella, and now we have a memorable experience. The staff took great care of us during our dinner, and the wine tasting was amazing! Thank you for a great New Year's Eve celebration!
Glenn & Candice Petru
I've recommended this restaurant to so many people the last four years I should be receiving royalties, but now I feel like I should contact them and issue a word of warning.The place still has a warm and lively vibe that “could” make it the perfect place for celebrations. We've been here numerous times, including two Ring Days, birthdays, all of which I would have gladly given 5 stars. This time however, for the most important time we've chosen Campfire for a celebration, it really fell flat.Prices have risen sharply, coupled with a mandatory 21% gratuity for parties of only 5 or more, and they won't split a check (unless done evenly all the way around).Two months ahead of time I made reservations for 5:30pm to celebrate after our son's master's graduation ceremony. When I called several weeks before to give them the final headcount they confirmed the round table under the wheel chandelier was available and they would reserve it for us.Just two weeks before graduation, I received a call to make me aware of the 21% gratuity for parties of 5 or more, and to make sure we were okay with that. The answer, of course, had to be "Yes" because where else am I going to come up with reservations that close to graduation in BCS?! Also, I didn't think it would be an issue because the wait staff has been great in the past (all of which are very young & appear to be TAMU students or recent grads), but we did not know how sharply menu prices increased across the board (prices are not included on the website), from drinks to appetizers to entrees to dessert. It's not a white table cloth restaurant, but they certainly have the prices! I expect a well seasoned maitre d' and sommelier for those prices & gratuity! ;-)We arrived promptly at 5:30pm only to see a family with a baby and toddler seated at the table we had been told was reserved for us. Instead, we were seated nearby with two tables shoved together to accommodate us. I dd not say anything, it would have been useless, and just ruined our evening as well as the other family's, but it was a real let down & difficult to share in conversation at the shoved together tables because of the skinny length and being right next to a party of about 20+ people.Appetizers were good (though overpriced) Tasty brussels sprouts, good biscuits. For entrees (very overpriced) four of us ordered the Blackened Salmon; flavor was good, but overcooked, one guest had the Snapper, and again flavor was okay, but it was grossly overcooked, extremely dry & chewy! They brought out 3 of the 4 salmons, the snapper, and ribs all at the same time, and then we ALL waited for the last plate of salmon to arrive a few minutes later, and our Guest of Honor was served LAST! Really?!Campfire did provide a piece of pumpkin cheesecake (really overpowering on the pumpkin spice) with "Congratulations" written in chocolate syrup, and our un-intune server delivered it to the table when the guest of honor was in the bathroom. Had to ask server if he could bring it back when he was seated at the table a couple minutes later.It wasn't the worst evening of our lives, but we specifically chose Campfire based on past experiences, this time leaving highly disappointed.
Very nice ambience. For the amount of people, one is able to have a conversation without shouting. Excellent service!! We all enjoyed what we ate. Having said that, the prices for the portion sizes do not match up. The prices should be lower or increase the portion size.
Cheryl
We enjoyed a delightful Christmas dinner at the Stella Campfire Restaurant. It was a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the season. Thanks to the staff who spent their Holiday making things wonderful for us. The food was great, the meatball starter was good, the market salad was fantastic and my salmon entree was superb, not too fishy tasting and seasoned beautifully. Thank you Stella once again for exceeding our expectations!
Darris J.
It started off weirdly with the host/hostess asking "what brings you here?" My reply was "to get a table and dine...?" I suppose I said my reply in a tone that ruffled the hostess/host feathers cause as we walked to a table we engaged in a passive aggressive back and forth about what would make me happy in a seating location by the host/hostess and what makes more sense for the house in my retorts.With the introduction of our server things got better quickly, she expertly walked us through the menu, highlighting her favorites and the changes for the fall. She was great.The table decided on brussels, brisket meatballs, cheddar biscuits (featuring honey) and a 10 oz strip with frites.The food was good, brussels were served hot, crisp, yet tender and had the perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness.Sadly this was the only dish served at an appropriate temperature. Must have been a mixup in back of house with firing the apps and entrees.The meatballs while again good, smoky, sweet and spicy were room temp. One of the biscuits was hot the other lukewarm warm. Those are excellent too, I taste bacon fat in the batter I'll bet you a shot of blantons I do.The $50 steak, while cooked to the right temp, it was served lukewarm. The garlic frites, were seasoned to perfection and the horseradish aioli provided a great spicy tartness to the protein.We returned later that evening and decided to have drinks at the restaurant bar. The micro aggressions from one of the bartenders really put a damper on the evening, that could be overcome by expertly crafted well balanced drinks that she failed to deliver on. I mean if you are going to me, and only me to leave a credit card or pay for a drink after my order, not any of the white folk at the bar, but my black ass you trippin'. And I was the only one at the bar actually staying on the property...you trippin"I don't recommend anyone with melanin visit the camp fire bar, Hershel's was more accommodating and a comparable spirits collection. I don't know if all are managed by the same group but the vibes are totally different.
I've tried just about every high-end restaurant in the Brazos Valley. This is definitely a top contender. Not what I expected being part of a Marriott, but extremely satisfied and impressed with the quality inn care.
This was our families first time to ever eat out for Thanksgiving lunch/dinner. We made the best choice with Campfire at the Stella. The staff/servers went above and beyond to make sure we were happy the entire time. We will definitely drive the distance again to eat there on a normal day.
Finally made it back for dinner after a few months. We learned they have a new chef and are making changes. We got to talk with Chef Abi and excited to hear about some new seasonal menu items to come.We started with Chefs crab cake special which was full of king crab with no real filler to speak of. It was accompanied by a southwestern sauce, black beans and corn relish. It’s a $30 appetizer, but delicious!!Our go-to favorite here is the Texas au Poivre 8oz. filet cooked perfectly to our liking, medium rare. The asparagus was broiled and crispy and the whipped potatoes were creamy and not overly seasoned.Our waitress, Jordyn, did an amazing job all around.We would have liked to have our drink before our appetizer, but Jordyn let us know the bar was backed up.Excited to see what Chef Abi had in store for Campfire. We will be back in a few weeks to review the new menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
We stayed at the this hotel so our daughter could tour A&M. Campfire was convenient and looked inviting from the hotel lobby.Do not eat here. Parties of 5 or larger are hit with an automatic 21% gratuity. I’ve never seen a party of 5 considered a large party where tip is included.The food. Atrocious. The pork chop was blasted and it took effort and force to even get the fork and knife into the protein. The redfish was blasted. Tasted like rubber. The steak was ordered medium and was served rare.Casamigas drinks were $21 a piece. What you’d pay in New York maybe but College Station?This added up to over $300 bill after they removed an appetizer bc it took over an hour for our food to come out.If you want to wait for your food and then be disappointed by the quality, look no further.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
If I could give this restaurant negative stars I would. We were in town for an A&M visit and given my boyfriend is a Marriott Titanium Elite status Marriott member, thought we couldn’t go wrong based on Marriott’s impeccable service. This was the worst Marriott & dining experience of my life.It started with a wait to sort out the two people we were adding to our 3 party reso - 10 min to sort out our table in an empty restaurant. We were advised 20% gratuity is automatic for parties of 5 or more. That’s fine.We ordered the street corn appetizer which ironically the bartender said earlier was ‘fire’ but was delivered cold. Our meals (again in a not fully booked restaurant) took over an hour to arrive. The friend we were with immediately noticed her ‘medium’ filet was rare and could have walked off the plate. This was sent back and replaced.Our redfish was charred and overcooked - barely edible but with one complaint already we chose not to make a scene and ruin the evening. Then our daughter bit into her pork chop and the meat was so tough she had to chew it extensively to be able to swallow it. Again - I would have made a scene at this point, but in an effort not to embarrass our daughter and friend we just met, I bit my tongue.The bill arrived and although we were advised they could not split the tab, we expected to be able to advise on a dollar amount to put on one card versus the other. We were told only an even split was possible due to policy. This left us having our friend Venmo us and we put it on our card. Oh - and the tip was 21% not 20% - just one more final dig.PS casamigas is $21 per drink - my advice: go to the Dixie Chicken where Casamigas is $7.75 and they have one of the best burgers you will ever eat. A $40 dining experience to die for compared to this atrocious $300+ experience.Oh - did I mention the entire hotel is out of hand soap due to a supply chain issue??!! We check out tomorrow and I can’t get out of this hotel quickly enough.Marriott - do better.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Nick was one of our favorite servers ever, he's energetic and friendly personality was refreshing. The food was delicious, only down side was the smoker wasn't working for the s'more dessert but otherwise it was amazing
The food was good but it wasn't anything to write home about. The ambiance was nice and so was the customer service. Joslyn was great!
The only hiccup to a nice evening was the waiter taking away a partly-eaten steak and not asking if we wanted to take it to go and not bringing it back to the table in a to go box.
Nice place at the hotel lobby area. Excellent service, good and drinks.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I had a great quick meal here after checking into The Stella. Ordered the grilled chicken sandwich.
This experience for a New Year's Eve dinner was phenomenal! We made our dinner reservations in advance, and the Campfire staff, and the Stella staff was on point at taking care of everything for us. We were already fans of the Stella, and now we have a memorable experience. The staff took great care of us during our dinner, and the wine tasting was amazing! Thank you for a great New Year's Eve celebration!
I've recommended this restaurant to so many people the last four years I should be receiving royalties, but now I feel like I should contact them and issue a word of warning.The place still has a warm and lively vibe that “could” make it the perfect place for celebrations. We've been here numerous times, including two Ring Days, birthdays, all of which I would have gladly given 5 stars. This time however, for the most important time we've chosen Campfire for a celebration, it really fell flat.Prices have risen sharply, coupled with a mandatory 21% gratuity for parties of only 5 or more, and they won't split a check (unless done evenly all the way around).Two months ahead of time I made reservations for 5:30pm to celebrate after our son's master's graduation ceremony. When I called several weeks before to give them the final headcount they confirmed the round table under the wheel chandelier was available and they would reserve it for us.Just two weeks before graduation, I received a call to make me aware of the 21% gratuity for parties of 5 or more, and to make sure we were okay with that. The answer, of course, had to be "Yes" because where else am I going to come up with reservations that close to graduation in BCS?! Also, I didn't think it would be an issue because the wait staff has been great in the past (all of which are very young & appear to be TAMU students or recent grads), but we did not know how sharply menu prices increased across the board (prices are not included on the website), from drinks to appetizers to entrees to dessert. It's not a white table cloth restaurant, but they certainly have the prices! I expect a well seasoned maitre d' and sommelier for those prices & gratuity! ;-)We arrived promptly at 5:30pm only to see a family with a baby and toddler seated at the table we had been told was reserved for us. Instead, we were seated nearby with two tables shoved together to accommodate us. I dd not say anything, it would have been useless, and just ruined our evening as well as the other family's, but it was a real let down & difficult to share in conversation at the shoved together tables because of the skinny length and being right next to a party of about 20+ people.Appetizers were good (though overpriced) Tasty brussels sprouts, good biscuits. For entrees (very overpriced) four of us ordered the Blackened Salmon; flavor was good, but overcooked, one guest had the Snapper, and again flavor was okay, but it was grossly overcooked, extremely dry & chewy! They brought out 3 of the 4 salmons, the snapper, and ribs all at the same time, and then we ALL waited for the last plate of salmon to arrive a few minutes later, and our Guest of Honor was served LAST! Really?!Campfire did provide a piece of pumpkin cheesecake (really overpowering on the pumpkin spice) with "Congratulations" written in chocolate syrup, and our un-intune server delivered it to the table when the guest of honor was in the bathroom. Had to ask server if he could bring it back when he was seated at the table a couple minutes later.It wasn't the worst evening of our lives, but we specifically chose Campfire based on past experiences, this time leaving highly disappointed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Restaurantji Recommends
Very nice ambience. For the amount of people, one is able to have a conversation without shouting. Excellent service!! We all enjoyed what we ate. Having said that, the prices for the portion sizes do not match up. The prices should be lower or increase the portion size.
We enjoyed a delightful Christmas dinner at the Stella Campfire Restaurant. It was a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the season. Thanks to the staff who spent their Holiday making things wonderful for us. The food was great, the meatball starter was good, the market salad was fantastic and my salmon entree was superb, not too fishy tasting and seasoned beautifully. Thank you Stella once again for exceeding our expectations!
It started off weirdly with the host/hostess asking "what brings you here?" My reply was "to get a table and dine...?" I suppose I said my reply in a tone that ruffled the hostess/host feathers cause as we walked to a table we engaged in a passive aggressive back and forth about what would make me happy in a seating location by the host/hostess and what makes more sense for the house in my retorts.With the introduction of our server things got better quickly, she expertly walked us through the menu, highlighting her favorites and the changes for the fall. She was great.The table decided on brussels, brisket meatballs, cheddar biscuits (featuring honey) and a 10 oz strip with frites.The food was good, brussels were served hot, crisp, yet tender and had the perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness.Sadly this was the only dish served at an appropriate temperature. Must have been a mixup in back of house with firing the apps and entrees.The meatballs while again good, smoky, sweet and spicy were room temp. One of the biscuits was hot the other lukewarm warm. Those are excellent too, I taste bacon fat in the batter I'll bet you a shot of blantons I do.The $50 steak, while cooked to the right temp, it was served lukewarm. The garlic frites, were seasoned to perfection and the horseradish aioli provided a great spicy tartness to the protein.We returned later that evening and decided to have drinks at the restaurant bar. The micro aggressions from one of the bartenders really put a damper on the evening, that could be overcome by expertly crafted well balanced drinks that she failed to deliver on. I mean if you are going to me, and only me to leave a credit card or pay for a drink after my order, not any of the white folk at the bar, but my black ass you trippin'. And I was the only one at the bar actually staying on the property...you trippin"I don't recommend anyone with melanin visit the camp fire bar, Hershel's was more accommodating and a comparable spirits collection. I don't know if all are managed by the same group but the vibes are totally different.
I've tried just about every high-end restaurant in the Brazos Valley. This is definitely a top contender. Not what I expected being part of a Marriott, but extremely satisfied and impressed with the quality inn care.
This was our families first time to ever eat out for Thanksgiving lunch/dinner. We made the best choice with Campfire at the Stella. The staff/servers went above and beyond to make sure we were happy the entire time. We will definitely drive the distance again to eat there on a normal day.