Plate Restaurant and Bar

I’m not really sure why this place has such poor reviews. I read these a month or two ago, and decided not to go because of them, but then my sister and I were walking by and decided to give them a shot. Honestly, everything was awesome. We ordered a lot of food between the 3 of us (me, her and my 5 year old). We got 3 apps, 2 entrees and a childrens chicken finger dish. I have nothing negative to say. I got the spicy tuna burrito –awsome. My sister got some sort of large salad– awesome. also, my sons chicken fingers — perfect. they were breaded with something special, don’t remember what it was. service was great, bill was reasonable, décor is pretty, not a single complaint. I’m actually planning a lunch for my bridal party there this weekend!

Closed for business — rent dispute apparently…

Wish I could give it zero stars. We were there for two hours. The first one and a half were spent patiently waiting for food and a second round of drinks. During our wait, two other tables of diners left after not receiving their food. The general manager, Joe, has no idea what his staff is doing and doesnt seem to care. There were a total of three tables occupied in the entire restaurant… no one was being served. The food came out cold and dry. Terrible food and terrible service. General manager «sorry for the bad experience but please come back.» TURN AROUND AND GO TO RUBY’S DINER! It is worth the wait… there’s a reason «Plate» has no line. I did not enjoy paying $ 60 for a lunch with terrible food and terrible service… will not do it again at Plate

Just ate at plate… Although the food was okay, the service was atrocious. Cannot remember a time when I was so disappointed with a restaurant. Bummer… Was expecting a nice lunch.

I lived out in Ardmore years ago and vaguly recall dining here.. . from my Ardmore days, my sister my dad and I developed a pre-​Christmas tradition.. . we have a daddy-​daughter shoppinjg day.. .
So this year we had lunch at Plate. It has a nice atmosphere, the food was good and the beer list was decent (but over priced). I don’t think I would go oiut of may way to go back but it is a nce alternative to the «cafes» that dominate Suburban Square.
Note– if you are shopping at SS this is the only place to get an alcoholic beverage.

Have been here three times now. Everything about the experience is ‘so-​so’. Food is a bit overpriced for the quality/​taste. In general servers are pleasant, but everyone is a bit untrained or at best inconsistent. I want to like it given the location, but just can’t bring myself to spend more money here :(

I want to love Plate, I do… And the worst part is, we come back because it’s «easy»… the food just isn’t good here. And what used to be good like the Phad Thai, was taken off he menu!
It survives because it’s in Suburban Square and teenagers get dropped off there with thier parents credit cards… or lazy people like us who are just food bored…

I was totally let down on my most recent meal at plate which was just this past weekend.
The calamari was delicious; other than that, it was pretty awful.
My friend ordered the fish special-​oahu. It was way overcooked. It came with green beans which were undercooked, and the entire dish lacked flavor.
I ordered the cobb salad (how hard could that be?) and it was probably the worst I’d had. The creamy feta dressing had no flavor, the steak was tough and flavorless.
Our waitress was average.

This place needs a complete overhaul.
I give it three stars as an average between my four times going for different things (brunch, dinner twice, drinks at the bar). Last night I had the best of all these ventures to Plate and was left with a positive feeling that they may have started listening to all these horrible reviews I read everywhere online about their service. That really seems to be the trend of all the horrible reviews… the staff. My server last night was efficient, but not particularly friendly, the food was excellent (Applewood Rocky Mountain Trout) and although the wine I ordered was not very good I can’t really blame them for it not meeting up to my taste. Overall last night’s experience was a 4 star trip, but my 3 others were 2’s.
Don’t expect a great visit to Plate, but there is hope that it might be improving.

Walked in around 12:30pm today (Sunday). Realized they had a brunch menu after we sat down and we were disappointed because there were only 4 lunch options (the rest were breakfast). We sat for about 10 minutes before our server came over for a drink order. We each asked for water and I ordered a coffee. The server rushed off before we could order our meals. 5 minutes later, no water. We waited for over 15 minutes and still didn’t have water. Thirsty and hungry, we got up and left. The hostess looked at us in a weird way when we were walking out and my boyfriend nicely said, «We were waiting too long» and she responded «Oh I’m sorry.» No effort to remedy the situation. Bad bad service.

Had dinner with my folks & GF’s Mom and no one was impressed. I had the herb-​crusted salmon, Mom had the tilapia special & Dad had ravioli.
It had been a few years since I had eaten here last and I’m not sure the menu has changed. The ice cream also tasted like it had freezer burn.
Dinner for 5 without drinks ended up around $ 170 after tip. That’s a little too much for a meal best described with a shoulder shrug. The location is great and the service was attentative, but I think Plate has been going through the motions for too long.

Quite possibly the WORST restaurant experience I have had. We arrived at 3:45pm to a totally empty bar. We sat down, were cordial with the bartender and ordered a bottle of wine. This is where the embarrassment starts.
After the bartender put in our food order we seemed to have finished our glasses of wine and needed refills. The wine was cooling in a bucket behind the bar, so we beckoned several times for the bartender to retrieve it for us. After several failed attempts I reached behind the bar and got it myself. I then returned it back to the chiller and this was how we served ourselves for the remainder of the lunch.
We ordered only a medium rare hamburger and a crock of macaroni and cheese to share as we had a 4:30 appointment and just needed quick bites. We informed the bartender of our time crunch to which she seemed totally uninterested. 4:15 rolls around, we inquired to the status to which she replied «a few more minutes». Our lunch guest left at 4:30 to make her appointment while we STILL waited for the food.
Around 4:40 a crock of macaroni which clearly sat under the hot lamp for almost and hour and the hamburger arrived (over cooked). I told the server (maybe manager?) I was no longer interested in the macaroni and cheese as it didn’t look palatable and the orderer left. I leaned over the bar to grab our wine bottle and finish off the last few glasses. No one seemed to care I was fishing around behind the bar.
No apologies, no credit off the bill for the $ 7 overcooked mac and cheese, nothing. NEVER in my life have I had such terrible service. If you are in the suburbs save yourself the trouble and do not waste your time or money.

I am not sure why there are all the bad reviews. I found this to be a great option when shopping at Suburban Square. I was with four other females and we popped in for a relaxing lunch.
Service was great. The server was incredibly helpful and allowed us to take a 3 hour lunch at 2pm. His name escapes me, but he was from New York.
All the girls ordered salads (big surprise). The portions were huge! I had the Asian Chicken salad. I could not stop eating it. It was enough to feed me for three meals but it was so delicious, I could not put the fork down!
I also had a bellini martini, which was delicious and went down (dangerously) easy.
We finished off our long lunch with dessert. There was something on the dessert menu where you pick 3 desserts, which we obviously did, to split with the table. We had key lime pie crème brûlée, the chocolate cake and the cobbler of the day. The only thing I was unhappy with was the crème brûlée (which was my pick). The kitchen didn’t crystalize the sugar enough and we were left eating crème brûlée, topped with pounds of raw sugar.
Overall, it was a cute restaurant and we had a great time.

Tasty comfort food for lunch with my mom — no better way to spend a nice Saturday morning & afternoon!
I have this tradition when my mom comes to visit that I take her out to eat at a different restaurant each time. It’s been over 6 years since I’ve come to the Main Line, and we haven’t visited the same restaurant twice. Out of all of these restaurants, she said Plate was by far her favorite meal. I’d probably have to agree with her on that one!
Friday night I looked here on Unilocal at Plate’s reviews, so I was skeptic about having good food here. The reason I decided to go here in the first place was because I really liked the menu: come on, tomato bisque soup with mini grilled cheese? You can’t find an easier way to my heart than through that dish. So naturally, I was upset to read that the service and food were not up to other peoples’ standards.
Well, I will agree on the service. Our waitress was less than enthusiastic to wait on us, although we did our best to be sweet and kind to her. My mom and I split the calamari as an appetizer, and it was definitely enough for 3 people. We didn’t get any of the oft-​spoken-​about bread and hummus spread, but I assumed that was because we got our appetizer pretty quickly. I try the calamari everywhere, and Plate’s version was very good, crunchy, with a little spicy aftertaste. Paired with the lemon zest and the Asian vinaigrette, it was a great start to the meal!
Our waitress didn’t actually bring out any of our dishes; instead, someone from the kitchen did — which was actually more pleasant since they were kinder. For the main meal, I ordered the Capri Sandwich with fresh mozzarella, tomato, grilled eggplant, basil pesto, all on a French baguette. My mother ordered the Ahi Tuna Burrito with complimentary small sides of guacamole, black beans, sour cream, chipotle aioli, and pico de gallo salsa. We shared a side order of the famous baked mac & cheese. Both of our dishes were around $ 10 and there were at least 2 servings in each one.
My sandwich was so fresh and bright that I initially thought I could eat the whole thing. I wanted to, really! The fresh tomato and cheese were strong but not overpowering and the pesto added a nice garlic taste to the eggplant. I wish I could make one of these sandwiches taste so good when I made it, but I suppose that’s the point of going to a comfort food restaurant — they make it for you! In the end, I couldn’t finish the whole sandwich, especially after tasting how orgasmic the mac & cheese was. Better than my mom’s, for sure, and that’s really saying something! Even she agreed that she preferred this mac to her own.
My mom’s burrito was different but still tasty. I’m not one for tuna, but she assured me that the flavors were smoky and Chipotle with fresh spices. I tried some of it without the tuna and it sure did have a smoky but not overwhelming flavor. We both asked for half of our meals wrapped up because we were so stuffed we couldn’t finish them. I ended up reheating mine for dinner and it was just as tasty.
The ambiance was casual yet refined, nothing out of the ordinary for Ardmore and Suburban Square. While we dined, we saw clientele ranging from young families with 2 – 4 year old children, to grandmother-​mother-​daughter, to high-​school girls going out for lunch. The bill came to $ 45 – 50 and we took home a grocery shopping bag full of leftovers. If you think that we’re getting 2 lunches and 2 dinners out of it, that’s about $ 12 per person… not bad for how good the taste was!
Definitely somewhere I’d go again for lunch with friends or family. I enjoyed the experience and don’t know why everyone else is so unhappy with the restaurant.

Ehh, Plate.
When we walked in, there were more people sitting at the bar than eating in the restaurant. The people at the bar had the right idea. Good place to get a drink or maybe go for lunch, but I wouldn’t be a huge rush to return for dinner. I got the french onion soup, which was kinda cold by the time it got the table. Cold onion soup for $ 6 is not good. I also got the ahi tuna, which was good, but it wasn’t over $ 20-​a-​plate good.
«Meh. I’ve experienced better.» That’s exactly how I felt about Plate.

It is hard to believe that this place is so constantly packed, given its mediocre reviews. I must confess that it’s been over three years since I’ve been to Plate but I will also say that I gave it several «second chances.» I do recall the drinks and desserts being good, as well as the bread. Otherwise very so-​so food, odd décor (what is with the faux distressed tables?), so-​so service. I laugh when I drive by.
Please restaurateurs — we are dying for decent restaurants out here on the Main Line. Please help!
——
Revisited recently. Same mediocre experience. Had the salmon salad and seriously, it tasted EXACTLY like Panera’s salmon salad. Now Panera’s salad isn’t bad but it’s also a tiny fraction of the price of this one.

It’s okay, not great…
Service was pretty good… but since the food was slightly less than mediocre, not so important to me.
UPDATE: It is one of the only restaurant-​restuarants in Suburban square that was open, so I went back another time… Salads are okay… nothing special though.

We have tried Plate several times — each time the service was less than acceptable and the food just fair. This time we thought we would give «brunch» a try — and we received a gift card.
Well, as expected — not worth the effort. Food just OK, service just OK. There were 6 of us. Some had eggs and waffles. I had the Asian salad. Eggs were cold, waffles fair. The salad was a salad. I ordered a bloody mary and it tasted OK but came in a little juice glass.
Much better brunches nearby. As another reviewer said — if you are in Suburban Sq and feeling lazy…

Was looking forward to trying Plate since I was in the area visiting the Ardmore farmer’s market.
Unfortunately, we did not have a great experience. The service was just OK, but when the food arrived, my Asian Chicken salad looked appealing but upon closer examination, it was clear the romaine lettuce had not been washed as all the dirt was still in there. We brought this to the attention of the waitress and asked her to notify the kitchen so that they do not make people sick. No idea if she did or not, there was no acknowledgment of that fact via the management or on the bill.
The «onion shoestrings» we ordered were soggy almost as soon as they came out of the kitchen.
Will not be going back until I hear of improvements being made.

We were in the area and thought we’d give Plate a try. First, it was a bit overpriced for lunch — but then again it was Ardmore :)
My husband had a burger and devoured it. Our friends also cleared their plates. I had a soup and side dish and would have loved to clear my plates, but it was just too much food.
Our waitress was friendly and prompt, the food was delicious and came in a reasonable amount of time and we were all very pleased.
I think I’d like to return to Plate for a dinner one night to see what’s different on the dinner menu and so that I don’t feel so guilty about spending too much money.