The Barlow Room

What an unbelievable evening at The Barlow Room. Chris from Joel Palmer House showed up & made sure things were top shelf. The new menu with the the steak bites & beet salad as small plates were a perfect compliment to what we really came here for… The gold medal famous mushroom soup! To die for and it didn’t disappoint. A must do while in Yamhill Valley wine country.

I brought my dad here for his birthday dinner. We were greeted at the door, seated immediately, and the service continued to be friendly and conscientious throughout our experience.
The food was SO good! I had the Portobello Blue Burger and my dad had The Cuban. We both had the house fries, which had great seasoning, and really didn’t, in my opinion, need ketchup or dipping sauce. Dad had the blackberry cobbler for dessert. I tasted it, and wished I hadn’t finished my entire burger & left room for dessert!
I am a fan & will be returning and bringing family and friends!

This place is about 15 minutes away from our house, so we decided to check it out, despite negative reviews on Unilocal.I don’t even have much to say about it, because when we got to the restaurant, it was closed. 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. Their hours say that on Saturdays they are open 11-​close… I guess close is 4 hours after open? Not planning on returning.

My wife and I have become regulars here now. The bartender, Brian, and all the staff are the main reason. The food is great, the drinks are good, but it’s the service that is really awesome.

Menu hasn’t changed in a year. Walked in and three of their employees looked at us but instead of greeting us went back to whatever they were doing and left us standing at the door. We waited for someone to acknowledge us but I guess they were too busy. Too busy with two tables at 7:00 on a Tuesday night. Should have read the recent Unilocal reviews first!

Service was dreadful. We arrived a few minutes early for a 5:30 reservation. Room was no more than ¹⁄₃ full. Still, we had to repeatedly call our server over and repeatedly ask for simple things like plates to share our appetizers. Our drinks didn’t arrive until halfway through our entrees. It’s really tough to enjoy a 5 beer sampler when your meal is almost finished.
Food was very disappointing. The fried Calamari appetizer was supposed to be served with Remoulade sauce. It came without it initially. When we asked our server about it, we were provided with what clearly was jarred mustard. A burger, which was ordered medium, was beyond well and served on a cold bun. Their House Fries were limp. Lobster MacnCheese should be labeled «lobster flavored» because almost no actual lobster could be found in the dish. The flank steak special was quite good. Sadly, that was the exception to an otherwise incredibly disappointing meal.
I understand that they were clearly having a very bad night as far as service goes. Our server even told us as much. The food however should have been unaffected by that, especially given that the restaurant was only partially full.
Regarding the automatic 18% gratuity… I support the Barlow Room in this. Service professionals work extremely hard to earn a living. 15% is my baseline. I typically leave 20% for a good experience. If I leave 10%, it’s my way of protesting. Honestly, I would have left 15% for this meal, even given the very poor service because our server was clearly trying to make the best of a bad situation. I give him major props for that actually, but the service still sucked and the food was mostly mediocre.

We were excited to try something new since there are so few really great restaurants locally.
I’m sorry to say we were underwhelmed. We ordered off their limited brunch menu and left full, but unsatisfied.
The lobster Mac-​n-​cheese had no flavor. Good consistency, very creamy and a generous portion but it didn’t taste like it had cheese in it or lobster. There was three tiny pieces of lobster in the entire bowl.
We also ordered their steak bite scramble. The steak was tough and without flavor and there was little of it. It came with eggs and potatoes with red peppers and again, good portion size but it lacked any real bite.
My husband had the chilaquiles and it was all chips, hardly any pulled pork or black beans. Plate presentation and portion size was great but it’s not real chilaquiles unless there’s some meat.
The most disappointing part though was seeing that they charge an automatic 18% gratuity on the checks and not just for large parties either. There was only four of us, which is an unfortunate business choice.
We believe in paying for good service not automatically being charged as if you’ve already earned it. We were the only table in the entire restaurant on a Sunday afternoon. Maybe this is part of the reason.
Also, our bill was $ 77 without any alcoholic beverages or dessert. That’s a lot to pay for underwhelming food and forced tips.

It might have been great but we left after we found out that they were going to charge us extra so that they could pay their people a better wage. I would rather tip the employees based on the service they give than to have it forced down my throat.

Please don’t waist your time. The food is ok but the headache of dealing with people who don’t know how to run a business is not worth it.
I came with a group of 9 on Saturday ⁶⁄₂₇ for a bachelorette party. We made reservations ahead of time and even showed up early. We weren’t a rowdy bunch (no sashes, matching tees, or tiaras) but we had been wine tasting previously. The space and décor are really nice but the service was terrible. Everyone ordered their first round of drinks. The waiter came back to get the bachelorette’s order because she couldn’t decided and then 20 minutes went by and still no drink. There were other customers in the restaurant but not enough that they couldn’t make 1 drink in a timely manner. We kept asking about it and they said it was coming. I think she finally got it 30 minutes after ordering. At this same time another waiter came to our table and told us that the last waiter didn’t actually work at the restaurant and one of the items we ordered was not available. Um, what? Did the waiter get fired, did he randomly walk off the street and decided he need a career change?
Finally after a long while of waiting food started to come out. We got soups and salads. 3 out of the 9 of us ordered salads as their entrees (I was one of the 3). So we patiently waited with our entrees in front of us for everyone else’s food to arrive. A bus boy came over while we were waiting and asked one of the girls if she wanted a box for her salad, she replied, «no. we’re still waiting on everyone else’s food.» He walked off and not more then 10 minutes later he came back. He asked the same girl if he could clear her plate. Again, she said, «no. we’re waiting on everyone’s food.» At this point we were getting mad.
There was another bachelorette party in the restaurant and even thought they came in after us they got their food before our table. Finally an hour and a half after ordering the remaining entrees began to come out. There were a couple orders that were incorrect, but they were able to fix them quickly. The last two people were waiting for their food and a waitress brings two burgers to another table. The table of four was obviously done eating drinking and were about to leave. With only about 10 tables in the entire place how do you not know one of the tables already paid and is leaving? They refused the burgers, which were then brought to us and everyone finally could eat. The food was meh. I would have rather drove the hour back to Portland and spent our money some where else (anywhere else).
They didn’t take off any meals/​drinks and they didn’t even apologize. They just kept making excuses. The blame was placed on the phantom original waiter. I hate excuses. I’ve worked customer service and no one cares who’s fault it is, just fix it!!! To top it off the Barlow Room automatically adds 18% to your bill. Not because we were a group over 6 people but because that’s how they treat everyone. We didn’t argue this because, it wasn’t worth it. We wanted to get as far away from the place as possible.
I’m not from a small town and I’ve never been a waitress but I hope this is not how all the places in Dayton work.
I don’t understand how you can be and stay in business.

Today I was starving and just got out of a crawlspace with skunks. Saw the open sign and thought it would be nice to get a beer and my first meal of the day at about 130pm. After seeing an older couple at the bar I had a seat at the end of the bar in hopes of having a quick beer and burger. Saw the older couple who had sampled beers and the woman chose the lager which is right up my alley. The beer was good and I ordered the burger with a side of chipotle mayo that was recommended by the bartender. The other couple had also ordered burgers. The bartender was the only person working the floor. Our food came out at the same time and I noticed the older couple had water and was just handed silverware with a cloth napkin. At this time I noticed that there was no water, silverware or the chipotle mayo. The bartender put some ice in a cup then added water only to drink it himself. He was off doing other things and I asked the friendly couple if they noticed that there was a required tip of 18%? They didn’t know about the tipping structure, but they did notice that their service was much better than mine. I did end up asking for silverware «could I also get some silverware like them? And a side of that chipotle mayo? It came out. As we finished our meals at about the same time we were all curious as to why their service was better. They said they received water when they first sat down. They were also asked when they finished if they would like to hear about the deserts. He didn’t ask me. I felt like a second class citizen which. This happens at snooty places more often than those who cater to the commoner I am. Unaware the waiter didn’t know that I usually tip 25−30%. If we all pay the same can’t we all get the same service? The burger was good and so was the chipotle mayo. If I go back I’ll be wearing nicer clothes than my crocodile hunter uniform.
On another occasion I ordered the steak for about $ 35 it was also good, yet I ordered the lobster mac and cheese afterwards to fill up and it was fair. As a slightly larger man than most I usually fill up with the main entrees. I had an $ 80 bill with a couple of drinks. Could have gone to el goucho for that.

Last nights dinner was really nice with wonderful steelhead salmon and a great salad. Perfect.

My friends and I decided to grab a drink here after a very long day at work. None of us had ever been and we were dying to find a new spot. The atmosphere was welcoming and the staff was incredibly friendly so we instantly felt at home.
Now I was a waitress for five years and a bartender for two, so I know what good service looks like. While it was clear they where still getting the hang of things, the staff hustled and had a positive attitude. Our waitress even convinced us to order food, which we had no intention of doing.
I ordered the lobster macaroni which came very highly recommend by our waitress and words cannot describe what an emotional and spiritual experience that was. As I took my first bite it was as if the pearly gates themselves opened up and angels came out serenading me. My taste buds where crying tears of joy and I was starting to question the meaning of life. Why did it take me so long to find this place? What could I have possibly been doing with my life up until this point?
I have officially found my second home. I will be back again and again and again. Because my life officially has a purpose, and it is to eat as much lobster macaroni as humanly possible. Please, PLEASE make this a 24 hour establishment to cater to my addiction.

Arrived in Dayton after a long drive. Really didn’t want to drive too far for dinner. Found the Barlow Room just a short distance away. Our server, Russell, greeted us right away and his easy manner put us right at ease. We ordered the pork belly appetizer which was delicious. The salads were really good with a nice balance of dressing. Our entrees, the pulled pork and pesto shrimp, were so good looking and tasted even better. I asked Russell to recommend a wine to pair with the pulled pork. He did not recommend the most expensive wine but one the truly paired well with the entrée. We felt relaxed throughout dinner and enjoyed learning more about the local area from Russell. Would definitely go back again! Thanks for a great evening :-)

Great menu and service. Quality ingredients. Gourmet fare. Unique cocktails. Great space with an awesome antique wooden bar-​back, circa 1920. Try the Barlow Burger: ⁹⁰⁄₁₀ local beef seared with duck fat, served on a brioche bun.

We have been staying in Dayton for a few days now in a house across the street from the Barlow room. We are traveling with our eight year old son so opted for the more casual Barlow Room than the Joel Palmer house. I was excited to try this take on comfort food and was so disappointed. We had a group of six to feed and sampled the majority of the menu.
To begin we ordered two orders of calamari, lobster mac and cheese and two bowls of soup. The best of the bunch was the soup. It had a good flavor but lacked any texture contrast or flavor contrast. The calamari was an oily mess that needs to be reworked. The lobster mac is an insult to diners. Boxed pasta with non descript cheese and bits of unseasoned lobtser. Not much effort on this one. Scratch Pasta is easy to make and using some local Willamette valley cheese and a nice crust would really help this dish.
We ordered the house salad and the blue cheese and bacon salad. Both were very average, something I would expect from an inexperienced operator not the folks who run one of the top rated spots in town.
For main courses we tried two burgers, chicken sandwich and two braised chicken breasts entrées.
The burgers were decent but the fries were frozen from the bag. It is pretty simple again to buy some Kennebec potatoes and do hand cut fries. If you can figure out a seven course tasting menu, WHY AM I EATING SYSCO FRIES? Chicken sandwich was fine as well. The chicken dish was so over braised it was like eating paste. Served with 6 fingerling potatoes half ed and a simple pan jus. The dish was lacking for $ 19. The may have $ 3 into that dish.
My son had the chicken fingers and mixed vegetables. Again frozen chicken tender and fries. Your culinary team can execute foie gras and sweetbreads but got stumped by chicken tenders.
I feel like I got romanced by the palmer house name and had a soulless dinner at place that needs some love in the kitchen. It was not busy either and there was three guys in the kitchen to produce that meal.
I like the build out of the space. The reclaimed bar, old safe and brick walls were nice. But a pergo floor in a historic building? Keep trying because it has a ton of potential. I won’t be back for a while but I can fully recommend the block house next door. At least they have passion.

Hard to believe that we could miss a finding a restaurant in Dayton, but we did. Stopped by the Joel Palmer House for directions and the wait staff had to go ask someone in the kitchen for directions… that should have told us all we needed to know, but we continued.
The Barlow Room has a very nice look — expansive back bar, brick walls. The wood chairs are incredibly uncomfortable — does anyone sit in these things before purchase?
When we arrived for our reservations on a Saturday night, it appeared that the prior patrons had arrived at various stages — and not many came after us until we were ready to leave.
Outside of one wait staff person, most were clueless. Not sure what was going on in the kitchen (appeared to be 3 people working in the kitchen), but we waited an hour for our meal.
Beverage service was timely — thank goodness! One of us ordered the mushroom soup, which was delicious. However, when asked if we could get some bread with the soup, we were told that there was not enough bread to give out with the soup — just enough for the sandwiches. Bizarre.
Chicken breast in thyme jus had potential, but someone should have taken it out of the crockpot about an hour earlier. Seriously — over done chicken that tastes like it came from a crockpot for $ 19!
The other entrée ordered was the mushroom pasta. What came to the table an hour later was the shrimp pasta. They were going to replace it, but who has that kind of time! Thankfully they did not charge us for that entrée.
This is a disappointment from a place that should have so much potential. The Barlow Room has been open for about 7 weeks — how can it be that it seems like opening week for them.
We will have to hear some stunning reviews before venturing back — which is so unfortunate.

Absolutely top notch. We’ve eaten here twice now and each time has been such a pleasure. Both times we’ve taken guest and both times our guest loved it.
The atmosphere is very warm and welcoming as was the staff. Very obvious the amount of thought that went into furnishing and decorating the restaurant. The bartender was very personable and enjoyable. The servers were very friendly and accommodating.
As for the food only one word I can think of AMAZING. Appetizers: Steak bites are out of this world. Tender juicy and cooked to perfection. The dumpling type goodies with the yogurt sauce (don’t remember what they are called) just pop your taste buds with each bite. First time I went I ordered the pulled pork with corn bread was excellent. The other time I had the burger. Finally found a restaurant that knows how to cook a top notch burger that you’ll only find at much more expensive establishments. Hats off to the Chef! Then came paradise the flour less chocolate cake. OMG I had never heard of such a thing and man was I surprised.
Overall both visits were great. When you consider they’ve just opened their doors I can’t imagine be able to pull that off. Thank you, thank you!!!
We’ll see you again no doubt!!!

Hate to give a new business just 3 stars because I do not want to be responsible for any failures. But the Barlow Room, in my opinion, has some minor issues to overcome.
Here’s the story: yesterday, July 5, we decided to give the new place in Dayton a visit. Having read a couple of reviews in the Oregonian that were quite favorable, we were looking forward to our lunch. For those of you who have never been to Dayton, it is a small (2,500) community about ½ mile off of Hwy 18 about seven miles east of McMinnville. The dining options are extremely limited — there are four resturaunts, a deli and an ice cream place. The Joel Palmer House is the flagship of the town, drawing wine country enthusiasts who require «fine» dining. Now the entire restaurant «row» can be found on one block (excepting the Palmer) so you would not think the Barlow Room would be hard to find. But the first time down the street, I did not see it, so I turned around, drove back down the block and parked. We got out of the car, only to discover that we were parked right in front of it! This rather long winded opening is only to point out that the signage is terrible. If you are not really looking you can miss the place completely.
Okay, signage is bad, but we did find it and went in to eat. The inside is pretty awesome. A beautiful back bar, a comfortable seating area next to the bar, several booths and plenty of tables. It was 12:30, but there were only two people in the place (by the time we left there were maybe 8 and that included a family of six). We were greeted warmly and seated promptly (5 stars for the wait staff!). The food menu is somewhat limited, but it appeared the drink menu was rather extensive. And I think that may be the second problem facing the Barlow Room. There menu seems to be aimed a «Bön Appetit» clientele rather than your hamburger and chicken salad bunch. Of course. The Barlow Room is owned by the same people who own the Joel Palmer House, so maybe they think they can draw the same crowd. I am pretty sure they do not attract many locals for lunch or dinner. And, speaking of the rather sparse menu, I believe their pricing is out of line for their product. I had the Barlow Burger $ 13 and my wife had the Chicken Sandwich $ 12. They were good but not that good. I thought about that family of six that came in and bet they didn’t get out of there for under $ 120.
So, overall I give the Barlow Room 3 stars. Would I go there again? I doubt it.

When we heard about this place opening, we had high expectations… only because it’s owned by the same family that owns the Joel Palmer House…
We also thought, hey. another great addition to the ever growing wine country!
Well my GF and I were headed over the first official weekend they were open, for our birthday celebration. Once we arrived on that Sunday, there was a note on the door that said closed for a private event! This was NOT communicated on their website… total bummer!
We ended up coming out a different weekend, we still wanted to try this place out after reading the menu online and peeking thru the windows, the pub looked bad ass inside!
Sat night we met another couple here for dinner and drinks. We walked right in, and there were only about 5 full tables. So no reservations were needed! We sat in a booth against the wall and ordered a few drinks. I opted for a raspberry mojito. It lacked rum and tasted full of juice. One of our servers wanted my honest opinion, so I told him. He was very thankful for the feedback–
Next up, we ordered the lobster mac n cheese, a bowl of the mushroom soup and the burger to share. The mac n cheese was ok, there was barely any lobster for the $ 14 and the noodles reminded us of something from a box. For $ 14 I expect higher quality food. The soup was good– no complaints there… but the burger. Oh man… if you put a burger on your menu, than please know how to execute one. The burger tasted more of sausage than beef. Not sure what went wrong there.
Also– please please work on the service. I understand you are still «new» but your servers are a little clueless! Our plate still had fries on them, drinks were still half full, and within ten minutes, we had 5 different servers try and take our plate from us. I finally told the last one, «when my plate is empty, than I’m done»
It was hard to have a conversation with our friends when we were interrupted every minute!
After overkill of trying to take our plates… it took over 30 minutes to get our bill! 30 minutes! There was more staff on the floor than tables, so why so long? Then my friend was over charged on her 3 martinis… AND we had to ask what the 18% gratuity was all about! Yes I had them remove it, as I felt the service and food was not worth the 18% tip!
Will I be back… no, probably not which is a shame, being that I live in wine country and love to eat out at nicer places such as this. I hope you guys can get on track and figure it out–

Very excited to have discovered Barlow Room. If you live in Yamhill county you need to check this place out. Just what we need. The space is really well done. The prices are great. The food is top high quality. The service was perfect.
In an area where most of the restaurants try to be too high end or are a step up from fast food Barlow room has found the perfect niche.
Also really enjoyed the fact there is a playground across the street. Making dinner /​lunch at Barlow very kid friendly.