Gifford’s

Last year after mediocre meals we stopped going. This year, several weeks ago we were attending a concert in Kent and decided to try the restaurant again. It was outstanding — we could not believe it was the same restaurant. My prime sirloin steak was cooked to perfection and was the best steak I’ve had in Litchfield County. The swordfish was wonderful as well as everything else we had. We could not wait to go back and give it the «second time» test. It failed miserably. (Somewhat to our dismay because the people joining us for dinner had come on our raves).The pork vegetables spring roll was very much over fried, dry and not edible. I ordered the grilled octopus. The waitress told me it would take 15 to 20 minutes because it’s cooked to order — it was just okay. The prime steak was nowhere near the quality and taste that I had at my last experience. The pad Thai was lukewarm and overly spiced. the pork chop was good.
Combined with a mediocre food was terrible terrible service. The waitress was somewhat inattentive and we had to wait at least 40 minutes to get our main course (after complaining). it was my thought that the reason for the terrible food this time an delay was the chef must have left and somebody else was trying to cook the dinner — there was no apology given nor an explanation for what was going on.
If you decide to go here (since it has a good location for going ons in Kent) you probably will be surprised one way or the other. After this experience we would hesitate to go back.

Outdoor patio is very nice. Vietnamese chopped salad and Grilled Calamari appetizers were very good. I ordered steak frites and the steak was medium rare, as ordered, but cool to the touch. Frites were hot. Inexcusable since we were the only table in the restaurant, seated for an early dinner. Sent it back and it was warm when it returned (but no longer medium rare). Disappointing meal especially given the high-​end prices. My wife’s Fig and Brie pizza was good. Dessert was not special. The Giffords market in town is consistently good (great sandwiches and baked goods) so we will probably give this another try in a few months.

My wife & I frequently take the motorcycle up to kent and have gone to giffords for lunch on a Saturday on several occasions. We thought the lunch meals are reasonably priced and very good. My wife has tried the salad with optional salmon added to it and they give you a generous portion of it. I have had the grilled chicken sandwich which has avocado on it and it’s very good. The sides with it are shoestring fries and a very nice salad. It’s usually one or the other but here they give you both. The service for lunch has always been excellent. Thank goodness for giffords as the other dining optios in kent are not too great.

This is a terrific addition to the area. Gourmet menu supplemented with simpler options, all delicious. Service is friendly and professional. The addition of a great assortment of thin crust pizzas is a real plus. We go to Gifford’s frequently and are never disappointed. This winters wine/​beer dinners were a great success, and a perfect antidote to cold, dreary season.
M.K.

Great food, high prices. The appetizers were very good. The salmon entrée was delicious, worth ordering another time. The desserts were delicious.

We just had a great anniversary dinner at Gifford’s. The calamari appetizer was served with a lovely salsa and mustard dipping sauce. Loved the smoked chicken and smoke sausage special served with mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus!
The food was as we had hoped as we’ve been fans of the JP Market. A bit pricy but I’d rather pay a bit more and get a nice dining experience. This is not a big city restaurant and the staff is local so there is a homey feel to the atmosphere.
Will definitely recommend to friends and return for another meal.

A very good restaurant, as long as you can stomach the NY style prices!
Loved the tempura soft shell crab appetizer ($ 13) which was served with a spicy mango salsa. The mango salad ($ 13) was large enough to share and a delicious mix of flavors.
My husband thought the scallops were very good (and there were 5 on the plate for $ 28) though he was not a fan of the lentils that came with it. The salmon ($ 26) was very good. I wasn’t as much a fan of the Hawaiian Ahi tuna ($ 36) which was coated with sesame seeds and served with a mustard sauce and coconut rice. There was just too much going on flavor wise in this dish, I thought it overwhelmed the fish.
The service here is just so-​so and doesn’t match the menu or the prices. The server was not polished and did not offer (even when asked) recommendations of what was good on the menu, other than «the seafood is good.» Also, our drinks were not refilled during the meal.
Overall this was a very good meal, for Kent Ct, if you are ok with the prices I think you will find something on the menu to enjoy! Recommend.

Friends have like Gifford’s but we were disappointed.
Pros: Food came out very quickly, the beer bread is fantastic, and the desert cookies were great. The painted walls were done really well and the decorations were very tasteful and fun. The atmosphere has a good energy and the bar is well designed.
Cons: Food was B– and for the price it should have been A– or A
Service was so fast that it was almost too fast. The appetizer plates for 2 or us were snatched before the other two people were finished.
Way too loud– we had to shout to hear each other. No noise absorbing materials anywhere.
The serving size was on the small side and the price is on the higher side, and the quality of food does not match the price point. Our ceasar salad had just a handful of romaine, smaller than anything we had seen, and the coffee crusted pork tenderloin was overcooked and dry– no excuse for that at $ 30. Our friend had 2 app’s and wall not full after.
They just opened and I have hope that they work make some changes. They have a of of high level competition in the local area and they will have to do something to stay busy through the tough winters up here. I am going to try it again in a few months and will write a new review if I have a new experience.

Wow, what a disappointment. Beautiful place, we were seated by the fireplace, primo seats. We got water pretty quickly, but had to wait a bit for a drink. The menu looked nice. I ordered oysters for an app, my husband ordered risotto. Still waited for drinks. Apparently, the «special drinks» take a while. Ok, apps came. My oysters had a salad on top of each of them, and no flavor. At all. So sad. And the oysters were only ok in quality. Husband’s risotto was steaming. Like it had been nuked kind of steaming. And it was disappointingly lacking in richness and flavor.
On to the main dishes. I had scallops with risotto and husband had lamb. My scallops were perfectly cooked, but flat in flavor. The risotto was the same as the app. A nice rice dish, but certainly not delectable. And we were half-​way through dinner before our drinks came. My husband’s lamb was cooked right, but the tomato, spinach mess to the side was a tasteless distraction. He thought the potatoes were fine, but the plate was visually unattractive.
We looked at the dessert menu, which looked ok, but nothing jumped out at us, so we passed.
Our service was good, the décor is lovely, but the food needs flavor. If you are going to charge those prices, PLEASE give us some flavor!