Hawthorn Grill

I was one of a party of four on a very busy Saturday night. (Dayton Restaurant Week) We chose Hawthorn Grill precisely because of the «American Eclectic» menu and Chef Candace did not disappoint. Our party enjoyed salads, the wild mushroom soup, and three regular entrée’s. We were also «delighted» by the warm «donuts with coffee sauce» served for dessert. There were two large parties and a «full house» of regular tables. Our server did very well and we were pleased with the wine selection, support staff, and overall experience. We will be back.

Two and done. Went there for my birthday last night and the service was terrible. Food was great, but we waited 90 mins for it. The chef was nice as well and gave us a complementary drink, but from the time we had been seated to when we saw Candice was 40 mins. Not one person had stopped by to get our drink order or bring out bread. We thought we’d be ok after we saw the chef, but after they brought our wine and bread it was another 45 mins till we saw anyone my husband could ask as to where our food was. We sat down for dinner at 0830 and our food was delivered at 1005. Not to mention they were out of the special, steaks, and the cornbread pudding they made for my husband was overcooked and dry. We had tried the Grill once before during restaurant week and we were very excited to go back to celebrate my birthday, but ended up very disappointed and won’t return. It’s a real shame because had we not had a similar experience during restaurant week, this could have been one of our favorites.

Excellent! My wife went there recently for the first time, and were very pleased. We had a relatively new waitress, and she advised that there was a large party reservation coming, so we got our orders in fairly quick, but weren’t rushed. I had the wild mushroom soup, and it was outstanding, while my wife had a salad with maple vinaigrette dressing. She then had the bone-​in pork chop with a maple glaze, accompanied by sweet and sour red cabbage and cinnamon apples. They prepared it gluten-​free as she has a gluten sensitivity. That makes it much harder for her to find meals she really likes, and she loved this one! Pork was cooked perfectly. I had the pan-​seared Walleye, and it was very good. Service was good, meal was excellent. What’s not to like?

I was excited to try someplace new, but wound up really regretting it. I would not suggest going here if you’re really hungry either. I can understand a wait for food at times, but after our salads, it took over an hour for our two meals, a risotto and a chicken parm, to come out. It also took us a really long time to order because they were out of so much every time we tried to place our order. I understand running out of specials, but they were out of 3 things we tried to get. They couldn’t even make their signature pizzas because they didn’t have dough for the crust! It would have been nice to know all of this upfront prior to ordering. The starter salads felt pretty small and my risotto tasted overly salty. Should have went to Roost!
On the bright side, the booths are cozy and the atmosphere is nice.
For the hassle we were put through, we were given a card to return for a free pizza. It was kind of a mess. Unfortunately, I doubt we’ll be returning.

This place has reliably good food and service with care, a smile and great energy! Joyce is our fav! We know we can bring any friend here and they’ll love it!

Hawthorne Grill is such a great experience– You can sense the creativity and passion in each menu item (especially the daily specials). All items I have ordered are presented beautifully and taste delicious. I decided to go there to celebrate my birthday this year and was so happy that I did, had the opportunity to taste the chicken parmigiana, yum! And the crisp, light Caesar salad was divine! Excited to continue to try new things on their menu.

Nice facilities and bathroom was good and clean. Food was good and I really liked the house salad. It took a while to be served and some people at the table said their food was luke warm. The bread pudding was excellent but the espresso was real bad. The blueberry bourbon drink was great. I’d try the Hawthorne Grill again with a smaller group.

Let me preface negative with positive. The food was excellent for the price charged. however the food took nearly 2 hours to come out to table from time we sat down. There were weird policies for a restaurant located in Dayton such as not taking reservations for brunch, they charged us $ 15 to cut a store bought birthday cake, and provide ice cream for it which I don’t think it’s too bad. when the bills were divvied up for a table of 11 we found that we were charged for gratuity, 20% in fact, which seems to me a little high 17 is the average in most places have a 15% gratuity for large groups the gratuity is not what got me it was how was put on the bill written in pen at the bottom of the bill and not totaled up for total. Seems really underhanded. Some of the staff seemed disinterested in dealing with us while others were very helpful. I would probably still give this restaurant with more chance simply because the food was pretty darn good I just hope they get their business practices in order before the next time I arrive.
PS. The complimentary blueberry bread served with brunch was phenomenal

I went with my mother for Easter to eat our Sunday meal. After reading about several different places we chose this place The thought of all you can eat sounded fun for Easter brunch. I would call it a controlled all you can eat. They brought you your food, we got 2 blueberry pancakes, then on another plate, a scrambled egg, hash, 2pieces bacon, sausage like balls, and maybe a quarter of a red potato, cut up. Something a grown man would eat on his own .I asked Man I could eat about 10 more blueberry pancakes (they were not very big) the server said I will bring you 2, I laughed. Then it was a piece of grilled fish with, a different type of potato salad not sure what kind it was OK not your normal potato salad and then on another plate a small piece of chicken, with chick pea salad. When the server brought the food out I forgot for a minute and took the chicken the portions were like how you would order a dinner so I took the chicken naturally said now remember we share, Oh I said oops we are sharing this? WTH? So we had to cut the chicken and the fish up which meant we got about 2 bites of each, Neither of us ate the chic pea salad. The potato salad, eh? not so much I am not even sure what was in it to tell you, some green stuff, like grass (sorry) .The grilled fish was great, I thought my chicken was not quite done but the server said it was fine. That being said for desert we got fudge bites. The bites were about the size of a quarter. 3 one extra due to my chicken issue. I do not eat fudge, not a lot of chocolate, I asked do you have something else for those of us that don’t like fudge, No was my answer. The fudge is because we know people get so full its just a little something. I muttered its a little something alright … We left content but usu sally when you leave a buffet you don’t eat the rest of the day, I was hungry one half hours later. After talking at the restaurant I said its controlled for food cost so people don’t go I want 10 pancakes take 10 and eat 4 wasting 6, etc with the food. That’s high food costs, That’s lots of money down the drain, verses controlling food costs, High end restaurants makes sense, The chef came out checked on her guests, that was nice, was reason we came there reading the previous reviews. Nice
ambiance, For $ 22 though, not sure it was worth a controlled meal, not that I am a pig and can eat a buffet clean, but I don’t want someone is sung me how much I will eat on Easter Sunday. That is all.

Came here on a Sunday morning for brunch and had a wonderful experience. The mimosa kit was a great idea (a bottle of champagne with flutes of serve your own cherry, orange, or pom juice). My Huevos Rancheros were excellent – well seasoned and made to my specifications. My family enjoyed their meal as well – the grilled cheese looked especially delicious.
The atmosphere was pleasant, not too loud but not too quiet either. Simple but elegant décor inside. Definitely check out this place!

So I just found out that this restaurant only takes reservations with a credit card and if you don’t show, you get charged $ 10 per person per no show! There is a 24 hr cancellation too! Yeah this place just went to the bottom of my list! I’ve been to really high end restaurants and I’ve NEVER been asked for a credit card to hold my reservation nor been told there’d be a fee associated. I hope they reconsider this business practice because it’s it bad form in my opinion. People will come back for the food, ambiance and service there’s no need for these scare tactics to have people keep their reservations.

Run don’t walk… better yet drive, to Hawthorn Grill and experience Polish Week. Candace has put together a delicious sampling of Polish dishes which offer soup, appetizer, entrees and desserts.
My wife and I split the soup and appetizer and they were both delightful. For entrees, we had the Hunters Stew and Polish Platter. Both were perfectly prepared and full of flavor. By this time I was beginning to slip into a blissful food coma. We finished with Polish Sugared Donuts with homemade Strawberry Preserve Dipping Sauce… outstanding.
Thank you Candace for a delightful dining experience and we look forward to continuing the «around the world in 80 days» menus in the upcoming weeks.

Family is in town visit and we thought about to give Hawthorn Grill another try. We’ve never had any luck to go there when they are open. So this time we make sure it’s open before we go. We call for reservation, but they asked for credit card to guarantee that we will show up. This was the first ever! We understand it however the way they explained it was a bit offended to me. The place is a bit noisy which is expected due to limited space. The service was average. A very nice touch at the beginning of the menu with a short background of this local restaurant and asking the customers to be patience as everything is prepared fresh! Sure enough we waited a while for our food to arrive — after a few refills of drinks. I had Sauté shrimps ½ portion — it’s fresh with just enough of lemon zesty flavor with pasta is delicious but was overpowered by the sauce, if the volume of the sauce lighten up a bit, it will be perfect! The portion of the food is perfect for the ladies. For dessert, I had Apple caramel bread pudding — it’s okay, I wish the bread pudding doesn’t soak in the bath of caramel sauce in a bowl, cause the sauce overpowered the bread pudding. I can’t taste the apple much. Perhaps sitting in a «small puddle» of Carmel sauce with some drizzle of caramel on a plate might be better.

While on vacation we read about incredible Carmel apple bread pudding at Hawthrone grill. A very small and average place on the outside, inside is very elegant, sophisticated but very small and limited seating. The hours are very odd for a restaurant. Open only certain days, certain times. Our server was very friendly, but seemed new and easily confused. Excellent choice of beer and drinks. I had fillet mignon with bacon roasted potatoes. While the potatoes were incredible, the steak was perfectly cooked, melted in my mouth but lacked seasoning. My wife had grilled salmon with a chimichurri glaze with pasta, artichokes, peppers and olives. The salmon had little to no seasoning and was cooked too rare for our taste. The chimichurri had a very unique and strange flavor. A flavor I couldn’t quite figure out. The pasta was average but for the description on the menu I expected so much more. Now for the bread pudding, I’ve had my share and this was just average. Overly sweet and covered in a thick Carmel sauce. The apples gave it a nice crunch but it just wasn’t enough to make it memorable. This is one meal on vacation that won’t be as memorable as others.

We tried this place after reading some of the reviews. We like non chain local restaurants like Rue Dumaine, Meadowlark, etc. I remember this place used to be a donut shop as a kid and wasn’t sure what the décor was going to be inside. What a pleasant surprise! Very nice inside. Every meal is freshly prepared and very good. Definitely coming back again!

In the past my husband and I enjoyed dining at the Hawthorn Grill. On a recent Tuesday evening, I called to make a reservation for 6:15, but was told it had to be 6 or 6:30, so I said 6:30 and that we would wait at the bar. Then, as expected, we were asked for our name and phone number. Apparently there is a new policy that also requires a credit card number for the reservation. Since we aren’t comfortable giving our credit card number over the phone, we declined the request and went elsewhere.
We hope that the Hawthorn Grill reconsiders this decision as we enjoy the food and pleasant service. We always call to cancel a reservation if we change our minds, and I think most people would do so.

First visit was on Friday during Restaurant Week. The place was packed, had anout a two minute wait before we were seated. Very romantic, highly recommed for a first date or break up. the servers were all friendly and courteous. Had clams for the appetizer. First clams ever ate in my life, the bar has been set high. The Caesar salad was delivered about a minute after taking the clams away. Timing of all four courses was perfect. The homemade bread was to die for along with the oil and butter. Best ribs & pulled pork in the Dayton area that I’ve eaten. The baked beans were special. The chef used several kinds of beans. Tasted delightful. the tiramisu, melted in my mouth. Definitely go back any time.

Wow, the food! Four stars!
Whoa, the service… One at best. Perhaps it was the fact that we arrived late in their brunch service. Most likely, it was the fact that the owner was holding court at a large table by the fireplace!
We were seated promptly, however it took 10 minutes for someone to bother to visit our table. She took three trips to bring us three waters, two coffees and a sprite. Each time she left the table, she was distracted by the owner’s table. When we asked if we could order after the third trip, she couldn’t as she had forgotten her book. Yet another stop by the owner and almost 25 minutes after being seated, our order was taken.
Based on the tempting menu selections, we hoped the food would be worth the wait. Sadly, our wait was not over… Thirty additional minutes elapsed with nary a refill or visit. Finally, during a trip to the restroom, I was able to plead for more coffee and ask about our food.
With a great flourish, food was produced with a personal visit from the chef… Alas, it wasn’t for us… When it did arrive, it was good. Quite good, in fact. One of the better hollandaise I have had. The crab cakes for the Benedict were plump with crab and long on flavor. My ravenous guests quite enjoyed the French toast and anyone that serves Neuske’s bacon is tops on my list.
But honestly, should a casual brunch take an hour and forty-​five minutes? No.
Will I try again? Perhaps. But, if a large Mercedes with a vanity plate is plopped in the prime parking spot by the front door, I’ll let our «gracious» owner hold court and not distract her personal staff with my patronage.

Hawthorn Grill is my new fav. Best food in Dayton. Service and atmosphere are spot-​on. Fresh «real» food!

Delightful find! We are in the area on business, from Chicago. Love to find the local spots. I am primarily a vegetarian but I eat fish on occasion. I went there thinking of fish, but they were out (we went late). I chose the grilled polenta and it was fabulous! The firm polenta triangles were arranged on top of a bean-​kale ragu with tomatoes, red and yellow peppers and not sure what else The ragu had a little heat to it but not what I would consider «spicy». A wonderful vegetarian comfort dish. I preceeded my entrée with the house salad which was spinach with dried cranberries and spiced pecans and a lovely vinegarettte. Home-​made foccacia with rosemary-​infused olive oil and butter with (sorry, can’t remember exactly) chives was a nice treat. My co-​worker had a steak which was accompanied by asparagus and some delicious potato concoction. His plate was clean too.
Service was wonderful. Highly recommend!