Simon Pearce Restaurant

Sad news: Simon Pearce is closed. From their website:
«After a great deal of careful thought, we’ve made the very difficult decision to close our Brandywine facility. The restaurant and glassblowing workshop are closed as of Wednesday, January 12^th. For your convenience, the retail store will remain open an additional month through end of day Sunday, February 13^th. We will be offering 30% off all second-​quality designs, sale items, home accents, and furniture in the store.»
I loved this place, and it’s really sad to see it shut down.

Not only is it fun to watch the glass blowers, but the food has improved every season. Imagine getting roast duck on a bed of roasted cous-​cous where the grain outshines the entrée. If they have lemongrass ice cream when you are there, get it! Call in advance and request a table overlooking the beautiful Brandywine river.

This place is a really great building with a glass blowing facility inside and store. All the glass is hand blown so no two glasses are alike, and that makes it really unique. There aren’t always demos of the glass blowing process when I go, so I’d call ahead to make sure they have it. It doesn’t take longer than 20 minutes and is interesting.
We got octopus with kale, chorizo, and potato as well as a cheese plate for appetizers. It was delicious with really great flavors. For my main course, I had grouper with a mushroom, corn and egg crêpe. The fish was cooked well and the crêpe was tasty. Dessert was lemon verbena ice cream with buttermilk pound cake, figs, and crunchy things on top. It was light and a really great ending to a very good meal.
Excellent service and sourdough bread. Win!

The view from the restaurant is beautiful. It had just snowed and the river was sparkling. The interior is quaint and full of natural materials. The dining area is open and spacious.
We ordered lunch and the food was fresh, delicious, and cooked to perfection. I’ve been to the location in Vermont and was skeptical of trying this location, but it was delicious. We ordered a cauliflower au gratin for an appetizer. The greyere cheese tasted fresh and the cauliflower had a nice texture. My fiancée had a smoked turkey rueben and I had a cuban burger. Both sandwiches were cooked perfectly and the flavor combinations were great. We skipped on dessert but would love to go back for dessert.
Our waiter was attentive and detail oriented. However, he did not have much of a personality. He was very serious and down to business, which was fine.
Unfortunately we went on a Tuesday and the glassblowers were not working. They are there Wed-​Saturday.

Nice place! I had a «$ 50 of food for $ 25» from
so I figured we’d give it a whirl… glad we did, this place is cute & the food was very fresh & tasty. Not a whole lot of selection on the menu, but what they offer is made with quality ingredients and obvious care.
We went for lunch, and as expected the place was full of senior citizens. Quiet, relaxed, bright & non-​fussy atmosphere.
We were told there was a 5 minute wait, and invited to browse their gift store. Nice stuff but verrrrrry pricey! After ten minutes or so, we went back to the restaurant. Had a beer at the bar, noticed others getting seated ahead of us so we went back to the host, who failed to recognize us and apparently didn’t put our name in. Oh well, no biggie. A few moments later, they found us a table and we enjoyed a fine meal.
No complaints at all, but I tend to prefer more lively establishments so I don’t think we’ll be back unless for, like, a Mother’s Day sorta thing.

Tried this place out for lunch based on Unilocal reviews. Unilocal never fails! Unbelievable eatery. Beautiful dining experience, great views, and very cool concept. The menu is simple yet well done, high quality ingredients from start to finish. The bread basket to start is a story in itself, warm and amazing. The mushroom soup is like silk and the cuban burger and Jail Island Salmon were cooked perfectly, simple, yet innovative flavors.
Additionally, probably not a kid place unless you have well-​behaved little ones, but the the kids menu is something to talk about. Farfalle pasta with smoked ham and peas. Couldn’t believe the quality for a kids menu item.
Looking forward to a return for dinner.

Mussels are great. Very good service.
Just giving it an okay due to the price. When I review, I consider a few factors including what the establishment is advertising itself to be as well as how the price jives with that.
Simon Pearce has nice ambiance inside with the Brandywine river on the outside, but the outside view is just so-​so. They ask a pretty health sum for appetizers as well as the main dish. I find the quality to be good, but not great. I feel the quality is at the bottom level of what I would expect for price and the league Simon Pearce would categorize themself in.