Arlo Grey by Kristen Kish

A very lackluster experience. Service was ridiculously slow, think 10 minutes for drinks, 10 minutes to get cards back, 20 min between courses. Food was average but nothing our party thought was exemplary. One quote “She wouldn’t have won top chef with any of these dishes”.

The food and experience we had at Arlo Grey was really fantastic. Being a fan of Top Chef, it was kind of surreal to eat a champion’s menu and Chef Kristen Kish did not disappoint. Her take on American classics with Korean and other East Asian flavors/ingredients was inspired, unique, and delicious. Shout out to our server and the kitchen for getting our food out at record time when we realized we had another nonrefundable reservation to get to. They turned our table in 75 minutes, which isn’t any foodie’s ideal dining timeline (especially with the amount of food we ordered). They pushed the plates out and did not compromise on quality or service. We really appreciated the flexibility and care they took with getting us out on time. Our favorite plates of the night were the pork chop (crispy skin?? Melt in your mouth?? And it was a pork chop???), Texas beets (a vegetable dish that can stand entirely on its own deserves a round of applause), sourdough bread (that 25-year-old starter did not come to play), and flounder crudo (fennel on fennel on fennel might seem odd, but it 100% works). We’ll be back, undoubtedly. I’m thrilled to know I can try more of Chef Kish’s creations right here in Austin any time I get a craving. I already have my eye on trying her egg raviolo sometime soon.

Been a long time fan of Chef Kristen from her days as Top Chef contestant and eventual winner, and her restaurant absolutely lived up to the very high hopes I had. I've eaten at NYC Michelin star restaurants and not had as deep, complex, and satisfying dishes as what was served here. This was one of the best meals of my life. As an aside, Chef Kristen happened to be in the restaurant while I was there with a group of friends and she is just so kind and generous with her time. Good people, good food!

Save your money, would not recommend. Food was okay, but did not meet expectations. Staff was decent, but service was awful. There seemed to be a lot of wait staff with nothing to do & no one had food around us. Put all food order in at one time when arrived and still waited about 30-40 min between courses. Had salad & burrata (took 30 mins to come out) & 2 small pasta dishes (took 40 mins to come out). We were there for about 1.5 hours & probably had 5 bites of food. Ended up cancelling entree because it was taking soooo long after already waiting 20 mins for it. The only thing worth eating there is the bread.

Got a yurt for Valentine’s Day. Waited 25 minutes for a waiter to come and acknowledge us. Apologized. Drinks were good, the first 2 courses were great. Then we had to wait unattended a full hour for the third course. Our waiter came to our table once in this whole hour, so we were sitting without drinks for most of the time. the waiter was apologetic and offered to comp a round, we’re easygoing and happily accepted. We waited another 20 minutes for these drinks and some water (which kind of kills the whole point of compensating for a mistake if you’re going to immediately continue the same mistake). By the time the fourth course (ribeye) came out, with a brief apology and no eye contact, it was cold and I could tell it had been sitting out for a while. I really didn’t care for it, I feel like I could make a better ribeye. At this point It was almost closing time and we hadn’t even gotten our last course yet, we sat at 7:30. When our waiter gave us our check they apologized without much explanation at all, the entire night no communication Like I said, we’re easy going but they didn’t seem like they were even trying at this point because they knew they neglected us the entire night. Our waiter said good night, gave us a deep sigh and a “yeah…..” before walking away so there you go. This entire night was a disappointment, and I would not recommend. I spent so much money here to make a special Valentine’s Day and it gets soured by bad service, hard to remember the good parts of the meal over the literal hours of empty table. I will not remember Arlo Grey fondly.

Final determination: Keep in mind that for the price the expectation is much higher especially when I can compare it with other restaurants in the area. For 4 People spent $353 ( not including tip $70 ) , we had much better food and experience at Perry's Steakhouse, but we had all decided that it wasn't worth it to come back. Check out pro/con list below. Pro - Good food - Modern fine dining - Nice Server - Wagyu Ribeye probably the best item we have tried. It's really good, like the thinkness of a ribeye but the texture of a filet mignon. Served with crispy fried asparagus and onions, a Salad with kidney beans. Priced at $110, not worth it IMO. - AG Grilled Sourdough bread, man it was the best sourdough bread I have ever had. - Swordfish entre was really good. - Half chicken good but not great. - Burrata, excellent addition to eat with the sourdough bread. Cons - small expensive portions - initially served water, which tasted bad like tap. - a bit too dark inside - Swordfish, tiny portion, no value per $ - Garden Margarita, wasnt great, wouldn't order it again. $15 - Desert portions are tiny, bring microscope. But it was a $9 item and we were offered it for free. Cinnamon Cake - Burger was not great, $20 - Took 2 hours to eat here from start to finish. - Bathrooms are a horrid, not in cleanness but in decor, basically looks purposely graffiti.