Reviews for Back Porch

08/09/2024 - Danielle T.
The Back Porch has been a favorite dining spot for me over the years, offering delicious food, a unique casual ambience, and friendly service that make it worth the occasional visit despite the slightly higher prices.

06/09/2013 - Andy Kosberg
We had not been to the Back Porch in over a year because of a bad experience with the quality of food coming out of their kitchen. We also observed a few other tables near ours having similar problems with poorly cooked steaks, cold and overdone prime rib, and overdone chicken. However, we wanted to give them another chance. We were told that things had improved and the food would be as great as it was during the six or seven years we had been going there during their summer seasons. The Back Porch had been our favorite "expensive" restaurant, and we had many wonderful meals there bringing friends and family to impress. Sadly we were again quite disappointed with the quality of the food. I am guessing that there have been many changes in kitchen personal leaving nobody with the skills and/or inclination to deliver the wonderful and impressive dishes of a few years ago. Do not misunderstand my message: The food is quite edible. It is simply bland and poorly cooked. In a word unimpressive! For these prices I think we deserve to be impressed!
Our meal started out with drab tasteless rolls someone probably pulled out of a plastic bag. This in contrast to the wonderful assortment of sliced breads they used to serve. Next their salad with their sweet vinaigrette house dressing-excellent! Someone must have kept this recipe! A great way to start a meal!
Not wanting to overindulge, we skipped the appetizers to appreciate their most excellent dishes of old. However, the dishes they brought did not come close to our expectations. The Tutto Mare was quite bland, with severely overcooked fish, and quite mushy angel hair pasta. The dish used to be covered with fish; now rather sparse for the 24 dollar tab. The sauce was plentiful but without flavor. I was certainly not impressed enough to ever want to spend 24 bucks on a bowl of overcooked pasta in a simple white sauce with a few pieces of fish lingering about!
My wife's prime rib, was equally unimpressive! Before ordering it we had inquired if the kitchen had cooked a fresh prime rib today. Anyone at all familiar with prime rib knows that it is best freshly roasted. Yesterdays rib reheated simply does not have the same juiciness and texture--especially for my wife's medium-rare request. We were there early, actually just a few minutes after they opened. We never order prime rib anywhere late in the evening because it has been hanging around a bit. The rib came out around medium (close enough) but the entire piece was quite cold. It was obvious that it had been refrigerated and then reheated a bit before it was brought out. In addition, the meat had no juice in it whatsoever, and the texture was stiff--two more indications that it had not been freshly cooked. Lastly, the most wonderful au jus they used to pour over the rib was sadly absent again. An unimpressive plain hunk of cold dry rib. This is where the unpleasantness began with the server.
In her defense I am sure she is quite sick and tired of having to explain why the food is no longer as impressive as it used to be in the "old days". Lots of folks simply hate to be told about the way things used to be. So when she got indignant about our questioning about the vintage of the prime rib, I am guessing that it is quite frustrating for her. She insisted that the rib must have been cooked today because they almost ran out last night. She then went on to say that the chef always cooked the prime ribs first thing in the mornings when he came in. She further explained that he felt he had to do this because he was overworked so he had to cook it in the morning. Well, that explains it! It was freshly cooked in the morning, and then refrigerated until folks order it in the evening. How sad is this? Do they also pre-cook the steaks and then warm them up when ordered?
Again in defense of the waitress: I had asked if the rib was freshly cooked today. My mistake was not considering that they would ruin a wonderful roast by tragically precooking and refrigerating it so as to guarantee mediocrity. This was not an unusual day for them. This is the way they do things every day. We will need to find another favorite fancy restaurant.