The Rustic Gourmet

We decided to give the Rustic Gourmet a try. The salad was fresh and though there was no choice on the dressing the vinaigrette they served on the side was tasty. The focaccia that came with the salads was excellent. Wish we’d stopped there. Our main dishes looked and tasted like something made days ago and reheated. If I’d wanted left overs we could have eaten at home. It may be a bit picky but my drink came with a lot of ice and they never offered a refill. Maybe it bothered me more because it took a lot of tea to get down my dried out leftovers. If you can’t make it fresh, don’t put it on the menu.

Today we decided to try the 13.50 brunch buffet. The nearly empty parking lot should have been a clue about what was in store, but sadly, we ignored that hint. The other hint was the blank Albany County Food Inspection form in the window. Not even the restaurant name was filled in.
The limited buffet was in a small dark room and the food wholly unremarkable. It had all been in the steamers for way, way too long and perhaps it was better in it’s prime. Ever had a crêpe that’s been in a steam tray? Yucko. Juice consisted of those little tiny cans that you find on an airplane. Not bad if you don’t mind that slight metallic taste and enjoy drinking out of a can. The doors to the restaurant were wide open, which may have been an attempt to keep down the cost of air conditioning, but flies in the dining room can be so distracting. The service was nearly non-​existent, and not great. The coffee was worse than Stewart’s. There were 4 of us at our table, and only 2 of us got coffee that was hot. Refills are available if you can manage to get staff’s attention.
We so wanted the Rustic Gourmet to be our new go to place for brunch, but that’s not going to happen.

Food was really good. Service was initially slow but overall a good place for lunch!