Columbia Bar & Grille

We met some friends for dinner there last Saturday night. We were seated about 6pm...it was empty...my... more

We met some friends for dinner there last Saturday night. We were seated about 6pm...it was empty...my first clue! The server was very nice and fai... more

We just returned from the worst dining experience of a lifetime. We should have known that when every other restaurant on Bridge St was packed with an hour + wait time that it was a mistake to enter a restaurant not even half full. Don't let the lovely atmosphere fool you in to thinking the dining experience might match...from the wobbly table, to the lemon drop that didn't in any way match the menu description, to the lukewarn snapper soup, to the refusal to get a desired liquor from the bar downstairs, to the most horrific presentation of a filet I've ever seen..need I go on? The service was horrific, and the waiter was clueless. We waited 35 minutes for our first course to be served, They attempted to serve us the wrong entrees, and once our entrees were served the waiter never returned to ask if we were satisfied. I had to got to the bar downstairs after an inordinate amount of time to request to speak to the manager. I left starved and even though she offered to take the gross filet entree off the bill, we left feeling totally taken advantage of..this was as poor as you can get and once we couldn't get in to one of the truly wondeful restaurants in town we should have opted for pizza and a movie! My vote for worst dining experience of a lifetime! more

I have been going to this restaurant for years,and It has never disapointed me. The food has always been prepared perfect. My personal favorite is the Crabcakes. They are made with jumbo lump, and have no fillers in them. The service has always been prompt and friendly. If you are looking for a great place to relax and enjoy great food this is the place to be. It also sports a lovely room on the seconf floor which is ideal for large parties. Pros: No smoking more

We went out for an evening with friends. Since the Black Lab does not take reservations we made them here at the Columbia. The atmosphere is nice enough and we had a 7PM seating so it was not crowded at all. But the food was just not worth it for this extremely expensive menu $27 and up. The bread was hard ,tasteless and if I had to swear I would say it was day old and warmed up. My husband said his swordfish was only edible because of the topping. It came lukewarm. My Caesar salad was fine. The hummus appetizer was nothing special- don't bother. The eggplant and spinach dip appetizer was crispy and light. This was something I did like. As for the desserts there was nothing that I found even tempting enought to order. Our friend got the sorbet, which came in a huge dish with two large scoops and a huge chocolate chip cookie. But don't think that even saved it, the cookie itself was dull. Yeah, imagine that? A chocolate chip cookie being dull? WOW! So go for the sorbet if you like it, you get plenty of that.\r With so many other restaurants in Phoenixville I think you can find somewhere else to eat. more

I went to this restaurant for a company party. We had about 55 guests invited and we were totally impressed with the place form the decor to the friendly service to the excellent food. We were seated in the upstairs dining room with a wonderful piano. I cannot express to you how great everything was. The menu had a great variety of seafood to steaks. I personally had the Caeasar salad, and the Salmon which was cooked just right. All I can say is if you are looking for a great restaurant to host a party this place is a must! The lovely and friendly Mary took care of all the party details which were executed to perfection. Pros: food, service more

All I want to say is the food was great, the service was better. You dont have to drive to King of prussia to get a great meal. This place is a must. Pros: food ,decor more

I went to the Columbia on the advise of my coworkers, and I was extremely impressed. I found the service to be friendly but non intrusive. I ordered the crab cakes and they melted in my mouth. My wife ordered the filet and it was cooked to perfection. If you want a generous cocktail, excellent service, and great food this is the place to be. Our server Dan was extremely polished and his knowledge of the menu was very impressive. This place made our Valentine's dinner very special. We will be back to this fine restaurant soon!!!! Pros: Everything more

The smell of smoke greets you at the door, although smoking is not allowed in the dining room, the ventillation is set up to flow through it....\r The menu looks very interesting, but the waiter knows nothing about the food; the bus boy will give you one tiny roll and there will be a 30 minute wait for the food. Every single meal we ordered came wrong; the steak pink instead of well done, the chicken cold, the sauce with the pork poured all over the meat although we asked for it on the side. Have I mentioned the $$$ price for all of this? Take you appetite and $$$s somewhere else!\r Cons: everything more

Columbia Bar and grille's cuise reminded me of mediocre wedding food. Edible, but hardly worth the high price. After my guest and I ordered our food, we were told that bread would be on the way. ten minutes later there was still no bread, even after we asked the server two times. Usually this wouldn't bother me, however the restaurant was hardly busy, and our salad appatizers took almost an eternity. My ""exotic mix green salad"" was warm, the greens looked wilted and the raspberry dressing was drizzled on with such indifference...it looked pitiful and tasted about as good as it looked. After the appatizer was cleared, my entre of Veal and morel mushrooms took 35-minutes to appear! Our waiter never came to our table to offer more wine, bread or anything, it made me very cross. Finally my ""veal"" came. Three ghost white medallions lay on the plate (the veal looked like it had freezer burn) with a mushroom sauce that looked like it was out of a can. A couple boiled vegetables, some roasted potatos and a flower rounded out nasty tasting and boring dish. My guest got flounder imperial that had little to no flavor, it was like chewing on asprin. When an entree is 27 dollars and up, I expect more. By the end of the meal, my guest and I were laughing as to how wretched this place was. Avoid this restaurant like the plague; go to Majolica or Black Lab instead. Pros: Nice selection of Liquor Cons: Everything except the liquor more

On the advice of a friend, A few of my co workers and I went out to the Columbia for what I thought was supposed to be a nice after work meal. My first impression of the place started before I even got out of my car. A few of the employees were out in the parking lot, goofing off, and making their profanities heard clear across the parking lot. This put me into my first alert, because I had heard that this was a very upscale type of place.\r We proceeded into the bar area, where the atmosphere was sleepy at best. Our bar tender must have been prone to the sleepiness too, because our food order that came out first, wasn't even our order. I didn't think that our dinners should have come out before our appetizers, and certainly not 5 minutes after I ordered it. The bar tender seemed a little short tempered when we told her that wasn't our order. She did quickly realize her mistake, but it seemed like she was ready to argue before she figured it out. We then proceeded to wait 45 minutes, for an order of calamari, a salad, and an order of onion rings. My friend liked the calamari, while my other friend complained that his ceasar salad was luke warm. I had no problem with the way my onion rings tasted, but I was told by the bartender that they were homemade. I eat out enough, to tell anyone who might not know better, that these must come out of a box or a bag because I have had this exact same kind at several restaurants before. Our dinners came out shortly after that. My one friend, got the lobster special, and only complained about it being a little overcooked. Other than that he did seem to enjoy it. My other friend had some kind of BBQ sauce coated pork chop. He ate most of that himself, only saying that his vegtables didn't seem very fresh. My dinner was the fillet mignon. I ordered it medium, but it came out well done and tough. As we all left unsatisfied, we glanced back into the kitchen, to find more goofing going on. Needless to say, I won't be going back.\r more

Great Food and service. Beautiful ! Will be back ! Please ask for Gail who is the bartender, what an asset she is. Pros: Atmosphere more