Restaurants in Carthage

Four of us attended Geist on Valentine’s Day for dinner. We were seated in the outside area which has a beautiful ambience but the evening was quite cold so we wore our winter coats throughout the dinner. The outside area has two fireplaces and one standup propane heater but it was still cold. Perhaps they could procure one or two more heaters? The service was fantastic and the fixed menu excellent. Three of us ordered the scallops starter and the filet mignon main. Excellent! One of us ordered the salmon which he said was very good. The dessert menu was limited to two items which were good. Maybe next year they could add a chocolate dessert option? Geist is excellent and we would definitely go back. Considering how very busy the restaurant was, the service and kitchen staff delivered! Great job!

We enjoyed Pelato. We took out 10-year-old so it was great being able to order tapa sized portions so we could all try lots of different things.

When we arrived for our 5pm reservation on Valentines Day, the CROWD waiting to be seated extended out the door! We gave our name to the Host and and showed them our Open Table confirmation and she said, “we have your table ready for you”. We were immediately seated. When we left the restaurant 90 minutes later, the waiting crowd still extended out the door. Everyone in my party was so impressed with Open Table that they all downloaded the app and agreed OT is the only way to go! Thank you!

Making reservations for a time we wanted was easy. Everything we ordered was great! We started with an expresso martini and a local beer and pretzels with the cheese fondue. Then dinner was the short ribs with potatoes au gratin with the mac and cheese. Dessert was the bread pudding and the molten lava butter cake with toffee bits. Yes, we ordered two desserts because we couldn’t decide.

Our server, (forgot his name, but a tall and polite gentleman), took great care of us and brought us a free dessert and savory dish, as we were celebrating my girlfriend’s birthday and our five year anniversary. Something I enjoyed about him too, is he was informative, guided us through how the menu works, but was not overbearing in his delivery or presence at the table. I’ve been to so many places where you can tell the server is being a bit performative and will drown you in details instead of reading the room and giving people time to process lol. What really stood out as well, was the fact that every staff member we interacted with, (the host, server, and THREE other employees on the floor), all knew we were celebrating and made a point to congratulate us. You could tell they pay attention to special details here. My partner and I are both in the service industry (fine dining), so we notice the small stuff and had no complaints! Even our water glasses never dropped below 3/4ths full. Also worth noting — the value you get for the delicious food, great ambience, and service is WELL worth the price. A wonderful dining experience without breaking the bank. Would highly recommend this place 👍🏻