Lumber Yard

We had a very enjoyable dinner at the restaurant. It seems like a menu designed for people to have a starter and move to some major entree. I tend to like to eat lots of smaller plates and made out pretty well. Beet Salad with Burrata was pretty, refreshing, and straightforward. I also had a more unusual and just as successful special starter of sea scallops and lamb rillettes (!) with ramp pesto.

The restaurant has a nice, clean, open atmosphere and our server was quite nice.

Jill and I went to the lumber yard for dinner and I didn't really enjoy my experience. I thought that the service was pretentious which can be ok as long as the food and experience can back it up which unfortunately was not the case on this night. For a starter we had the meat and cheese board which was fine. For my main I had the deconstructed short rib and I was just expecting a lot more out of it for $32.

This is one of our favorite romantic places. Their menu changes, so take this review as a product of the last four times I went there.
Their homemade molasses bread is to die for (and they don't sell it, which is a bummer!), their fries are some of the best, especially with the multiple sauces to try on.
I usually go for the salmon or any of the vegetarian dishes, like the gnocchi, which are little fluffy balls of potato heaven.
They have a vegetarian menu, but you have to ask for it.
Their wine selection is pretty comprehensive, and the cocktails are great too.
As for dessert, I loved the cardamom creme brûlée, but I don't think they have that on the menu anymore.

Kalun L. and I had the pleasure of dining at Lumber Yard tonight, after an unfortunate incident of my being electrocuted by a fence at an alpaca farm. Needless to say, dinner was much more enjoyable...

On the menu... Crispy brussel sprouts (to die for,) chicken rillette, farro risotto, meatloaf sliders, raspberry ice cream. All outstanding dishes, generous sizes and very reasonably priced for what you received.

Who knew that such deliciousness was situated in between all the standard college hangover food. Welcome to adulthood.

The only time I went there it was with a friend on a quiet weekday evening. It was around 7:30 when we arrived and sat at the bar. We told the bartender that we were going to order food and asked for menus.
Of course we got to chatting and it was about 30 minutes before we finally got around to order food (8pm at least an hour before closing time). The bartender told us that the kitchen had decided to close early since it was so quiet and that they shut down the kitchen about "5 minutes ago."
He knew we wanted to order food, didn't give us a heads up that the kitchen was deciding to close early and we should order right away if we still wanted anything...
I felt that was unforgivable and I haven't been back. Not even the argon pumped into the wine bottles to keep it fresh can make up for that.
It has been a couple of years since then. I never went back. If, on nights out, friends want to go there, I veto it.
I can't help it. I will not get over being left hungry.

My boyfriend had tried to make reservations early on the day we were going but was told that they weren't taking any more. When we went inside we were asked if we wanted to sit at the bar, but we said we preferred to wait for a table. Kindly, the waitress gave us a table instead.

We started with the smoked trout on grilled baguette which was absolutely amazing and was probably the best thing on the menu.

Dinner was, in my opinion, strange. The menu was small but that is to be expected. There is not something for everyone on the menu but I settled on the salmon with soba noodles. The waitress informed me that the salmon was cooked medium rare and I said that I was fine with that, but I learned that I dislike salmon cooked that way. My boyfriend ordered a swordfish steak.

I don't understand why someone would throw so many flavors into a dish. The salmon had soba noodles, snap peas, enoki mushrooms, nori vinaigrette and wasabi pea puree. That was weird. I don't know why peas would ever work with that dish, and if there was wasabi I couldn't taste it. I also decided that salmon not cooked through and left raw in places does not appeal to me (not really their fault there.) After awhile I just decided to bank on dessert filling me up. My boyfriend liked his dish better than mine, though he also had strange flavors in his. His dish included fried green tomatoes, avocado puree, corn pico de gallo, sriracha lime glaze, and ricotta. To me those flavors conflict in a bad way. I am surprised these items are still on the online menu.

They have about 700 different flavors of ice cream and I'm pretty sure parsley is one of them. Very unique, but we weren't that bold. My boyfriend got an affogato and enjoyed it, but I found the ginger cookie a little too salty. I got the tartufo, which is "frozen hazelnut mousse, chocolate shell, sherry spiced bananas, and creme fraiche whip." It wasn't bad, but I didn't like the creme fraiche whipped cream, I felt like it didn't do anything for the dish. The plating for this was very pretty though.

Overall, I don't think I picked the right thing off the menu but we'll will probably try this place again when we're in the mood for a little more upscale dining in Amherst.

Ate here for the first time the other night. Beautiful ambiance. Killed immediately by being refused a simple substitution to one of a dish's sides to accommodate my dairy allergy. Apparently they have a zero substitutions policy--and I was informed of this in a totally unapologetic tone. After then asking what I could eat, the server told me there were only two entrees on the menu I could order, due to said policy. So I had the bouillabaisse and it had exactly one flavor: salt. So very disappointing. This is just not how modern, especially modern, expensive restaurants should be treating their customers these days. It's rude, short-sighted, and all about a chef's ego. Never going back but do hope they learn how to properly handle food allergies or they can expect a short business life.

The first time I went to Lumber Yard, I was with a good friend of mine Lisa (Lisa is an older white woman- you'll see why that is important as you read on), and is very well known in Western Mass. During my time at Lumber Yard with Lisa, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and even had the chance to meet some Amherst locals at a table nearby. Because of the wonderful experience I shared with Lisa at Lumber Yard, I suggested it as the Valentine's Day dinner venue for my friends who gladly obliged.

When Valentine's day came, my friends and I arrived at Lumber Yard very pleased that they were ready to seat us (we made a reservation in advanced). Upon sitting down, we were greeted by our server who seemed intimidated that she was serving a "large" group of People of Color (7 people). Being the person I am, I try to think race isn't an ultimate factor in everything; however, my friends and I watched our server treat our table significantly different than she did her other tables including being snappy to one of nicest young women I know- strike one. (You would think, in an area like Amherst, where my friends and I attend Mount Holyoke and Hampshire that cost upwards of $53,000 a year people would let go some of their preconceived notions on who we are, that did not happen.)

After about twenty minutes and only having water at our tables, my friends and I finally ordered our appetizers and entrees. As we prepared to wait on the food, I asked our server if there was any bread to share while we waited only to find out the restaurant had run out- strike two. Some twenty minutes later, and forty minutes after arrival, the food was brought to our table. The portions were pretty small but this was expected. I ordered the Salmon that is usually served over beets and replaced them with mashed potatoes. Because this was my second time, I was interested in why the portions were significantly smaller than my first visit but I wrote it off as a result of how busy they were for Valentine's Day.

After having dinner, my friends and I tried to reach our server several times as she repeatedly sped past our table. Things got so bad that we actually asked another server for assistance several time. After feeling tired of not being adequately served, I relayed my concerns to the manager which included specific examples of alienation we felt (that I have not included here). The manager then offered us several free desserts that my friends accepted. The deserts were five-star and many of us felt better than the food (ORDER DESSERT!!!)! After all of the commotion we finally wrapped things up for the night.


Overall: Lumber Yard's food (again, I had the Salmon over mashed potatoes) was above average, wait service subpar, and management was superb.

This was across the board by far the most disappointing dining experience I've had in a long time. For the most part because of all the excellent reviews and the menu I had high expectations .. next!

Yet again another restaurant needing better management.

No one greeted me at the door, nor said good-night... That's basic restaurant 101 ... who are these people and do they have regard for their guests and/ or the hospitality industry???

I stood there waiting until I finally made a move on my own .. with no one greeting me, needless to say I ended up at the bar.

The bartender was far too casual and I believe more pre-occupied with eating his meal in the kitchen than providing good service. I'm not going to waste my brain cells focusing on the lack of service and poor etiquette.

Appetizer:The crab cakes were ok .. I did not care for the texture. They were more like a baked crab mousse meaning they were made with too much egg or a gelatin base ....... making the texture unappetizing.

The vegetarian plate was one of the worst offerings I've ever had poorly executed and conceptually wrong! I can not understand how anyone would enjoy this dish.

Johnny Cakes with Broccoli Rabbe and Portobello Mushrooms. The Rabbe & mushrooms were good the Johnny cakes were 2 thick cake-like pancakes with no flavor. Imagine BAD pancakes for breakfast and instead of syrup bitter broccoli and chunky mushrooms on top! What A Mess ,,, a total disaster!

The chocolate dessert was another major miss ...basically a dense chocolate (slab !!) ...lacking flavor (how is that possible ??) and lacking creativity.

The only thing I enjoyed was the bread and guess what ...just like the diner next to me I had to ask for it ... really ???

BTW: I didn't enjoy hearing the kitchen nor seeing staff smoking when I left.

After hearing many good things about The Lumber Yard, my wife and I finally got around to visiting Friday night. It was excellent. The space was beautiful. The lighting and decor were elegant without being fussy or stiff, the staff was friendly, polite and engaging, and the food was top notch.

Had a drink at the bar prior to dinner that was nicely made and the wine selections were reasonably priced and very tasty. The menu was of a decent size, however none of he entrees were particularly interesting to me. A couple of fish dishes that I would have tried if I had too, a chicken that my wife was ordering, the requisite steak and potatoes and a veggie. I ordered off the 'snack' section and had schnitzel. It was wicked good! So was the chicken entree as well as the mussels app. My crab cake app was good, but I'm tough to impress with crab cakes.

Every dish we had was well made. My only criticism would be that the menu was a little limiting. Only one special, and it was another fish dish. I defiantly want to go back but after another visit, I think I will have tried everything I want to try.

Oh yeah, the fries were AMAZING. I can't believe anything could come close to Duckfat fries in Portland..but these were better. Wow.