Our Dinner at Gaylord’s Restaurant

For tonight’s dinner we tried a new place: Gaylord’s Restaurant on North Sandusky Street in Delaware, OH.  I wasn’t sure what to expect at Gaylord’s… I knew its owner also owns Old Bag of Nails which is one of our favorite restaurants, and I also knew that Gaylord’s was a more “upscale” option.  I’m sorry to say that in the future we’ll be sticking to the Old Bag or trying other Delaware dinner spots. Gaylord’s was (sadly) a let-down.

We got there at maybe 7:00 on a Thursday evening. The restaurant itself is really sharp – great decor, great music, and a terrific atmosphere.  Before we ordered dinner I was thinking it would be a really nice spot to visit with friends or for a special occasion.  The restaurant was fairly empty: we were one of four occupied tables, and there was a lot of staff buzzing around.  Despite the high waitress-to-table ratio, the service was very slow. 

Dinner itself started out well: salads with sweet peppercorn vinaigrette which were delicious. We each had one roll and one glass of ice water (since no more was offered), and I can’t speak for my husband but my entree was disappointing. I ordered crab cakes with a creole sauce with garlic mashed potatoes. It was beautifully arranged on the plate, but the crab cakes and sauce were lukewarm and not very tasty. 

If we do go back to Gaylord’s (which we probably won’t), I’d try their pizza menu and skip the traditional entrees.  Gaylord’s has a fantastic atmosphere and it might be a neat, swanky place to stop for a cocktail sometime but I can’t recommend it for dinner.  We prefer a casual (and hot) dinner at the Old Bag for half the price.