Blackwall Barn & Lodge Columbia

So nice to see a venue that offers a lovely unhurried atmosphere to enjoy some delicious food. Half Priced burgers on Mondays! I have been wanting to visit this restaurant and this was the perfect opportunity to get a bite to eat and at a nice price to boot. The burger was generously portioned, juicy and cooked just the way I like it. You could order it with or without the fillings it comes with. The pieces of bacon were cooked just right. The burger comes with a house “Comeback” sauce that I requested to be on the side. After biting into my burger, I decided it was flavorful enough to stand on its own, no sauce needed. There was sizable portion of French fries with good amounts of those crunchy crispy bits of potato that taste so delicious. I used the burger sauce as a dip for my fries and that worked perfectly. Our server was very nice, explained the specials for the day and easily accommodated the requests we had made on our order. I would definitely like to return to try another one of their daily specials or come for the Friday or Saturday night live entertainment. The dining area is very warm and inviting with comfortable seating areas to enjoy as a group or as a couple. We walked around and noted a couple of private dining rooms and a larger room that is used for their Sunday buffet or could probably be rented out for a larger party. If there are out of town guests visiting this would be a place I could recommend to enjoy a nice evening out. They also provide choices for those who are vegan or need gluten free diets…it could easily be read from their menu.

UPDATE after 2nd visit: We returned on a busy Friday night for dinner and this time was a terrific experience! Server Ethan took excellent care of us and there were at least 2 managers visible in the dining area ensuring guests are satisfied. My wife and I intended to dine alone but with a last-minute babysitter cancelation and both kids in tow, host staff were very accommodating in updating our table to 4 guests. We tried the short rib taco appetizer and it was very tasty, although the corn tortillas failed to hold together while eating. My burger was cooked to perfection and juicy. I also loved the butternut squash soup. It looks like our initial visit was an anomaly but if you do have a bad experience, management is committed to reaching out afterwards to ensure satisfaction. We look forward to returning again and trying more of the menu! -------------- 1st visit: Very disappointing weekday dinner for my wife's birthday. We made a reservation and the hostess acknowledged the birthday upon checking-in, but the experience was downhill from there. The restaurant was nearly empty at arrival but drinks still took a while. My wife's first cocktail choice was no longer available (the server said they're about to change the menu) so she had to settle for her 2nd choice. The appetizers arrived fairly quickly along with some tasty cheddar biscuits. Both the brussel sprouts and the caprese flatbread (half priced on Tuesdays) were good. Then came a huge lull in service as the restaurant started to fill in with other tables. The mains arrived to the table 36-min after the appetizers, which is an eternity with 2 young children. The kids' menu comes with crayons, but is only printed on one side and has minimal activities for them to do or color...definitely not enough to occupy their attention for 30-min between courses. My wife ordered a glass of wine to be served with her steak, but it didn't arrive until 12-min after the food was sitting on the table. She was also unhappy to find the potatoes and vegetables accompanying her steak covered with the sauce that was on the steak. The picture of the entree on the website menu distinctly shows the sauce on the steak only, and she's not a sauce-lover so she did not like it. If our waiter stopped by soon after the food arrived instead of 12-min later with the wine, it might've been remedied but at that point she was already checked-out on getting what she wanted. I enjoyed the butternut squash bucatini and would recommend it even if you're not vegan. That brings up another issue with the menu... you're presented with a main menu of meat/fish offerings, but if you want gluten-free or vegan food you have to look in the little menu at the end of the table. I'm not on a gluten-free or vegan diet, but would prefer to see everything available to order in one place and our server never mentioned the alternative menus to us until I asked. The kids chicken tenders were ok, but they appeared to be regular frozen tenders and not hand-breaded like the menu says. The accompanying fries were lukewarm upon arrival and the whole tender/fries meal came out alone with no sauce to dip. It was a couple min wait for the food-runner to return with some ketchup, by which time the fries were completely cold. My wife wanted the smith island cake for dessert, and it arrived without a birthday candle or any other birthday fanfare aside from being comped on the bill at the end. The cake itself was dry and needed to be served with a scoop of ice cream to cut through the dryness. The tiny slice of cake still didn't last long between 4 spoons eating it, but again it was 10-min waiting with impatient kids before the server returned and then another 6-min before presenting the bill at our request. This place has some terrific decor/atmosphere and some food is really great but the slow service dragged the whole experience down. I bet things are excellent when service is working well, but there's so many great alternatives that I wouldn't recommend rolling the dice here and seeing what kind of service you'll get.