Papa Haydn

Cold, dry, hard cake. Would not recommend. Could be fixed by storing the cake in a fridge kept at a 65 degrees.
Apr 4th, 2024

The cafe au chocolate was devine. The blackberry cheese cake was pretty good but a little bland after biting into the cafe au chocolate. Either way you can't go wrong. Service is a bit slow due to COVID-19 but I'd rather be safe and i appreciate the precautions they are taking to keep their employees and customers safe 3/29/24 update: the coffee ice cream was the most coffee tasting ice cream I've had. The espresso brownie hit the spot for a lighter dessert.
Mar 29th, 2024

Mar 28th, 2024

Mar 27th, 2024

Halfway through the 25-minute wait on my French onion soup, I asked my server about a wine pairing. The 2021 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir on the glass pours menu had my attention, as it's a favorite vintage of mine, but I suspected that the Columbia Valley Cabernet blend might suit the beef base of the soup better -- I didn't remember which cheese would be melted on top, though, and wanted a recommendation based on the knowledge of the staff. This did not prove a successful communication with my server, who initially attempted to enthusiastically sway me toward the Pinot that I mentioned liking, calling it "bold" even knowing I was considering the Cabernet as well (which didn't exactly foster trust in the capacity for selection assistance of my server). I had to really push to even get the server to offer to ask the bartender for a recommendation, who apparently liked both red meat and red wine more than this server did, leading the server to believe that the bartender would be a more reliable source of basic menu knowledge. I was surprised when, several minutes later, a glass of the Cabernet blend was delivered to my table by someone whom was neither my server nor the bartender who might have been more knowledgeable. I had not yet received the information I was looking for to make my decision, nor had I even decided on ordering a glass at all; and yet, it seemed the decision had been made for me. Now, in attempt to ease the impression that this review is written in bad faith, I do understand that Sunday at noon is likely the height of Papa Haydn's busy lunch rush, and the wait time was not something I would reasonably take issue with; in fact, I could have happily waited even more time to ensure an experience worth returning for. I don't blame the server for being woefully under-informed and simultaneously over-zealous to please the customer with as little pressure on the bar as possible: in my experience, that particular quirk of service is the direct result of unsupportive management with irresponsible training, and I made sure to tip appropriately so my server didn't suffer further negative consequences of an establishment that needed to comp a botched wine sale ($6 on a ticket that would have had a $15 glass with the $12 soup). I decided it wasn't worth attempting to resolve this issue in the moment because the staff were so obviously swamped already -- far be it from me to increase the stress of a shift like that by refusing to adapt my expectations to the clearly-evident chaos. The only reason that this review of service is receiving a single star is the host who greeted me at the front, who was warm, inviting, professional, and highly competent. If my entire experience had reflected that initial impression, there would be five stars for service. (To clarify, my server was very friendly whenever I did see them, but seemed to rely on personability in lieu of actual service capability -- again, not the fault of this individual, but reflects poorly on the management responsible for training their staff for service worthy of the prices charged on a menu that sells itself on classic charm.) Food-wise, the soup was fine. Not great, not inedible--just a well proportioned, if slightly jammy, French onion. Even though the Cabernet blend was probably technically the right call, I still found the mishandling of a simple recommendation request distasteful enough to disappoint for my first dining experience at a longstanding establishment in my neighborhood.
Apr 6th, 2024