Carmel Kitchen & Wine Bar

If you’ve heard about it it’s probably true. We arrived at the scene from a nearby concert so you know we were meant to be grown and sexy on this occasion. Pause. We are greeted by friendly faces from common places. The décor gives a homey but fancy vibe. Fast forward. Starter: Calamari n Shrimp with the proper dip to make you watering for that basil grilled salmon. You’d think they catch it out back but they don’t (I asked). Ask for Cassie, she was lovely and provided service beyond your typical standards. If you drive by this place do not remain ignorant and indulge for your own sake.

Meh.
Service was disorganized from the moment we were seated at our table, no one knowing who was supposed to take care of us. Finally got a dedicated server but the meal … not good. We actually had to send an entrée back (that never happens!!) because the fish was visibly burned and definitely overdone. To the managers credit, they took care of us by comping our entrees which was greatly appreciated. Decent patio despite the bizarre strip mall across from an amusement park location. Go for wine and to watch people ride the roller coasters.

«Fit for a foodie» the testimonial stated. I don’t think so. This is why Unilocal is such an important part of my dining experience. All of the recent reviews were four and five star. We were looking for convenience for our scheduled movie plans over top reviews in the area.
The good… The hostess was extremely friendly and an overachiever. She noticed that the candle was out and decided she must get us another. And she smiled. In fact, most of the food runners and servers were smiling.
The rest…
First, let’s start with the ambience or lack thereof. This place is loud and too bright. I did not realize this was a chained corporate deal or I might have skipped it altogether.
Food… We started by sharing a Mezze Platter which I could tell was made in advance and stuck in super cold refrigeration for awhile. The plate was near frozen and the food was all too super chilled. This type of food is best served near room temperature or it spoils the flavor. The artichoke hearts were too few and bland. Edamame hummus is too dry and grainy but it did have a nutty flavor which wasn’t bad. The goat cheese stuffed peppers were the best thing on the plate. My wife liked the muhammara, but something was overpowering… Lemon juice or pomegranate molasses? You could not taste or feel walnuts.
My wife had the house salad and she liked it. However, my wild mushroom bisque was a dressed up can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup.
Let’s move on to the mains… I had the seasonal «rustic» grilled chicken. The menu didn’t say what type of chicken… The iPad picture which I’ll get to in a second looked like grilled bone-​in chicken. I was excited until I had my «Rustic Grilled Chicken served with cheesy broccoli & cauliflower mash» come as boneless fingers with an undescribed marinade or glaze? How about soy sauce? From that Far East Asian part of the Mediterranean. The cheesy broccoli & cauliflower mash, I’m convinced was a Birds Eye Steamfresh microwavable bag. My wife had two bites of her Garden Fresh Tagliatelle before quitting. Pasta should have the water drained first before serving or cooked in the sauce or other ingredients. She didn’t order pasta with water.
Wine… «modern interpretations of Mediterranean cuisine meticulously paired with global wines» is what they say. How can this be a Mediterranean restaurant and wine bar when 19 of the 30 wines in your list are from the USA? Add in New Zealand and Argentina and I guess you are «global». Your white wine list leaves something the desired. Hire a real sommelier to create your wine list and pair the foods with regional wines from the areas that inspired the menu items.
Now, for the modern… We once ate at Elements in Aruba. A fine experience indeed. Every diner was given an individual iPad as their menu. It was super cool and it worked in the modern style of the restaurant. At Carmel, we were given two paper menus with very little descriptions of the items along with one iPad in what I describe as a very dirty Otter Box case that we were to use for the pictures. But «don’t add items to the cart or order». That was for the waiter to do. So your process is to read the one page paper menu with no descriptions and pass this dirty iPad around the table to each diner so they can view the pictures… But NOT TO ORDER! Then tell the servers your order only to have them enter it on the iPad. Let’s just say I had to stop and restart the menu app a few times because it got stuck on a photo. The food descriptions under the photos were a
sc
rol
la
ble
single line (see how annoying? Just imagine being able to read only one line at a time :)
Someone needs to pay for a usability study. This is a gimmick that’s not worth the money. If you get rid if the iPads, can you lower your prices to match the quality of the food? Oh I forgot, it might require someone to write descriptions on a muti-​page menu.
Let’s see… The paper menus never left the table until our main course was delivered. The dirty iPad stayed on your dining table the entire time.
Needless to say, we never finished any of the courses and were met with surprised looks when we didn’t take anything home.
We paid $ 75 for a meal that we could have made at home in 10 minutes for $ 10. We eat out to experience what we can’t do or dream up ourselves. This was an experience, just not a good one.
Two stars instead of one because of the overachieving hostess who should be working in a better establishment.

This was my second time at this restaurant. First time I went it was last summer, and I don’t remember much besides really liking this place. Overall, food is fantastic and only reason I cannot give 5 stars is because of the server. Everyone was very nice including our server, but on two separate occasions we had to ask more than once for something because our drinks were made wrong. It took so long to the point that our drinks got warm and my friend ended up ordering another one. I would definitely go back, just wouldn’t order another martini that’s not listed on the menu.

We loved the food. We’ve visited three times now and all three visits have been great. The food is terrific though I do have to say that the dessert was reheated which made it kind of feel a bit like it was from a box.
The table side service was excellent. All three servers were also excellent. Bar service is somewhat slow.
The hostesses are the worst part during every visit.
The blonde (short hair) is young and comes with a whole lot of attitude. She screams arrogance. The red head, which I assume is the head hostess, is a complete bitch. Totally rude. Her customer service is poor at best. She doesn’t smile. Her attitude is down to business which is totally unwelcoming (especially given the fact that her face looks like its eating a computer screen — she never looks up or greets her incoming/​departing guests).
Head hostess (red head) — — - Her justification as to why she ran late for a reservation was the lamest excuse I ever heard. There were about 5 two tops open. We had a 6 PM reservation (as did the open two tops). We were told we couldn’t sit because those tables were also for 6 PM reservations and that Carmel goes by a «number system.» This number system isn’t based on logic — — those 6PM reservations who come first are seated first; rather, if you come first and your system generated number is on the bottom of the 6P lot, you wait for a table; even if the other 6PM guests (who had reservations) are late. Her further comment, «that’s just the way it is.» shows a lack of empathy. Her personality is just not pleasant. She should be behind a desk or on a production line. Customer service just clearly isn’t her skill set.
The four stars have nothing to do with the hostess or her side kick. They both are terrible. In fact, they are both so bad that had we never eaten there before we would never go back. They are the first employees we see and frankly with that attitude, had I not had a good experience before, we’d never go back.

Food was meh. Service was meh. Overall wouldn’t return. Ordered shrimp and calamari appetizer. Had 4 small shrimp and the rest calamari. Shrimp polenta was swimming in garlic and a watery sauce. Shrimp wasn’t very seasoned. Place was so busy that we seemed like an inconvenience to everyone

This was our first time at this establishment. I applaud both the food and the commitment to offering gluten free options. The latter is very important for Celiac patients. Unfortunately the service was not on the same level as the food. With the exception of the bartender who saw us on the way out, I don’t recall any staff member smiling or making us feel particularly welcome. We were one of only a few tables of guests, so no one was overly worked or stressed during our visit. We will definitely return here, but most likely not for Sunday brunch.

Gross the food tastes microwaved and looks like it when it comes to your table. The service is good though, but stay away.

Carmel has exciting flavors, excellent service, and fair prices. The restaurant has a comfortable high-​end feel and a diverse menu with things you don’t find at most restaurants. There is seasonal outside seating with a fireplace and lounge area. I’ve been here for date nights and out with the kids and always had a nice experience. Most recently we had the Shrimp Monaco appetiser, Shrimp & Peperoncino Polenta, and salmon. The shrimp & polenta was amazing! I also recommend the South Side cocktail which was great – very balanced and refreshing. I don’t give many 5 star ratings but this place is consistently excellent and we always leave happy.

Eh. Nice atmosphere and pleasant service but that’s about it. Ordered appetizers (flatbread and edamame hummus) which were odd and sangria which just tasted like wine with not much flavor beyond that. The iPad thing is cool but not sure if it’s necessary.

If you’re a fan of healthy food choices and quality food, then this is the place for you. If you like huge portions and family style restaurants don’t waste your time. So glad to find this place with great, super attentive service, delicious food and nice atmosphere!

This restaurant has one of the best customer service, and menu that I’ve had in a long time. Almost the entire menu is local, and they change up certain entrees to your preference with joy! I ordered the citrus salmon salad and it came beautiful, and delicious! My little sisters also ordered bacon cheese burgers and even those came out appetizing, and since all the ingredients are local the burger is not nearly as unhealthy as it would be in any other restaurant. Our waiter,
Matthew was full of energy, and 100% helpful. Next time I am in Pennsylvania I will definitely stop by.

A very nice modern Mediterranean-​Style bistro wine bar. It does a lot of things very well and earns the 4 star status easily. The food is varied with many healthy choices including smaller portions which I think is very important. The food was fresh and tasty. The service was a bit slow on a busy night and they didn’t really use the iPad for ordering though you could look at the menu choices. We’ll definitely go back.

Well, I just want to say, my first 2 visits when they first opened, were fantastic, food/​service great. Then I had a horrible experience during brunch hours, nothing was redeeming about food or service. With all the great restaurants in Allentown now, they need to step up their game. I had an office party of 12 people this Monday, gave it one more chance. I got the small portion short rib dinner (it was roast beef), my food was cold, not luke warm, cold. We had 2 servers that took our order but they never came back to check on us once the food arrived.
I wrote an email telling management about the brunch fiasco and never heard a word back. I will not be going there again unless it would be for wine and an appetizer at happy hour if someone twists my arm…

Wonderful meal, fresh veggies, delicious crab cakes all crab! Perfectly cooked & delicious steak frites, better than our steak house visit last week. Environment is warm with up scale feel from decorations, colors and art. Reasonable prices. Servers couldn’t be nicer or more attentive.

Lunch Review!
Carmel is a small chain of farm to table Mediterranean inspired restaurants primarily based out of Florida. But, what they’re offering is truly tasty and unique.
We started with their meatball appetizer, 6 tiny savory meatballs with a great spicy marinara sauce and two pieces of warm bread, it was a nice start to our meal.
Mom went with the French Dip and fries, I opted for the flatbread. The sandwich was hearty, but nothing spectacular, what WAS amazing were the fries. They coated them in this Lebanese spice (not sure if it was Lebanese 7-​Spice or not) but man, it rivals some of the truffle fries I’ve had out there before.
My flatbread, for its part was cooked well, it had this redwine tasting mission fig marmalade. My only gripe is it wasn’t really a feast to look at. It had meat, then a mushroom (brown on brown) on flat bread (light brown). Throwing on a few veggies for texture and color would’ve gone a long way.
Our server was spot on on polite. Overall, if you’re in this area, this is a nice change from the normal staple of chain restaurants in the area.

I was very excited to eat here. The excitement quickly faded. Our server was not attentive, or very friendly. She seemed almost bothered to be waiting on our table. If she cane by to check on us she’d ask only one of us if everything was ok and quickly walk away without checking with the rest of the table. She was also not very knowledgeable about the menu or wine pairing, which is sad at a restaurant where wine is heavily promoted.
The food was mediocre at best, prepared well, but lacking any depth. I really wanted to love this place, but i ended up wanting lo leave.

The iPad ordering is fundamentally flawed:
–We went there on a Sunday night and it was far from busy, yet we were attended to very infrequently. Being on a wait staff does not just involve taking orders. You have to check in on your tables instead of standing around chatting with your coworkers.
–The pacing is also part of a good dining experience. The iPad ordering messes with the pacing in a big way. Do noooot order til you’re 3 minutes away from being ready for something.
–Presentation is a big part of a dining experience, too. They try to create a nice menu but then the iPad cheapens the entire experience. It made it seem as cheap as when we take the kids to Red Robin.
The food itself was good! But the food deserves to be treated like an experience! Not like a fast food order. Try to be a little classier. I know it isn’t a super swanky place, but it could come across as a much nicer place without the iPads.
Also, I really hope they disinfect the iPads like super often…

Maybe it was an off night, or maybe they just aren’t up to speed yet (they’ve only been open about 7 weeks), but «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» is the perfect score for our visit to Carmel.
We had stopped by before for a happy hour and the bar was 3 deep, so we decided to wait a few more weeks and try again. This time I made a reservation for 7 PM, and arrived around 6:50. They asked if we could wait until 7 PM since they didn’t have a table right that moment (no big deal), so my husband grabbed us some wine from the bar (happy hour has 9 oz pours for $ 5 — but our pours were about 6 oz, so buyer beware) and had a seat on the big comfy couches. Just a bit before 7, I see a table open up and we expect that they will call us up. Instead, at 7:05, a couple arrives with a 7:15 reservation (we were close enough to hear the conversation), and they seat them there. Trying to be patient, we give them another 5 minutes, and we’re still not seated and no one has come over to talk to us. Finally my husband went up to the stand to see when we would be seated, and it was obvious that they had completely forgotten about us. Hostess fail.
Our server was really nice — though I must say I don’t like the whole iPad menu thing. Just my personal preference. Probably a lot of people really like it. We ordered an app while she went to get us some water. Then another waitress came over to introduce herself and ask us what we wanted to drink. We told her we’d already been waited on and she wasn’t happy about it. Apparently there was a mix up about what section we were seated in, and instead of figuring it out on their own, we got drug into it. She finally gave up & walked away. when the original server came back, she had us put our dinner orders in the iPad but told us she’d put the order in when the time was right. The appetizer was really good… shared the short rib empanada… a nice mix of flavors! We finished up our empanada, and waited, and waited. We assumed (wrongly) that she would move our dinner into queue from a station somewhere in the restaurant. So we ended up sitting for 20+ minutes between finishing our appetizer and getting our entrees. My husband really liked his Tunisian chicken, and the price was about right. The small entrée size would be great for me (4 oz); the larger (8 oz) entrée a better choice for those with larger appetites. I went boring & had the burger. It was okay but nothing fabulous, and served at the wrong temp (asked for medium — ended up at medium rare, approaching rare. I would have preferred my fries without the za’atar seasoning. Had a lot of flavor on the nose but pretty flat on the palate. By the time she came back to check on us, my husband was nearly done with his dinner so I didn’t bother to send it back. We were never offered dessert but had planned to skip it anyway.
It’s a nicely decorated, comfortable space (though pretty loud… not the place for an intimate dinner for 2) and the menu is well priced, but we’ll keep this out of our list for a few months until they get a better handle on their flow.

Had dinner here tonight with my niece. I so wanted to give a five star review. This restaurant recently opened in my neighborhood and I had high hopes it would be a gem and enjoy many profitable years. My goal in writing this review is to provide insights to the leadership team at Carmel. I will provide my top two areas of feedback:
1.). Server was a C-​. She was overly scripted (inauthentic from the first interaction), unenthusiastic (no eye contact, no smile, monotone voice), uninformed («I don’t drink so I don’t know about the wine list»), and in general had very low interest in her guests. Honestly, we felt like we were an intrusion.
2.). Food was B-​: The food was okay… nothing special and nothing horrible. I don’t think I will be drawn back to order anything I ate tonight.