Meritage Cafe

I recently gave a bridal luncheon at Meritage and it could not have gone any better. Faye was a delight to work with in setting up the luncheon and very gracious about working with me from a distance. The food was outstanding! And the atmosphere was perfect! I absolutely would do it again and this time without any comparison shopping! Auburn bug

I just returned from a six month deployment in Iraq, and Ft. Benning is a stopover before my return to Washington, DC. Was I glad to find Meritage! It was recommended to me by a colleague who discovered the restaurant in the Wine spectator magazine, I believe Meritage has won a few accolades regarding their wine selections, but I admit I'm not a wine enthusiast. I dined at the upstairs restaurant, Tapatinis, two nights in a row--I had to try several plates and could not get more than three plates in me in one sitting. Their "tapas" are actually small plates of the regular entrees, perfect if you can't decide on what to have. I recommend the salmon which sat on a bed of cheese grits and fried green tomatoes. Also the lamb with mushroom risotto and the blackened crab cake, that was amazing.
The only true fine dining I could find in Columbus--it's a gem sitting in an inconspicuous part of town. I loved it, and would recommend it to anyone looking for exquisite food at reasonable prices. And by the way, it's run by a mom and daughter team, quite a family feel without losing the ambience! MG from Washington, DC.

When I walked into this restaurant, I was immediately impressed by the ambiance. It is very pleasing to the eye. The menu was divided into courses. Unfortunately, the courses are not delivered like other fancier places I have been. I ordered the she-crab soup for a "first course" a salad (that you pay extra for) for the "second course" and a New York strip (medium well) for the last course. My husband ordered the same things except for his main entree. Our soup came after about 30 minutes of waiting. It was absolutely wonderful; I highly recommend it After eating our soup, we waited another 45 minutes for our salads that NEVER came! Our waiter, named Stephen, came out with our meals and I asked where our salads were. He said, "Oh, I wondered whose salads were sitting back there! Do you want them, now, but don't worry we don't charge you until the end." I was not happy. Most waiters, even at big chains would be more apologetic! I ended up not getting my salad, the table was pretty small where we were sitting so there was no room for the salad at this point. So, I cut into my steak in the middle and it was bloody. I CANNOT eat meat like this. Fortunately, the owner came over and asked about our experience and I guess I didn't look very happy. I told her about the salads and my steak not being cooked correctly. She said that she actually noticed that there were salads prepared in the back that were just "sitting there." She had wondered who they belonged to. I asked her not to say anything to the waiter until we left since that kind of situation makes things uncomfortable. She took my steak back and another one was brought out by Stephen. He said, " So your steak wasn't to your liking? I'm from Kansas and I just can't understand people liking steak that is medium well or well done." After he left, I proceeded to eat my food and a couple of minutes later the waiter came over and said, "I was TOLD to come over here and apologize to you for not bringing out your salads." My husband and I were shocked! He was told?? So the apology was definitely not sincere. He really doesn't care about the customers in this restaurant. He should not be working with people! Then he brought out free crème brulees for us. This was a nice gesture, but we hate crème brulee, always have. We just don't like custards. Also, in all we were there for 2 1/2 hours! I really appreciated the owner helping us out, but if she is going to tell a waiter to apologize, she needs to make sure he apologizes on his own accord and doesn't say he was told to do it. I would like to go back, but I do not want Stephen as a waiter!!! jnscroy

I visited this restaurant on 25 June, 2009. Parking is around the back and ample. This is an upscale restaurant with an upscale menu. The ambience is excellent and the overall design of the restaurant adds to the enjoyment of the dinner. Prices range from $20-35 per entree, but the half plate option reduces the cost by as much as $50% and portion size is still good. Fish, duck and beef were all excellent for my party of five with the Chilean Sea Bass and Duck being especially memorable. In the appetizer section we tried the Oysters Rockerfeller and they were fantastic and maybe the best I have ever had. The dessert choices were limited, but the Bread Pudding was to die for!There were a few minor glitches (we had to wait for our Prosecco to be chilled and they were out of certain wine choices), but considering you are in Columbus, GA., this was truly a gem.
I would strongly recommend this restaurant for those individuals looking for a fine dining experience. Super Foodie

My coworkers and I attended an event there, none of our group have ever been there before. - Being from the North side of Columbus, I didn't even know it existed!! Much to our surprise, we had an unforgettable experience! The food, the ambience, and staff were all wonderful!! The food is as good, if not better than any place in Atlanta, and the drive is much shorter. A great place to take someone special, have parties, or just a go for a great dinner to remember! Thank you to Faye and her staff, keep up the good work!!! Oliva

I looked fairly long and hard to find a decent place to eat while visiting in Columbus and found ample numbers of southern cooking places (fried foods) but was delighted to stumble on the Meritage. They had a smart easy atmosphere with nice jazz playing the background. The menu was imaginative and was accompanied by a great wine menu. The owner, Flo, was gracious and knowledgeable about her wine selection and took obvious pride in the wines offered. I had a great beet salad, wonderful lightly fried oysters and a grouper (fish) served on a light bed of parmesan grits. Dinner was simply great and the desert was a very well done bread pudding. Slightly crisp top, an not overly sweet.
I would not hesitate to go back. Goumet02072

For my wife's birthday I researched the internet and came across the Meritage Cafe as being "fine dining" in Columbus, GA. Unfortunately, to my dismay, the Google search was incorrect in placing it along with fine dining. Instead it should of been "casual dining", because of our experience there.Along with the other review, we also waited near 20 minutes upon seating to even be acknowledged by any of the wait staff...and that was only because I went upstairs to the bar to ask the bartender if we could move seats. The bartender ended up being the owner and like a owner should, tried to rectify the situation by serving us. In addition, the same "maitre'd" was very condescending in that you could tell in his tone of voice that he was only serving us because he was told to do so...some service, huh?To get back to it, the brochette was phenomenal. But, after waiting 10 minutes upon finishing it we had the unfortunate pleasure of eating room temperature entrees. My wife's entree, the grouper, was only lukewarm at best because the grits below retained the heat well. She was starving, so she didn't want to cause a scene and ate it. I, on the other hand, had the displeasure of the lobster and crab lasagna being cold, through and through. Right then and there, most sane people would of gotten up and walked out, but of course, being my wife's birthday, I felt compelled to stay and make the best of it. The owner after 15 minutes realized that I only ate one bite of my plate and upon my request brought it back to the kitchen to have the chef reheat it.Although I am not Emeril Lagasse, coming from an Italian family, I understand how to make lasagna. Never in my life have I taken the top layer of my lasagna to be served piping hot and placed a cold filler inside of it. Yes, this was the excuse that I had gotten from the owner for the reason why my entree was cold.To top it all off I was in the situation where I already had 2 solid complaints against this place...and trying to be a gentleman about it, waited another 15 minutes to ask for my bill. I reluctantly paid full price, which does not in any way correlate to the service, food, or dining experience that the prices that are charged here could even possibly reflect.This establishment, unfortunately, will not ever receive my recommendation. I do not ever want to have any of my friends experience the same circumstances that I had to. Disappointed in Columbus

My husband took me here for my birthday. We walked in and weren't even greeted...there was no receptionist to seat us so we waited in dining area until someone noticed us. Then when we were finally seated, the host told us to wait a minute and someone would help us. That minute turned out to be 20 minutes. Three different times a server walked through the dining hall to fill up water and didn't even fill up our glasses. We got tired of the rudeness of the servers and my husband went upstairs to the "casual dining" area to see if there were any seats available and to order us some drinks at the bar. The person behind the bar turned out to be the owner and my husband asked if she would meet us at our table so we can ask her what the heck was going on. We should of just walked out at that point...but since it was my birthday, my husband tried so hard to make it a pleasant experience. We told her no one has even taken our drink order and she tried to rectify the situation by being our personal server. When our meals FINALLY came out...they were cold!!! I ate mine cause I was so hungry but my husband was so mad by this time, I had to calm him down. He waited for the owner to notice that he wasn't eating it and when she finally did...after another 15 minutes...he told her to please warm it up. When the meal came back I was already done eating my meal and couldn't even enjoy my dinner with my husband. It took them forever to give us the bill...and by that time, we were itching to get out of there. After paying over $80 for a unenjoyable meal, we left (2.5 hrs later) and promised never to return or recommend it to anyone we know. ilovepug08

My mother, sister and 9-year old niece went to Meritage's Tapatini's for dinner about one month ago. Everything we had was absolutely delicious. I had the grilled salad and the grouper. Both were great. The only complaint I have (which is minor) is that since we don't eat pork we had to make several changes to our meals. After inquiring about the absence of my vegetables upon receiving my food, I was told that because the items come as a mix, several things were omitted (i.e. the vegetables came in a mix with some sort of pork). Because of this, I wanted to order a vegetable as a side and was told that they don't have any sides available. The waitress, though, had the chef to prepare a side of asparagus for me.My mother and sister ordered a salmon entree which they liked, but my grouper was the highlight. We all thoroughly enjoyed the grilled salad (though it didn't seem grilled at all). Even my 9 year old niece loved the food and keeps inquiring about going back.One of the best dining experiences I have ever had anywhere!! greatbeginning08

My fiancé' and I went to Meritage while I was visiting him. We wanted to have a nice dinner date since it had been a month since we saw one another. The atmosphere in the main dining room was very quaint and the maitre' d was a nice touch with his French. It was nice to go into a restaurant that wasn't crowded and with nice decor. It reminded me of a little movie set.We were VERY disappointed with the service. The menu is a bit pricey, we wouldn't have minded paying so much if the service was a little better. We waited about 15-20 minutes after we were seated before the waitress even greeted us. Then it was another long wait after we ordered and after each course came out. We were already halfway into the course when someone would ask how we were doing. This especially didn't help when we ordered dessert that was delivered frozen solid. It was supposed to be chocolate mousse. It was so hard that my fiancé cracked the plastic container it was in. He never made it past the frozen whipped cream. There was no one around that we could send it back with. We had to wait for another table near us to order the same thing before we could say anything. That was very disappointing with the restaurant not being crowded. We were hoping to receive superior service since it was supposed to be a "fine dining" restaurant and it was also a special night for us.I do admit that their menu is VERY creative. The fig salad was superb! I ordered the duck and scallops, which were a tad overdone. The risotto was also dry and I also didn't care for the sauce that was used on the duck. It was too heavy and overpowering for the dish. Aside from that, they did add foie gras to the dish, which was perfectly done and a delight. Although my food was a little overdone, the flavors of the dish were good (without the sauce). It was a shame to pay so much for a meal that was overcooked.It is nice to say that we have been there, but unfortunately we won't be back when I visit again. We don't want to spend another $100 on dinner with subpar service when we can go to TGI Fridays and get better service for 1/3 of the price. Reviewer did not leave name

What a wonderful surprise! We had dinner at Tapatinis @ Meritage. (did not do the deli or more formal restaurant)
Elaine, our server, was patient, sweet and very knowledgeable about the the menu as well as the numerous wine selections.
Every dish exceeded our expectations. Great music and atmosphere. A wonderful experience all together. We plan to go back and bring friends. Who knew we would find such a place in Columbus, GA?! You've got to go! Jean T