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| - Gertrude's restaurant is located behind the gift shop at the entrance of the gorgeous Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. The restaurant serves sustainable dishes featuring ingredients from both their own patio garden and the community garden located in the Desert Botanical Garden. The ambience for dinner al fresco on the patio should be an automatic five-star experience... beautiful landscaping, lighted glass sculptures, sunset on the surrounding red rock formations, and stars shining brightly in the desert sky. The menu is seasonal, creative, and sounds delicious. Entrees run $18-40.00. The restaurant was moderately busy and almost all of the patrons had dinner outside on my visit. Yet, not one table or place setting was set on the patio...just empty tables...no linens, placemats, candles, centerpieces, salt and pepper mills...nothing! They don't set your table even after you order. This is acceptable for a picnic table at a roadside burger place but not an "upscale" dining establishment. Service was slow but hospitable (I even had to walk the bill inside to pay because I got tired of waiting.) Every table had a heat lamp. I was not offered a lamp and had to request it on a chilly night. The crafted Lavender Lemondrop cocktail simply was not good. I ordered the Arugula Salad with pomegranate seeds, candied pecans, blue cheese, and agave vinaigrette and it was delicious. The Blackened Scallops with roasted corn maque choux and Tabasco Hollandaise arrived cold and undercooked. With a $35 price tag...they were sent back to the kitchen. The second order was cooked perfectly. The maque choux was fresh and as good as any I have eaten in Louisiana. I have to say, however, my overall experience was disappointing. This restaurant makes me appreciate fine dining in Europe which is truly "fine dining"...food cooked perfectly, impeccable service, and attention to detail and presentation at the same price of a meal at Gertrude's. I can't wait to go back to see the Desert Botanical Gardens again but I will enjoy my meal somewhere else in the Phoenix area. Dinner, lunch, and dinner is served at Gertrude's. www.gertrudesrestaurant.net
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