Dining at Gibbet Hill Grill

Last night both my sweetheart and I had separate, work-related dinners at the Gibbet Hill Grill.  It is a working produce farm that has a Grill and also a separate barn for large functions like overly expensive weddings, which they specialize in.  The Grill has a reputation as one of the only 'upscale' restaurants in the immediate area, for when one does not want to go all the way into the city.  Hence, all the work functions.  After some scheduling acrobatics we managed to both arrive in time for dinner.

The area is really scenic, I love Groton.  In the wintertime, however, it is not as nice - unless it's freshly fallen small bits of snow.  This is how the area looks in the daytime from the hill across the road, which is part of a private boarding high school.  The town has two famous ones, the other being the Groton School which is where many of the Kennedys attended.

At night-time, which is the only time they are opened during the week, the barns are all lit up nicely and from the approach it is pretty and rustic at the same time.

The interior is decorated with a farm/barn theme as well, though it seems pretty half-hearted and quite cheap looking.  The architecture is great, the details are lacking.

They would not be up for restaurant design of the year, shall we say. The structure inside is gorgeous though, it has the original and new wooden beams and roof all open and exposed and it's expansive.  I love the floor to ceiling fireplace, half of which faces the bar and the other faces the main dining room.  Both times I've been there my group has enjoyed drinks in the little area just in front of the fireplace - though the service is not the most friendly and they are unable to complete simple transactions like carry your bar bill over to your table.

Everyone generally liked their food at my table, and apparently the food upstairs was good, but my steak - which is a specialty here - was not delicious.  It was fine and edible, but I would not get one again, as they all came out charred on the outside and of varying temperatures - not the ones requested - inside. The vegetables and sides all sounded very gourmet, but in fact were very basically prepared and not especially tasteful.It's a lot of hype but in reality I believe you could get a much better meal at an Outback/Longhorn for half the price and be much happier.  Unless of course you're obsessed with locally sourced products which is their big selling point.  Sadly, locally sourced doesn't mean better prepared or thoughtfully presented, or worth the inflated prices they charge.