Granite Hill

Granite Hill is our favorite place for brunch. It is traditional and inventive at the same time. We always combine it with a visit to the museum. We are sorry it is closing for museum construction. However, we were told it will reopen in 15 months. We're looking forward to it!

Reservation honored at the correct time (1 pm). However, we arrived 10 minutes early and the young person at the desk needs more training in how to show hospitality. My friend and I were told to come back at one, because reservations had to be honored "exactly" in a curt manner.
Happily, another person at the desk greeted us warmly when we returned at the "exact" time. We both ordered the trout,which was prepared perfectly. Our server was friendly and did a great job. Fonda, Bala Cynwyd, PA

Management of reservations and clearance of tables is poorly organized and terribly slow. On a Thursday, we waited 25 minutes for a party of four with minimal help from the staff. If you have any time constraints, skip it. I cannot imagine what it is like on the weekends!

Excellent food, as always. The chef's table is a great option for taste and value and the special cocktails, themed to tie in with the Museum of Art's key exhibit of the moment, are delicious. We're sorry the restaurant will be closed during the Museum's new renovation project and hope it will reopen as soon as possible.

Apart from the 15 minute wait, even with a reservation, this was a tasty meal, agreeably and promptly served. Granite Hill has been a definite plus for the Philadelphia Museum, even in its somewhat cramped space for sometimes overflowing crowds.

Great location in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and owned by Steven Starr, but the food is really not up to the standard of other Starr restaurants. Servers and other employees were friendly and professional. Hope the place gets better with the upcoming renovation.

Good, basic food; large delicious salads; delicious cocktails, though limited selection. Menu is limited, but good for what it offers. It's a nice quiet place to have lunch and conversation before or after visiting the museum exhibits. Service was not great. They brought out 2 orders for our 4 person party, one was a salad and one was the entree. The salad and soup for the other 2 in the party didn't come out until we asked about it. Waiter apologized, but should have been on top of it. The restaurant was not anywhere near busy.

Great way to spend a Sunday

We went to Granite Hill for brunch on New Year's Day. Despite recent mixed reviews, it was a very pleasant experience. Our waiter, Michael, was very personable and attentive. The filet mignon was outstanding. Everything on the buffet was very good. The only suggestion that I would have for staff, which is also mentioned in other reviews, is that the cheese board could have been filled more frequently. Other than that, no complaints. Overall it was very enjoyable.

Made reservation through Open Table for my wife's birthday (New Year's eve day). Got the table I requested by the window. Our waiter was terrific, personable and helpful, and the food was tasteful and well presented. My wife ordered the Chef's buffet table, which she loved, and I had the Greek Salad platter. Very nice all around. One of our favorite places to go for special occasions or whenever we have the time to spare while we're at the museum for an exhibition.

Had the Trout.

Not up to Starr Restaurants' usual level of polish in any way. The highlights (low lights?):
- waited at the unattended front desk for at least 2 minutes while the hostess took pictures of herself in her new scarf - awesome.
- chair at the table was so deep and had such a relaxed posture to it that I had to sit up without any back support when I wanted to eat. I am of average height and have longer than average arms so it was the chair, not me.
- sole waiter was about as enthusiastic about us as we were in spending another minute more than necessary in the pleasant but moribund dining room
-speakers (visible not the ceiling) non- functional so the place was quiet as a funeral home. Hostess stated that they only had one speaker at the far end of the dining room. I have never asked for the music to be turned up but wishes it could have been.
- ordered the crab cake special. Nothing special about it: good amount of crab but so overpowered by bay seasoning that it might as well have been sawdust. Pepper slaw was so spicy I left most of it. Scallops were perfectly cooked but the accompanying Israeli couscous salad was so cold it cased them to cool almost immediately- not exactly appetizing.
- Sauvignon Blanc was very astringent, very little flavor; the Chardonnay quite good
- tried to use a Starr gift card (the whole reason we ate here) only to be told they did not accept them since this was Starr Catering Group.

Couldn't help but compare this expeince to that of dining at then Boston MFA. Let's just say Philadelphia can, and needs to, do better.

Salad was oily and relatively tasteless. The waiter apologized numerous times for slow service. Overall not a pleasant experience

The food was poor, badly composed sandwiches and salads overdosed with oil and vinegar. The ambiance is lovely as is the location.

One of our favorite spots , it is a shame that the Art Museum is closing this and much more hid its operation for almost two years as part of its modification efforts. Granite Hill was terrific , great staff, nice menu and a good ambiance, despite the fact that they had to depend on Art Museum staff for cleaning , which never matched the quality of Starr Catering, which actually operates the restaurant. We wish we knew there would little available at the Museum for such a lengthy period BEFORE we renewed our membership.

The food was just ok and the service was pretty awful. I have a high tolerance for bad service but this guy was just so cold and uninterested.

Maybe better for brunch or dinner.

When I lived in the Philadelphia area, part of the enjoyment of going to PMA was eating at their restaurant. The food and ambiance were always memorable. It has been a few years since I have visited the museum and was a little disappointed in the brunch. Our reservation was for 1:00, which I don't consider that late for a mid day meal although it might be considered late for a brunch. The buffet needed replenishing and what was left looked a little tired. We put together a charcuterie plate with what was left, which wasn't much. The Bloody Marys were very good. We went back and found that they had refilled the various stations, but there wasn't a lot of choice. The food was good, but not of the quality that I remember in the past. Although we didn't leave still hungry, it just didn't match past experiences.

We had the Sunday brunch buffet and found it over-priced.

Excellent food, service and ambiance. Both my butternut squash soup and brook trout were delicious and creative . Having lunch at Granite Hill makes a trip to the museum an even more special event. But the overall menu is a bit pricey and I don't see it as a solely restaurant destination worth a trip apart from a visit to the museum. I also have two nitpicks: the brook trout entrée, though delicious, was served tepid not hot; and the chairs are too deep. I feel like I need a pillow back cushion to support me in the chair. Regardless of my mild criticisms, I would look forward to dining there anytime I go to the museum and feel that it enhances the overall experience.

Calm, attractive and comfortable space but the french onion soup was exceedingly salty, the salad was bland and the mussels were too large in size and flavor.

It's a good thing that the restaurant is closing for the museum renovations because Granite Hill needs to get its act together. The food was cold (even the soup). One of the entrees was returned to heat up and 20 minutes later it came back cold as well. Two of the orders were either forgotten or wrong. It was a seriously flawed kitchen.
The key location in the museum should be more than enough incentive to do better.

A very nice way to end a day at the Art Museum. Service was great and food was quite good. Nice to sit down and be waited on. Would recommend Granite Hill.

Granite Hill is my favorite restaurant when visiting the Philadelphia Art Museum. the food is fresh and delicious and always a treat.

Great food but waiter was not sensitive to our conversation and constantly came to the table and blurted out something without waiting a second for us to finish a sentence. Not properly trained.

My family and I ate here before touring the museum. The food was great. A little pricy, but a very convenient location right inside the museum.

We really enjoyed our meal. The menu was rather limited considering the hype about it being a French restaurant with a noted chef. That said, the burger we had was fantastic- My husband said it was one of the best burgers he'd had in a very long time!

We had lunch at Granite Hill after several hours perusing the museum collections. The food was excellent, the service was friendly and professional, and the room is minimalist yet warm. All told a wonderful way to cap a museum visit.

The food on the buffet table was good, but not plentiful. There is a need for a main dish, such as meat or fish.
The service was slow, but I attribute this to a lack of servers. Overall, it was a mediocre meal.

We made a reservation and were seated right away but then were quickly forgotten about after sitting. When our waiter did show up he took our order without writing it down and had to come back for a repeat. We then waited for our wine and beer but instead were brought soup and told to wait for spoons. We stared at our hot soup for about 4 minutes before spoons came. Then he realized we had no beverages. Then he came back to say they were out of the beer my husband ordered. Finally our drinks came and we asked for bread but never got a basket while everyone else in the restaurant did. Our entrees were good but a salad and meatballs still begged for bread but we were told there was a delay. We finally gave up on bread. It took a while to get the check and we had to pass on coffee and dessert because we figured we'd never have gotten it anyway. A disappointing day date lunch. Won't recommend. Won't be back.

Another pleasant meal at Granite Hill. Really enjoyed the La Rosa cocktail, with gin infused by our waiter from his herb garden. We had the Chef's Table buffet as part of a package ticket for the Museum of Art and found the selection quite nice. Loved the kale and apple salad! Devastated to learn that it will soon close down for 15 months of renovation!

Was not busy.service.was horrible. We had to ask to place our order after sitting with menus for some time. Server never stopped by to see if we needed anything after our meals were delivered. Long after we finished and buss boy had cleared we had to go find our server for our check. Took over an hour and a half for lunch, salads and a sandwich that was billed to have a rosemary soli bit I did not detect the slightest hint of rosemary. For a restaurant catering to the museum patron they don't seem to realize we might want to get out and see the exhibits. Not one of Star's best establishments

Lovely Sunday brunch with more delicious options than we could possible eat. Brunch buffet is beautifully presented and includes many fresh healthy options. The setting is serene and the service staff very welcoming. We didn't feel at all rushed even though we stayed for two hours. It's not inexpensive but the experience is well worth the cost. And after brunch the entire Art Museum is at your disposal for a Sunday art stroll.

I hate to be negative, as nice as Granite Hill is, it's just not worth it. We spent over $80 with tip for two people. The food selections were limited and just not that good. It wasn't worth $40 per person. If there were more selections or the food were really over the top, maybe for special occasions.

Also, when we were there, there were two very young children alone at a table. They were being tended to by the staff and were very well behaved, but it just seemed out of place to have such young children alone without their parents.

dishes interesting and tasted good. not outstanding.
service good at the beginning. lunch took over 2 hours. long time to wait for food. long time after finished to wait for bill. had to change our afternoon plans...not enough time left.

Very pleasant staff and fine menu - perfect for capping off a day/evening at the museum

Granite Hill was a great addition to our visit to the Art Museum. The service was the perfect balance of attention, the food was positively exquisite, and the atmosphere could be cast as romantic and casual. You never know what to expect at a museum restaurant, with overpriced, subpar food generally the norm, but this was not the case for Granite Hill. The only negative is their lack of selection overall, but the selections they have are fantastic.

Sadly the prospective closing because of future construction is-no doubt- affecting the morale of the staff and it shows in is declining quality of service. The food was mediocre at best!

We had an excellent quiche and a perfectly cooked seared salmon salad in a very pleasant place for a quiet lunch.

There was no carving station as stated on website. Brunch buffet is priced too high for the value. It has an omelet station, small 2 salad station, small cheese & breads station, small 3 option breakfast station. & small 1 lunch entree station. The pastry station was average. However, the service was the best part.

Ordinarily a pleasant quiet spot for lunch at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, my last two visits did not satisfy. Autumn salad was low on flavor, turkey club of my companion was undersized for price. The French onion soup was pleasant and hit, though.