Prelude at the Opera House - Lower Level

I would not recommend the small plates. Small, and the ingredients are not outstanding. Poor value. The buffet would be the obvious choice. Much more thought in preparation and variety of quality ingredients.

The food is good and the service very good. A nice way to start your performing arts experience. Would like to see some additions to the table service menu.

We ordered off of the a la carte menu, rather than the more expensive buffet. However, when we ordered the crab salad, we anticipated it would be an abundant salad, enough for dinner, since the cost was so high. It was minuscule! It was delicious, but for $22, I would expect something larger than this (like a Crab Louis)--it was 2/3 can of tuna! So we ordered a different salad to split, and it was a little better--a large side salad; but when the whole bill added up (w/ 2 glasses of wine, and an order of rolls), it came to $113! That's rather steep for walking away hungry. I wished I'd known about the food on the 2nd floor--more reasonably priced.

Wonderful choices of food -- different every time. Convenient to go to the Opera. Love dessert at intermission. The waitstaff are very busy, but efficient and take a minute or two here and there to chat;

The only issue I have is with the Bar. We ordered two Grey Goose martini's. The Bill for two small Martini's was $44.00.

A rather outrageous price. Will never order them again there.

I have never been to a restaurant that charges that high a price for a drink.

A great place for a non-stressful, decent meal, reasonably priced, before attending the opera. You can return for dessert and coffee at intermission. Some of the servers have worked there for years and they are very good at what they do. You don’t have to worry about getting to the show on time because you’re already there!

The food is very good. The buffet is a good value. The place is nice but not terribly elegant. It is quick and efficient. The waitstaff is okay. It is worth it before a show and you will be guaranteed to be there on time and with good food on your ribs.

Much improved! The food options much better than before. We will return again and keep up the good work.

It’s for a captive audience for opera ticket holders and that is fine. But the servers are awful. It’s all about selling you a $48 buffet by telling you the $22 salad is too small for a dinner. And when you get to the buffet all the platters are empty!

The convenience of this place is unbeatable. No problem if you are running late because of traffic or whatever - they will hold your table, and so long as you are within 30 minutes of the show there is enough time to eat. I particularly like coming back at intermission to a beverage and desert. It makes for a very relaxed evening at the opera.

While food and service not that good the convenience and people watching made it worth it v

The buffet was the best all year. Fantastic variety and delicious choices. Loved the mussels and chicken especially.

The food was exceptional, service outstanding as always and perfect table location for privacy.

Great ambience. Very convenient for going to the ballet. I like the buffet because of all the choices and I like to go back for my favorites. And the price was very reasonable.

Very nice salads for dinner and excellent service

A very convenient place to dine pre-performance but nothing special at all. Portions (from menu, not buffet) are small and my salad was mostly lettuce. I do not think I’ll be returning.

The service is the BEST. The food is good, but the portions are very stingy. If you are charging $20 for a salad, the least you could do is load it up! And to charge $3 for a small piece of bread, REALLY? I’d consider other neighborhood restaurants where you get a little more bang for your buck and won’t leave hungry.

Food was really good. Easy to get dinner and upstairs to the performance.

Buffet is really bad and expensive. Eggs Benedict muffins like bricks. Vegetables bland. Salad soggy!

Annoyed that we paid extra for bread.

Always great to have dinner at the Opera.

Yes I recommend to friends. However, the buffet is much too costly. The bar menu of food items is very limited. the only item that is at all filing is the usual garden salad plus fish or some meant item for $22 usually. The cost of the food is much more than it is worth . It is almost impossible to eat what can be considered anything more than an appetizer unless one has the much too expensive buffet. I do go more than once a year as it is traditional in my family. I am a ballet season subscriber. I would not recommend the food and cost of it unless it is for a lovely setting and good service.The previous supplier of food was much better. thank you.

Great place for single person to dine before Ballet.
Very good, consistent buffet dining.
Two exceptional waiters.

Prelude is convenient if you are going to the ballet and don't have time to go to someplace in the neighborhood. However, it is quite expensive for what you get.

I’ve been here many times. This evening , two children attended the ballet with me. The menus were not appropriate for them & the prices are quite high. The a la carte selections are slim The buffet, although generous, is very expensive. I chose a salad & an ice tea & it cost $36. I believe we will dine near/by , next time

Percy waited on our table with such a warm and welcoming attitude! Excellent service and the best ever at the Opera House. Food id much better also and buffet was fresh and flavorful. All in all a stellar experience for the four of us. Thank you Percy!

The buffet ran out of food

Having eaten at the opera house many times, this night was a huge disappointment. The catering company was not prepared which is not forgivable as reservations are required so the number of diners is known. Serving trays were empty and slowly but not adequately refilled. The roast at the carving station, usually large, was minuscule so people had to wait in long lines only to find the carving table empty and the carver continually waiting for more. As a result it took our table 45 minutes to finish up at the buffet tables. Dinner at the opera is not inexpensive and the caterers failed terribly. We will not return.

The food was good but there were many shortages of some dishes.

The food was tasty but keeping the entrees full was an issue. What happened to dessert? Seems like it used to be included.

Lovely all the way around

I have always enjoyed dining at the Opera House, which has always been with others. I decided "what the heck, I'll treat myself to a nice dinner before the ballet." I was seated at a wall in the hallway between the bar and dining room. I finally moved the table out a bit from the wall, which helped, but overall as a single diner, I will not return.

Compared with the previous operator, food not as good for the price.

I feel so much more relaxed dinning inside the Opera House!

I like the previous caterer much better. This new caterer leaves a lot to be desired.

Unfortunately, the server delayed in getting our bill to us and we barely made it into the ballet as they were dimming the lights. A man followed us all the way up to the main floor ringing his chime while looking perturbed at us but it wasn't our fault we were so late. Other ushers seemed upset we were late but it wasn't our fault. WE turned in our charge cards for billing in plenty of time but we only had 1 minute to run upstairs! Not a good experience!

Convenient, delicious food, good service

The food that should have been hot was cold, some of the heavier green salads seemed wilted, and the variety was mediocre, the bread was dry/onto being stale, the salad offerings were too similar, some of the ends of the Romaine leaves were brown. The beef was quite flavorful, but cold. The served seemed awfully bored. The service seemed inexperienced and hadn't yet gotten the rhythm of the momentum required.

This is the 2nd time we have found the operation not really professional and the mashed potatoes and hot food not even luke warm, but cold.

I will attempt the experience a third time, but I suspect you would have more business if you retrieved the last group serving at the cafe.

Great spot for dinner before a performance. Overpriced, but look at where you are - the convenience is worth the extra cost.
The night I was there, we had no waiter for the first 20-30 minutes. Inexcusable! Waiter finally showed up and apologized with a weak excuse about a meeting in the kitchen. Not likely at the peak dinner time.
Luckily, the bar is right there, so I got my own drinks, and the buffet does not require a waiter.
But the absence of help was a major flaw.

We enjoyed our meal very much. The crab tasted fresh-from-the-boat and the salad greens tasted fresh from the garden. Chicken was ordered for one of the salads but it was never delivered. We looked for our waiter several times but we never saw him until he brought the bill. Instead of apologizing he said we should have told him. We certainly would have told him if he had come back to our table like most waiters do. Regardless, we enjoyed our meal and would come back.