I'm not sure how places like this receive 5-star r...

I'm not sure how places like this receive 5-star reviews. Is it because people are swayed by the beautiful views? Or perhaps they don't want to admit to themselves that they paid so much for a mediocre experience? Owera has what it takes to be a high-end restaurant, but they aren't there.. yet.

If this review was based solely off of the scenic views, it's 4-stars. If I'm rating the service, it's 3.5-stars. The food (based on what we ate; we obviously did not eat the entire menu) is without a doubt 0-stars. The owners should go undercover one day to see for themselves a few hours before close.

We went on 'Wine Down Wednesdays', which was a nice feature; half-off wines can't be beat. The Dry Riesling was acceptable, although lacking the standard aromatic features you would expect. There was no 'burst' of tropical fruit as portrayed in the description. The flavor was flat but refreshing. The views are peaceful and you get the feeling you are somewhere in the Finger Lakes.

The server knew what she was talking about and was friendly. The service was slow. We asked for a side of shredded cheese for the pizza and waited five minutes as our pizza got cold. But don't be so quick to blame the server. Servers tend to be blamed for everything. Start with the owners first, then management, and then servers.

Our food was a mix between Wegmans frozen pizza and a poor attempt at homemade soup. I do not feel I got my money's worth. The worst feeling is going out to eat after a hard days work and leave feeling underwhelmed and disappointed.

They have to do away with their 'Boards' concept. The pizza came out on a nasty, stained, and greasy piece of wood. I'm sure on paper it sounded rustic and different, but in real-world use it's disgusting and gave the ambiance of a Texas Roadhouse. Although I am not suggesting the boards are unsanitary, the appearance is a turn off. It would be much more classy to serve their meals on an Acopa Nova White Asymmetric Plate.

They describe the 'Fire and Smoke' pizza as being brick oven fired with Gouda. Are you sure it wasn't a microwavable pizza? Half the pizza had no drop peppers, and if it had Gouda on it, neither my spouse nor I could taste it. And where is the 'fire'? Three small spots on the pizza gave some sort of indication that maybe it touched a brick oven. Their oven temperature is set too low and they're cooking it too slowly. Are you sure the oven is set between 530 and 800 with 630F being optimal for 90 seconds? Again, don't place the blame on the person making the pizza. The owners should be guiding their employees on how to make the perfect pizza. The pizza would taste amazing with prosciutto and 'slabs' of smoked Gouda instead of 'shredded'.

Their menu describes the Onion Soup soup as, "..gratine ed with Swiss and provolone cheeses." What was served was a cold blob of cheese and bread. I never understood how a server can bring cold food to the table and not expect the customer to complain. The soup lacked flavor and texture. The attached picture was taken less than ten seconds after it was served. No steam. This is not 'gratine ed' in any sense of the word.

I hope the owners use this review constructively, investigate my thoughts, don't take the easy way out by screaming at employees, and make changes as necessary. The scenic views are great, but word-of-mouth reviews are quite powerful. No amount of scenery can replace the lack of food quality. We won't be coming back to this establishment.