The Sovereign
The above poster who claimed "denny's quality" must be a rival restaurant owner trying to kill competition! In the quarter century my family has been in Gainesville, we've had nothing but excellent food and service from the Sovereign. We've even attended receptions and banquets there. The food, service and atmosphere are all top notch!    [07 May 2004 08:35:09]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: filet mignon

     ­Anonymous   

Hope to come back
We drove up from 30 miles south of Ocala to dine at this well known spot on Valentine's Day, 2004. It was our first visit. An early seating reservation helped eliminate a wait in the 7 PM crowd. The ambiance is quite delightful. It's a very interesting and nicely decorated back room. Unfortunately the service was agonizingly slow. Our server only had two tables to worry about. Our salads took forever to appear. Our appetizers got misdirected. I got mine but the lady's was served to another table. (They ate it but it was not what they ordered.) It took forever to get to the entree. Tables around us were being promply served by a knowledgable waiter and were on their second turnover by the time we got our meals. As I remember the food was well prepared and very tasty. My fillet was excellent and the lady's dish was enjoyed by her. Needless to say we didn't order dessert, the 70 mile drive home in the rain was still ahead of us. The restaurant management (visible near the kitchen door and questioned frequently by our waitress) never came by to wish anyone a Happy Valentine's Day or to see how our meals were. That's a big mistake for any restaurant. Problems can occur anytime - it's correcting them that counts and I'm sure they were aware of the problems this young lady was having. We were on the verge of walking out three times - but on Valentine's Day? After talking to our server when the bill finally arrived, I found out that it was her first day on the job and in fact her first waitressing experience. That seemed to explain the faux pas with serving dishes to the wrong tables and never getting my second glass of wine, etc. I suggested to her that she let patrons know that she's new at the job. Perhaps others after us would be more sympathetic during their ordeal. Total for two including the two wines at the bar while waiting for our reservation, was $66 with tax. I did my usual corrective action: Left her a 10% tip and wrote across the bill and charge slip "SERVER NEEDS TRAINING". Hopefully the owner will see that comment at the end of the night. Guess the restaurant needed help on a night that's tough to get help - but where they got her, I'll never know. We dine out a lot and in this case we'd like to give the Sovereign a second try. It seemed that their regular wait staff had no problem satisfying their customers and the kitchen has no problem preparing good food. We hope to give it another try if we get up to Gainsville again - it just won't be on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or Easter!    [17 Aug 2004 12:22:20]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Filet Mignon Rare

     ­Rich   

Quite a dissapointment. I heard so many wonderful things about this restaurant but was shocked at some pretty major things when we went last night. Among the dissapointments: greens in the house salad were nothing more than boring romaine topped with an unimpressive vinaigrette,
the "wine glasses" were absolutely inadequate to even a novice wine drinker and the "vegetables" served with the entrees were possibly the most boring I have ever eaten.
the steak au poivre and sea bass were pretty good, but worth 25$ a plate? i don't think so.    [30 Apr 2005 15:42:21]

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     ­Anonymous   lvmies at yahoo dot com

A Must While in Gainesville!
What a great place! The building and decor alone set this restaurant above many others. Our server was extremely polite and quite attentive. Those who find the service slow/poor need to calm down. Sovereign is not a "get in, scarf down your food and rush out the door" kind of place. Service here is more European style (this is a good thing): the servers are not in your face every 30 seconds asking if you want more of this or how everything is, but this doesn't mean they're not doing their job. Our particular server watched carefully from a distance, and knew when to come over to clear plates, refill wine, etc. THAT's how service needs to be: leave me alone until I need you. We were also there on a special holiday and didn't need the servers to remind us that it was, in fact, a holiday. Good things come to those who wait: if you want a salad as soon as you order it, go somewhere that simply removes the shrink wrap and drops it on your table.

My mate and I ordered the Chateaubriand which was exquisite...perfectly seasoned and cooked, with wonderful veggies on the side. For dessert: hot blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream, which was too delicious for words.

All told, I would recommend the Sovereign to anyone with a bit of culture. If this is not you, then go eat at Village Inn or somewhere of equal quality, because you simply will not be able to appreciate what the Sovereign is all about.    [04 Aug 2005 14:30:42]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Chateaubriand

     ­Anonymous   

Great atmosphere
This is a lovely non-cookie cutter restaurant. $$, but the food and atmosphere provide a wonderful experience. I would love to find a similar restaurant in every city I visit on a road trip.

Fortunately, I am a local, so get to visit often.    [15 Sep 2006 14:50:56]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: steak au poivre; lamb chops

     ­jd   

Thank you new ownership
Thank you for the complete upgrade of this beautiful space. The owners of Mildreds have purchased and updated this historic space. They have also upgraded the menu and lowered the average price. The lamb and grouper dishes are amazing. Nice bar and great wine list    [25 Jun 2007 17:32:46]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Lamb $16 and Gulf of Mexico Grouper $22

     ­Sandy   

Bring back Chef Elmo.
I'm a big fan of The Sovereign having eaten there weekly for over two and half years back when I attended UF. I recently returned to find the Sovereign under new management with boring tasteless food and poor service. Bring back Chef Elmo and Lupe or change the name (false advertising). It isn't the Sovereign without them.    [06 Aug 2007 05:32:13]

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Recommended Dishes: The water was quite refreshing.

     ­Kevo   emorin at bellsouth dot net