Very Disappointing
DESCRIPTION: Attractive location, but substandard food. Spinach salad did not use young tender spinach and was oily, heavyhanded on the "honey" walnuts. The cajun ribeye was ordered medium rare but came well done, and the food was presented in an unattractive pile, and there was too much on the plate. The wine list is functional, but our first two choices were out of stock. Service very casual and just acceptable. The waitress asked us about the food, but made no remark when we mentioned the steaks were way overdone. Outdoor seating is pleasant, but stick with drinks.
DATE: 2001-07-04
FOODRATING : 2
SERVICERATING : 4
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 2

Actually, pretty good
DESCRIPTION: Living near the culinary relative wasteland that is Tualatin, I've been to Hayden's a number of times. I believe the previous reviewer had an atypical experience. On the whole, I have very much enjoyed my meals, found them to be reasonable value for the money, found them to be culinarily interesting, and found the service to be pleasant. (People coming at very off dining hours should be aware that sometimes wait staff is sent to do room service in the neighboring hotel, and that can cause delays.) Some particularly good things: The Nicoise salad. Lovely medium rare tuna slices on an otherwise tasty (and tender!) salad of mixed greens with the usual other Nicoise accoutrements. The roast chicken with sage gravy, cornbread-andouille sausage stuffing and spinach: my favorite of their 'roast chicken' entrees that I've had. Good balance between the spicy stuffing, the rich chicken and the cooling and unifying flavor of the gravy. And very inexpensive. The steak Diane over the cheese/bacon/potato cakes. Most decadent entree I have had in ages. Most of the dinners I have had there will 'stretch' easily for two meals, the portions are plentiful. I've never had a problem ordering steaks cooked correctly, and I like mine rare. I have noticed some disappointing entrees, that just didn't seem to be as good as they should be from the menu description. In general, Hayden's isn't somewhere to go for what might be considered 'palate challenging' food, perhaps the catering origin of the restaurant shows. But neither is the food bland or uninteresting.
DATE: 2002-02-07
FOODRATING : 6
SERVICERATING : 6
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 6
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Nicoise salad, steaks, roast chicken.

One of our favorites!
DESCRIPTION: My husband and I consider Hayden's one of our favorites and find ourselves there at least a couple times a month. The food tastes great and is prepared and presented well. The menu has a variety of choices and they always have specials of the day that are unique when you want to change things up. The setting and ambiance is the second reason we love Hayden's, especially in the sunny months when we can enjoy their lakefront patio. I also think the reviewer that called it disappointing had an atypical experience. The only time we were a bit dissatisfied was on Valentine's Day when the place was packed. They probably needed a few more servers and chefs to keep everything flowing, but we tend to find that same issue at most restaurants on that holiday. Also, for dessert lovers -- the selection is fabulous.
DATE: 2003-06-29
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 8
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Grilled Tenderloin Steak Sandwich, Cream of Potato Soup, Blackened Top Sirloin and Crawfish

Tualatin Outback
DESCRIPTION: My family has been to Outbacks around 1/2 the United States. Virginia and Colorado. Salem, Oregon. We now live in Tigard, Oregon and we went to the Outback in Tualatin. This was the most disappointing of all Outbacks. The waitress was not in a good mood and did not care who knew it. She dumped ranch dressing on the floor and it went all over my husband and son. We all ordered steaks and mine was so dry that I could not eat it. I'm not one to complain but my vegetables were rotten too. I just didn't want to eat that so my husband asked if they could take my dish off the ticket and the manager refused said he would cook me a new steak with more vegetables. I said no, I will just have some chicken wings. The manager said no -- and brought us a bloody steak with 2 small pieces of tinfoil tossed in a bag. The blood was coming out of the bag; we said no thank you and left. We paid the whole bill. We left very upset. We don't go to dinner very often and it was our son's b-day. My husband said he will never go back. But I love Outback what do I do?
DATE: 2003-08-27
FOODRATING : 6
SERVICERATING : 4
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 2
RECOMMENDED DISHES : chicken wings and ranch

Bad Service
DESCRIPTION: Sevice was poor and slow. Being a server for 6 years I was amazed the restaraunt was not even busy.
DATE: 2004-04-08
FOODRATING : 4
SERVICERATING : 2
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 2