Luminary Kitchen & Provisions

First time here. Brunch was interesting and tasty. Service was good. Custom Cup coffee was great. Brunch selection had a variety. You can order a la carte off the three course brunch. Or share the brunch. I enjoyed my food. Glad we finally came!

"The worst Bloody Mary in Springfield, ILLINOIS!"

I have heard amazing things about this local Springfield eatery and wanted to try Luminary for ages, so when a friend invited me to brunch I couldn't resist and drove over a hour to try this spot.

The restaurant:
The restaurant is trendy and there is a bustling energy within the four walls. Servers are moving here and there and we had to wait 35min, but we felt it was fair considering the appeal and culinary experience.

The menu:
The menus is structured differently each week. It's cool and edgy. They have some really neat offerings and I wish we could have tried more. There is creativity everywhere you look. Nothing is ordinary or consistent and that's where things start to unravel.

The staff:
The staff we interacted with seemed busy but congenial. They were focused on production and quality to meet the demands of the large amount of business. Have you ever had one of those waitresses or waiters who just delights you? A service worker who goes out of her way to make sure your experience is the best? This wasn't any of that. This was transactional and without a personal touch.

The drinks:
This was such a disappointment. We both ordered drinks and I got a Bloody Mary. Sadly this was the worst bloody I've ever had. It was watery, had very little alcohol, its flavor was that of unripe tomatoes. There was no rim, no salt, very little spice... it was unoriginal as stated by the table next to us. I'd say it was the worst Bloody Mary in Springfield.

The food:
We both orders from the à la carte menu because we were told we couldn't have certain items unless we ordered the multi course brunch.

My friend had a sandwich that was stellar. Her food came 14 min before mine. Mine was cool but decent, nothing spectacular, but wasn't in sync with my companion. I asked for the toppings on my breakfast to be on the side w/ extra butter, they weren't... it was combined. Hint hint - the GF pancakes are not worth it and the mix seems like something Aldi does better anyways.

Final thoughts:
My friend said it best, "how can so much fun and energy result in such poor product and service?" Good question. This seems like a business that has lost the ability to produce a good product served by good people. They have focused more on "form" and not enough on "function".

The good:
Trendy & Exciting
Cool menu
Very busy

The bad:
Not once did someone ask how our meal was.
Not once did anyone check in on us for our drinks.
Our meals were not served at the same time.
When I asked about our drinks, the bar tender just told us what she did, but didn't ask if we had an issue.
We were not welcomed to the restaurant
No one introduced themselves.
It was expensive

In closing - this is a cool place staffed by creative and likely innovative chefs. They take pride in there product and I can tell they want people to have a good experience based on the art and decor. I suggest they spend more time training their staff, because service is everything. Maybe take a lesson from Cracker Barrel, at least there the waitress introduces herself and thanks the customer for coming. That would have gone a long way.

I do not recommend eating here. Save your money and go somewhere local that knows the value in serving people well.

Great lunches!! 5 stars for lunch! Creative, fresh, high quality and worth the price.

Lunch is $15-20. Dinner is $20+ for similar items with a just a few extra items.

Dinners aren't bad, but not worth the price. Other places serve better dinners for the same price.

Luminary is an artisan vibe restaurant. I've eaten there twice- dinner back in early spring and Sunday Brunch this winter. I didn't review after our spring visit because I was so torn- great appetizers-much less successful entrees. I feel after two visits- I have a better sense of the food they're creating at Luminary.

The menu changes from visit to visit. The menu online on the day we visited was different than the menu in the restaurant.

The table started with 2 orders of beignet. Each order was 4 beignets- coated in cinnamon and sugar. I would not recommend these- as all were raw/doughy inside. It was unfortunate they were not fully cooked- I don't send food back, so it was what it was.

Two diners ordered the 3 course brunch menu. At $30 prix fixe my review is mixed. The first entree's- ricotta pancakes and maple braised bacon were both hits. They were both small portions.

The second courses were eggs Benedict and Chilaquiles. These were entree size and both were tasty. The pork on the Benedict was spicy.

The third (dessert) course was only a single offering- sticky toffee cake. When I say the portion was a bite- it really was only a bite. If not for the toffee sauce- the cake had very little flavor. The cake itself had a "wheat" taste- not yummy.

Our other diners ordered a la carte and included the big boy (burger), Brussels sprouts, and warm burrata. All of the a la carte offerings were tasty and I would recommend. The warm burrata comes with a large sliced baguette. The big boy includes fries.

We didn't order cocktails with Sunday brunch- but for dinner in the spring all our cocktails were hand crafted and delicious.

Luminary is definitely worth a visit. Great vibe for a date or meeting friends. Food-wise, some great hits and a few misses.

This place was great, very cool vibe not a huge place but everyone was friendly would def go back! Truffle fries were amazing

We went here with a group of friends on 8/9/24. We made reservations for our group of 12.

The seating accommodated our group. The service was poor and slow.

Worse, some of us ordered the New York Strip which looked more like sirloin. The "chef" insisted it was the New York Strip. I've never seen a New York strip so thin in places that it was less than a quarter of an inch thick. It was round, and flat.

I would encourage folks to go elsewhere if you're looking for a nice steak.

Most inventive, exciting, delicious food in town!
A truely unique experience - the vibe!

The restaurant is very well run, service is quick, and the servers are helpful and kind. I really enjoyed brunch!

Had an impressive dinner at this restaurant. 4.5 would be most accurate. I ordered a salmon ceviche, a side bread, a ricotta gnocchi and a braised short rib entree. I ordered the ceviche purely out of curiosity -- I wondered how orange and aji amarillo could go with salmon, but surprisingly they combined well with each other, especially the orange added fragrance to the salmon. The gnocchi was even better. It was a comforting, warm dish; each gnocchi dumpling was lightly crispy outside and chewy inside, the asparagus and peas were fresh, and the ricotta sauce added some creamery to the whole dish. Finally I had the braised short rib, which was accompanied by poached egg, white polenta, crushed red pepper tomato sauce and broccolini. The fall-of-the-bone meat was mouth-melting. The pepper tomato sauce then added some sweetness to it. Another creative (and great) thing was the poached egg. Indeed the runny egg yolk went well with the short rib, while the egg white was super tender and subtle!

Downside was the bread, which was over toasted and cost me $3.5. Besides, their menu differs much from the one posted on the website.

Service was quick and good. My waitress asked my experience about each of the dishes and informed me about the preparation of them.

For vibe, the whole restaurant was modernly-decorated, and I really like the candle light on each table, as if I am dining with stars shining around me. Plus, the kitchen is half-open to diners so you can see how they prepare the foods, interesting!

Everything was wonderful. Food, drinks, service. The mussels were some of the best I've ever had - and that includes in Maine and Seattle!