I came for lunch in a Saturday after running an event. I ordered a cranberry mocktail. I settled on the beet salad with chicken because when I asked for the steak on the caprese to be rare, the server explained they can’t serve it that way. (Whether that’s a food safety law or kitchen rule, it’s misguided.) So I settled on a different salad and a side of fries.

The cranberry mocktail was all lime juice. Overpowering, bitter, gross. The server was apologetic and took it off the bill.

My salad was delivered by another staff person, maybe a floor manager? The chicken was refrigerator-cold. I asked if it could be warmed up. She explained it could not, and the chicken in that salad was always served cold. If I’m going to pay 17$ for a salad, it would be great if the chicken were fresh grilled. If not, at the very least, not served like I just bought it pre made in a grocery cooler.

At that point I asked for a to go box so I could take it home and prepare the salad as I preferred it. She was apologetic and brought me a box. I also asked for containers for the dressing, which took three requests- two to the floor manager- before my (very sweet) original server brought them to me. I brought everything home and ate it. It was fine. Four beets in a beet salad is pretty miserly though.

Also, the floor manager (?) mentioned the manager (?) would be stopping by my table, but I never saw them. I had no intention of complaining, so that’s fine. But if I’m told someone is coming to talk to me, I expect them to… come and talk to me.

I paid the bill with a generous tip and left. But not before I finally asked the (very sweet and respectful) server to please stop calling me ma’am. Over and over. 😅 I’m an Elder Millennial but damn, I felt like she was telling me YOU’RE OLD every time we spoke. She really was so sweet and meant it respectfully, but I think it added a bit of a kick in the pants of a disappointing experience.

I don’t think I’ll come back to Black Sheep again. Ironically, the first time I went there was pre-pandemic, where I went on one of the worst dates I’ve ever been on. It ended abruptly and I wound up leaving behind nearly an entire order of the duck fat fries, which I hear are very good. The fries I brought home today were soggy upon re-heating (obviously, this is not a criticism, it’s what happens to fries you don’t eat immediately and then re-heat).

TLDR: What a bummer. No rare steak allowed, no warm chicken provided, mocktail was bitter and one note. Server sweet and atmosphere good, but I came for the food… and that was not great.