Summa — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

Dined at Summa tonight and it was an interesting experience. I want to preface this by saying that I don’t normally leave reviews, especially if a restaurant is relatively new. I appreciate local spots and want to give them a chance to find their groove, which may not happen immediately. That being said, I feel compelled to leave this review based on the combination of middling-to-average food and a rude hostess/server that greeted us at the door. Upon first walking in, this person (glasses/dark-ish hair/unbuttoned jean shirt) greeted us at the door. She asked if we had a reservation, and we said we did not. She then pointed to the space behind her and said to sit anywhere we liked. Assuming, as most people would, that this meant to sit anywhere other patrons were not sitting, we headed toward a booth in the back that had no one seated. As soon as we sat down, she rushed over and condescendingly asked if we had a reservation…this was odd. I confirmed that we did not. She then said we needed to sit where it was open…this was totally confusing since this booth was OPEN. We stared at her blankly, at which point she said she set this table up for a reservation and we needed to pick a different table. My husband responded that since she had indicated to sit wherever we wanted, we followed that direction. Instead of actually acknowledging she had given confusing instructions, she passive-aggressively retorted with “Oh, sorry. I should have said to sit anywhere where it was open.” Again, this booth was open…what she wanted us to intuit was that she had placed menus on that table and we should have known as patrons that this table was reserved. Totally ridiculous as each table had some sort of menu on it so it did not immediately stand out to us in some special way that this booth was unavailable. Thankfully, this individual was not our server. We had a fabulous server (dark hair and cap on) that was super sweet and helpful the whole way through. We very much appreciated her and don’t want this to reflect on her at all! However, the second disappointment here was the food. Nothing offensive but under-seasoned and forgettable. My husband got the cheesesteak and a side salad. I got a bison and beef stew with a side of loaded potatoes. I’d say there are way better versions of this at other joints around town, including Public House, Cerberus, Jack Quinn’s, to name a few. All in all,...

We've been there before, but couldn't tell if it was open. I called to make sure before we got out because it was pouring rain. It was dark, yet hot and there was some kind of standing water inside near the first booth like it had flooded.

We ordered without issue. A table of 6 walked in about 10 minutes afterwards and were seated. I saw our appetizers being finished and set in the food window. The guy at the head of the 6 top got up, grabbed plates for his table and helped himself to our appetizers. I assume he works there or is the owner because he knew his way around, but had only been there for a minute or 2.

I could see the rest of our food finished and slid into the window. At that point the server had his hands full getting drinks for the group, so our food sat there and was soggy and had cooled, but we still hadn't received our appetizers.

We get our food and finish. At this point the chef sets out another round of appetizers. The server is confused when he brings it to the 6 top and they already have theirs. The waiter realized the issue and apologized. Totally not his or the chefs fault. Although nothing came in a timely manner, the food and the service were pretty good.

My qualm lies with the employee/owner. I think it reflects poorly that he helped himself to a customers meal. More importantly, what he did was disrespectful not only to us, but the staff.

I am a business owner in the beverage industry. I get being proud of your business and wanting to showcase your hard work. Entertaining guests or not, it was unprofessional. Maybe he is a nice guy and just wasn't paying attention, but it came off as self-absorbed. Zero stars for that. Had I not been watching, it would've cost the waiter...

Last Friday night I took my wife here on a date. It's an old fire station built in 1919 that is now a bar, restaurant, and upstairs live music venue.

It was just $10 each for the live music, which I prepaid on their website. We were greeted by friendly and helpful staff the moment we walked through the front door. They directed us upstairs to an uncrowded room with exposed brick walls and historic beams. Then we were treated to several hours of a 4-piece jazz band that plays there in a regular rotation with a few other bands.

They were called "New Vintage Jazz," and they specialize in the hard bop jazz era of the 1940's & '50's. There was a guy on drums, a keyboardist who featured a good bit of jazz organ and sang some vocals, a musician playing the double bass and electric bass, and one on brass who alternated between trumpet and flugelhorn.

My wife had a sampler plate of 4 mini-burgers, and I tried the Creole fried chicken. Then we had a hot chocolate chip cookie with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. The food was all delicious and tasted like it was made from scratch.

We had a few cocktails which were well made, as well as an on-tap beer which was cold and the perfect pairing with my fried chicken.

If you enjoy live music and you are tired of over-crowded and over-hyped venues where the staff are too busy to notice you, you should definitely check...