Mint 29 — Restaurant in Dearborn

I have been trying to post this review for over a month now, but "Google's algorithm" seems to find something inappropriate in it and does not allow this review to show up on the business page. I have contacted Google multiple times and they give me the same answer each time. I will keep posting this until it is public:

SUMMARY: Mediocre quality food, BAD customer serivce.

Where to begin...

Having been to Prime 29 in the recent past and hearing great things about Mint 29, me and a couple friends decided to give this place a shot.

All three of us had steak (specifically the New York Strip) and grilled asparagus, and it was nothing short of mediocre. In fact, my cousin's homemade steak tasted much better, in my opinion. As for the grilled asparagus, it was raw and not cooked to perfection. A group of 3, and the bill ran us $200, which was expected, but what we did not expect was bad quality food. (3/5)

Here's where it gets worse:

For me personally, 60-70% of my experience is based on hospitality and environment. We had a reservation for 7:00 on a Saturday evening for 3. It is understandable that that is a busy time and there is a possibility for things not to be optimal. But bear with me...

We were seated on a small table on which you can barely seat 2. (Again, there were 3 of us). And yes, as previous reviews mention, we were sitting on metal chairs. It was extremely uncomfortable. I barely had room to place my drink. But they were crowded, ok fine.

Our waiter, Nick, started off on a good note. He greeted us, brought us our drinks, took our order, did the basics. In the meantime, we were told by another lady, who I believe was one of the hostesses, that we have a two hour time limit at the table. Ok fine.

We waited approximately 45 minutes to one hour for our food, in which time Nick approached us just once saying "the food will be here shortly". Ok fine.

Our food was brought to us and we began eating. I already mentioned my experience with the food itself so I won't bring it up again. However, here is the crux of the story. Nick was waiting another table right next to us. He came to check up on them on multiple occasions. He even stood there and conversated with them for a few minutes. But he did not approach our table EVEN ONCE. He literally walked right passed our table as I stared right at him and then turned my gaze towards my friends in awe. I could not believe it. Prior to entering the restaurant, I literally told my friends, "Guys, I'm feeling good today. I'm going to take care of the waiter/waitress." as I entered the restaurant with a smile. But this... this just broke my heart. I could not even finish my food. I sat there in wonder and disgust.

When Nick came to our table to take our plates, guess what? Not one word. Just picked up the plates and left. The second time he came to take the remaining plates, SAME thing. While he was leaving, we asked him for the bill, and he brought it on his next trip back, placed it on the table, and again, he did not say a word to us.

I'll end it here for the sake of not going on and on. But this experience was just heart breaking. There are hundreds of restaurants better than this one, regardless of what you are looking to eat. Since we had the steak and I can personally comment on that, I will say that places like Prime 29 and LA Bistro serve much better steak. In fact, the worst steak I had at Prime 29 is ten times better than the steak I had here. Not to mention, the service and environment at other places are a minimum one hundred times better.

I might be back in the near future to give them another chance, just because there are so many positive reviews which do not make any sense to me based on my experience. I will update this...

I've been wanting to try this place for such a long time, but I've just not had the time. Yesterday was my first time going, and I must say it was a big disappointment. I'm usually pretty understanding because I work in a restaurant myself and I've been in the food industry for over 10 years. My bartender was nice, however, I had to wait an hour for an appetizer of grilled shrimp. That is a bit much for timing. I specifically asked the bartender if my food would all be coming out together, because it is a huge pet peeve of mine to receive an appetizer and main course at the same time. I like to enjoy my food and I dont want to rush to eat an appetizer so that my main entree doesn't get cold. I was told, "Oh no that wont happen. The kitchen is really backed up because of a huge party upstairs." I said I understood, it was no big deal, I just wanted to make sure they were coming out separately. That was after waiting about 40 minutes. There were two guys next to me that had ordered TWO appetizers maybe 30 seconds before me, their appetizers had come out 10 minutes after we ordered. For me to then have to wait another 50 minutes after they received theirs is ridiculous. The bartender went to check on my food three times during this time. When it finally came, there were three pieces of grilled shrimp on a small plate. Here is where I mention that I ordered from the restaurant week menu, which is another thing I'd like to note. In the event of a promotion, or event, I understand that business may peak. That was also part of my initial patience. But, to me, it's not an excuse for EXTREME wait times. It's hard for me to be understanding of lack of preparedness. Now, my shrimp looked pretty good, but it was definitely overcooked. It was rubbery and dry. Big disappointment there. Might I add, when my shrimp was brought out to me, there was someone following the bartender with another plate. He sat my entree in front of me seconds after the bartender sat the shrimp in front of me, and I looked at my bartender. She said to me, that isn't my fault. I told them to wait on the entree. One, the fact that a kitchen staff has to be told about the timing of food, in this instance, is insane. I didnt have any special requests out of the ordinary. I just wanted my appetizer to come out first, you know, AS AN APPETIZER. Two, the man who brought it out is someone I presume to be the manager. He was dressed in a blue, button down dress shirt. He apologized, but seemed very unapologetic, if that makes sense. I'm only giving two stars because the entree was good. Otherwise, there would have been one star. The dessert that came with it was a complete joke. She brought me two squares of cheesecake that were nothing like the photos I had seen. I have a food page on Instagram, and a lot of us share photos of the local restaurants in a group. I have these beautiful photos that I've seen and it wasnt the same. I chalked it up as a bad experience that only cost me $51.00, and it's hard to say whether I'll be returning. I have these great photos of food that I probably wont be using either, because I like to showcase businesses that meet at least the bare minimum of expectations. A subpar experience and such a...

UPDATE

Went back during the day with a more casual expectation.. Got a great seat, a great server, and enjoyed a good lunch at this gastro pub.

Upgraded to 3.7/5 Flames 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Will try again!

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My wife booked reservations for this restaurant for date night because she enjoys fine dining and reviewed the website and menu and thought this might be a nice romantic, fine dining restaurant that I might enjoy. For once she could admit herself that she was wrong. Let’s be clear, this is not a fine dining restaurant. This is a gastropub, really more like a Applebees with truffle Mac and worse seating.

⚫️ This restaurant has a very casual dress code, you will mostly see jeans and tshirts here.

⚫️ Although it has a large drink menu, there will definitely be kids in the restaurant. Not ideal for a romantic date night which is why I said it’s a higher end Applebees or TGI Fridays.

⚫️ I saw a few groups of people who came in via walk in and just waited around for a table to open up, once one did they were seated. I wasn’t one of those people, I had a reservation place far in advance and waited around for seating. When I arrived on time for the reservation, I was standing around with the walk ins for about 15 minutes before I was “seated”. Reason the quotes are there is because the “table” my reservation got me was damn near in the kitchen, facing the bathrooms. Probably shouldn’t be a table but ok. A server kicks my shoes scurrying passed because I’m literally walking to sit in the kitchen walkway, I still say ok because I want to appreciate this gesture for the date. I get bumped twice and hear a pan slam in the kitchen right in my ear because I’m 2 feet away and I’m done. I get up and find an actual fine dining restaurant to have dinner at.

All in all I never even got to order. So I won’t say the food is good or bad. I would actually say that if you are with friends or family, more than two people and are dressed for a bar, it will probably be a fantastic time. But the service and the atmosphere for an intimate experience at an upscale establishment is abysmal. Be weary of the website because it is not as portrayed there.

I’m saying definitely check it out just not on date night. 3/5 flames for...