Leader Block Trattoria & Bar — Restaurant in Ferndale

I hesitate to write such a poor review, but based on the fact that we spent over $300.00 on dinner for 3 of us, I felt it was warranted. First, I made reservations off their website for a brunch for my wife's birthday. The reservation was for a 11:30 AM seating. I received not one but two notifications for a confirmation of the time and date (one email and one by text). I confirmed both. We arrived and low and behold - the restaurant was closed. They had stopped serving their brunch, but had not updated the website. Later in the day, I did receive a call from the manager apologizing for the situation, and offered us a free dessert (which I would have guessed would have been offered anyways for my wife's birthday). We had already made other arrangements for the night, and was not able to go in to the restaurant that evening. I called later that month about a reservation for 3 (as I did not trust the website reservation system) and was told that they had room for the three of us, but the main dining room was full due to a wine pairing dinner. Not a problem, we were fine with the other option. When we arrived, we were seated in a room that was dark and no lights were on. We had to ask for the lights to be turned on. (we tried ourselves but were unable to find the right light switch). We asked the server when she came into greet us and ask if we wanted something to drink (a fairly long wait). She did turn on the lights. We ordered drinks and an appetizer. Again, the wait was fairly substantial ( we ended up being there for just over 2 hours for appetizers, drinks, dinner and dessert). Not uncommon, but the issue was the fruit flies. We were constantly bombarded by fruit flies from the moment our drinks and appetizer came. I finally had to ask for a fruit fly trap consisting of vinegar in a cup. I have pictures of the fruit flies in the trap that was way over the top for a restaurant of this caliber. I did try to explain to the waitress about the situation with the initial reservations and that I was told my wife would receive a "free dessert" for her birthday and the inconvenience of coming to the restaurant when they were closed. I was informed that she was not going to check the "validity" of my story, but would bring a dessert for my wife and not charge us. I did feel as though she did not believe me and I was trying to scam a free dessert. Overall, for over $300.00 plus tip, I was very disappointed in the service, the atmosphere, the fly situation, and being seated in a room that was dark and ultimately had to ask to have the lights turned on. Imagine, expecting a very nice dinner and then having to fight off fruit flies constantly during your meal and then having the bill come and seeing the amount and no consideration for the situation ( and having to even ask about a method to minimize the impact of the fruit flies during your dinner rather that having someone from the restaurant initiate that first). We do not plan on returning any time soon. I would recommend that if you're planning on going to Leader Block, that you call and make reservations personally, and I would ask about the fly situation...

We stopped for dinner at this place on a whim. Unfortunately, I didn't check the reviews first. That was my first mistake. Upon entering the restaurant looked charming. As we were walked to our table I noted boxes stacked along the way. It seemed strange to have that wear the customers were, but I disregarded them. I also noticed that the restaurant was fairly empty-at 7:45pm on a Saturday. Again, I disregarded another red flag After we were seated a waitress came and took our drinks order. We ordered our appetizer and entree shortly after. The meat and cheese platter was $39.99 and was the 'large' one. We confirmed that it was for 4 people with the waitress. We waited a long time with just our drinks. We heard the waitress call out to the kitchen that they were still waiting on our appetizer, but continued to wait. When the antipasto came, we were surprised. And not in a good way. Their were 4 small crostini style pieces of bread, 4 thin slices of salami and prosciutto, a pile of overly blue- blue cheese, a pile of another crumbled unidentified cheese, some olive tapenade, and some kind of nut dust. Now, how does a person eat this with only 4 small crackers amongst 4 people? To say it was lackluster would be kind. We should have left at this point. But no, we continued to wait. Hoping the experience would get better. Then our food arrived, finally. At this point we are the only ones in the restaurant and it feels weird. It did not present well. The gnocchi had zero pesto flavor, rather it tasted as if I was eating a lemon. The chicken we had added was simply a chicken thigh, fried in oil. It was so salty that it was burning our mouths. The carbonara was a joke. It looked like it had cream of chicken on it and tasted awful. The person that ordered it ended up violently ill a few hours after eating. Something was clearly wrong with it. When we asked for the check, and had paid, I noted we were overcharged. An extra alcoholic drink had been added. Apparently, the waitress had added a different, and more expensive, drink to our order. It took quite a bit to get the drink removed and pay for our meal. It was till about an hour until the posted closing time, but when our group went to leave, we found the doors locked. It left us all feeling a bit bothered. It would have been nice to have been told that the staff wanted to close early. We would have happily went elsewhere. My advice. Save your money, save your health. Eat...

Photo - Fettuccine Al Salmone.

Delicious on the way in, makes you see the afterlife on the way out.

I've written a 5-star for this restaurant before. It was closed for a while and now it pains me to say, literally, it's not what it used to be. The tablecloths should've been our first sign. Underneath the paper the tables now have, the cloths are stained. The first clue should've been that there weren't too many people there this time, actually. Anyway, the staff is super friendly, the food was tasty (as far as I could tell) and the wine was smooth. I left feeling full and satisfied. I sat in the car and said to my husband, "Huh, I already need to go to the bathroom." A minute later, and I'm telling him we gotta stop somewhere because 'this is bad! It's really bad!' We stopped at a rest stop, and I ran inside (sorry for all the ladies who had to smell it)! I was in that stall for over an hour. 58 min had passed since I had texted my husband to pray for me because this was really bad! Well, I was in there for a few minutes before that text, so it's not an exaggeration to say I was in that stall for over an hour. And in terrible pain! Nothing will get you praying like food poisoning... I repented from all my sins, trust me. Anyway, by the time I'm finally done, my whole body feels sore. We're now home, I'm still sore, weak, and not feeling 100%. In fact, I'm writing this from the toilet. In my head, I can hear Gordon Ramsey yelling at the chefs, "YOU KILL SOMEONE!" . We called the restaurant and let them know something in their fettuccine al salmone had spoiled. They said they would let the kitchen know and that they were closing for the day (this was dinner time) shortly. I hope they throw that stuff out. I didn't die, but I feel like I've seen the afterlife. This was and is the worst food poisoning of my life. We went there for our anniversary, it definitely ruined the night. They didn't even offer to reimburse us, but we didn't ask. Maybe we should have. In hindsight, another clue should've been how long the menu has gotten. Before, you had like 3 choices, and they were all phenomenal. Now you have plenty to choose from... and maybe that's part of the problem... too many sauces to prep beforehand that later spoil... Unfortunately, we won't be coming back any time soon, and we will have to find a different restaurant for our special dinner occasions.

No one...