Fortunate Son — Restaurant in Garland

Lovely, if you want to hate yourself the entire time you’re there. The food was just ok and the staff was unbelievably disorganized. It’s is SO LOUD in there that you hate yourself for coming. They closed half the seating bc it looked like rain…sorry, but if you lose half your restaurant when the weather changes, you need covered outdoor seating. Awesome

When we first arrived the hostess immediately started telling us why they couldn’t accommodate us instead of just putting our names on the list. She explained that for “big parties” (we had 4 adults, a 12 year old, and a baby) they normally would seat us in a high top but they didn’t have any right now and it’s just hard with larger parties because the restaurant is so busy….she went on an on about how we might be able to squeeze in a booth but a table would be better but they wouldn’t have one for two hours and is that ok…

I’ve never been anywhere that A) wanted you to advise them on where you should sit, or B) essentially tried to talk you out of being there. After several rounds of “what kind of table should we have”, she finally took our names and we plopped a seat in the lounge area.

While seated there, the bartender approached us and asked if we wanted to order food “to go” from the bar and eat it there in the lounge area. He said that area was “open seating, first come first served “ and there was even a small table. We said, sure! And ordered. Two pizzas, bar drinks, bread sticks. Anyways, 3/4 of the way through our meal the manager let us know that “sorry” that area is “reserved” for a band who is coming in and we need to move. ???? They literally came to US and invited us to sit there and eat, brought our food out there and everything, then told us to move, pizza in hand. She let us know there had been little “reserved” signs out. (Well, tell your bartender that!). No worries, says she…our table they’d been holding for us, was ready. WHAT?!

Apparently they had decided which SPECIFIC table we should sit at and were waiting for those folks to leave…when we got to it (just in time to close out our tickets and pack up) we saw that we could have easily fit in any of the booths.

When I complained to the manager again about the insanity of our experience she did nothing to rectify it except to say that she was doing her best to manage the crowd. Well….she didn’t have a plan, she didn’t communicate with her staff, and if you can’t handle a busy Friday night you might as well close up shop because, as a business, isn’t that what you want…to be busy?

I could go on and on. We had to go track down our second pizza because it got delivered to the wrong table when we were asked to move…. The bartender wouldn’t give us back our credit cards and IDs… The waiter at our new table asked if we needed anything and we told him we needed our credit cards and IDs from the bar and he just walked away, but didn’t do anything or ever come back…. Oh, and the manager appears to be a 17-year-old girl. I kept asking for the adult who was in charge and apparently there weren’t any. Just her.

I’m sure it’s a lovely place for two people who want to sit at the bar and want to wait two hours to eat. Otherwise,...

A night out with friends and great food! This was my first time visiting here, and I am certain it will not be my last! Between the food, atmosphere, ambience, and the amazing staff; there is no getting around it; more visits are to come.

I will start with this: make sure you check in as soon as you arrive because there will be a waitlist for a table. However, the wait is truly worth it. And I am not usually one to say it is. While you wait, you can always go to intrinsic and get a red sangria to go: that is precisely what I did. After that, I stopped in a few of the stores on the Square to check out what’s new. I got some mushroom jerky from the merchant store, and it is amazing!

Now back to the pizza. We had a table of nine so we had different items all throughout the evening. I had the portobello mushroom sandwich which was spot on! It was seasoned and cooked literally to perfection. And I had the vegetarian pizza which was loaded with fresh vegetables. I loved that the mushrooms were whole little baby mushrooms, and not some mushrooms out of a can. And that the tomatoes were fresh tomatoes, and not from a can. You can definitely tell the difference in taste and texture.

For the meat eaters at the table, they enjoyed the meatzilla pizza and a chicken alfredo pizza. There were no complaints on either one of those. Even the teens had their own pepperoni pizza, and they loved every slice of it!

One thing I do want to point out is the fact that they do not douse their pizza in sauce and cheese to cover anything up. Their sauce has a very unique taste and texture that is very pleasing. The cheese melts to perfection and it is phenomenal. But in the big scheme of things; it is not too much or too little.

Now, if you are eating strictly vegan, they do have a vegan pizza. However, do note that they use Daiya cheese for their vegan pizza. And that cheese has a very unique taste and texture. A vegan will know whether they like it or not before they even order it. But I want you to know what kind of cheese they put on it.

The atmosphere itself is very social and welcoming. We ate outside and when the lights came on that covered the tree, it just became even more beautiful. There are games for the kids to play and TVs for the adults to watch. Or there is plenty of seating to just sit back and relax with your friends and enjoy a night out.

Do I recommend this place? Heck yeah! Will we be back? Heck, yeah!

Do yourself a favor and just take a night out and go to the new and improved downtown Garland. You can stroll through the shops, get your steps in, and enjoy! Everyone needs a little time to sit back and unwind and I am so happy that the city is accommodating that...

We went last night for dinner and my goodness, we will be returning customers! We ordered the burrata caprese, the chef’s salad, the original pizza and the meatzilla! All were absolutely phenomenal. My husband wasn’t a huge fan of the burrata but I think I’ll order some bread next time to go with it and he’d be completely on board (it was his first time having burrata lol). The salad was one of the best I’ve ever had, my husband said, “if you can recreate this salad, I’ll eat a salad every night!” Which is quite the compliment from a man that begrudgingly eats his greens! We also ordered old fashioned’s with Weller 12 that were great (can’t wait to try their Wooster Ol Fashioned next time). Both pizzas were incredible! The decor and atmosphere was awesome, we found one of the local artists they showcase and will definitely be purchasing for our moody maximalist home.

There was one incident that happened while we were there that I want to highlight because I think constructive feedback is important. There was a lady with a belligerent personality (naturally, not from being over-served) at the bar with her spouse and another couple. There was a civil (on Fortunate Son’s end) dispute about whether a card had been put down for a tab. Essentially, the customer never actually handed the bartender the card and instead flung it across the bar while no one was looking and it fell to the floor. Another employee found the card on the floor and walked over to hand it to the bartender while the lady was becoming more obnoxious and rude by the second. The bartender swallowed her pride, apologized the customer and took ownership of the error even though it wasn’t her fault. The customer apologized as well for her behavior and had it been left there, it would be a wonderful ending. The customer then grabbed the bartender’s hand and demanded she apologize in front of her spouse and friends for being wrong. The bartender kept her composure then walked away. As someone who’s been in leadership for 10 years, I understand the client experience and as a new business wanting to protect your reputation. Don’t be afraid to stand up for your employees and kick out disrespectful people! It’s okay that not everything can be smoothed over, those aren’t the patrons...