Sitti — Restaurant in Raleigh

My girlfriend and I came here for lunch today with our dog. We called ahead of time to ensure that they were dog friendly and were told they had an outdoor patio that was dog friendly. Upon arrival, the hostess took us around the building to a sketchy side entrance and set us in a empty outdoor patio. The fact it was empty was no big deal but we sat out there for the next 30 minutes before I had to walk in and talk to the host again to ensure that someone was going to come and take our order. When the waiter finally arrived, 10 minutes after I went in, he had a very negative attitude and was extremely short with us. We ordered our appetizer and lunch, and when a new waitress came out to deliver our appetizer, the waitress noticed our dog and audibly screamed (we have a 6 year old black lab that was asleep on the ground). She proceeded to stand as far away as possible and made my girlfriend get up to grab our appetizer from her. She then went back inside to get the bread that was supposed to come with the appetizer but never came back. Later, when our lunch came out, it was a different waitress who got all the way up to our table before she noticed our dog and once again she screamed and backed away from our sleeping dog refusing to get closer. Not only did they bring us the wrong food, we also asked her for more water and the bread that was needed for the appetizer. After another 10 minutes, our original waiter came out and delivered the bread and argued with me that I ordered what I received and refused to accept his mistake. I told him that it was fine and I would just eat what they brought me, expecting some sort of compensation at the end of the meal. Instead, they upcharged us for their own mistake in what we ordered. This was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in a restaurant and I highly recommend not going to this place if you want decent food and for the love of god don’t bring your dog because the waiting staff will scream and refuse...

Terrible first experience for my friends and I. We sat 15 minutes before our waiter came. He finally introduced himself and said he’d be right back. We told him that’s fine because we were ready to order. After another 15min and seeing him literally just walking around we finally made eye contact and we gestured him over. He came and took our orders. The food took a little while and mine came out cold. The manager came over and replaced it with a hot plate that was the same thing I ordered but looked totally different in portion size and presentation. I’m almost wondering if the first plate I got was someone’s old plate they sent back. I ordered chicken artichoke and it was not good. The spritzer drink was good but had a little aftertaste. We waited again to get our waiters attention to ask for the bill. He took forever so we had to get the manager again to ask where he was because it had been over 20 MINUTES and one of my friends husband was outside waiting to pick her up. He finally came back with the checks and 3 out of 4 were wrong. The manager said he’d fix it. They stayed at the register and that took 15-20 minutes. I’ve never seen anything so ridiculous in my life! The manager didn’t even come back and apologize! He’s just as bad as the waiter. We just found out they charged one of my friends for someone else’s bill. They did refund it later but never told her they made the mistake. They charged her for an amount significantly over her bill. As you know pending charges come out immediately but take up to 3 days to be credited back. We will not be back. The manager handled this situation poorly and didn’t seem to care. I’d think twice about visiting Sitti unless you like poor service, bland food, and have an extra 2 hours to waste sitting...

After walking by Sitti a few months ago and checking out their menu I knew I had to return and I am so glad I did! Sitti has a warm and relaxing atmosphere as soon as you step in the door. It is larger than it looks from the outside with a long bar to the right, a community table in the middle, and several small tables on the far left. I picked a single table to the left with a bench and sat down. It took a little while for someone to acknowledge me, but finally a waiter came over and brought me a water. I got up and asked another waiter for the wifi password. He was kind and happily gave it to me and I sat down for a very long time until the original waiter greeted me. I asked him about the three course menu for restaurant week and he gently explained to me that it was not available during lunch. So, going on his advice I decided to get the avocado hummus and the shrimp kabobs.

The hummus was so amazing! Creamy, thick, and just a hint of spice. It made all my senses tingle. I had to stop myself from dipping any more pita bread into that or the olive oil and sesame seed dip that came with the bread! Wow!

Now the shrimp kabobs were okay. The shrimp came on top of basmati rice with onions, half a tomato, peppers, and a spicy sauce. The sauce and onions were actually the best part of the dish, but overall it fell a little flat. I think I was expecting a little bit more in the way of seasoning and spices, and it just was not there.

Plus the waiter never came back to check on me or refill my water--and it wasn't that busy. But, I know with everything we are experiencing now I am being patient.

So, would I go back? The jury is still out. For $30 for lunch plus tip, ouch, I feel like I could've...