Echo & Rig — Restaurant in Sacramento

We went to Echo and Rig with a group of 7 people and had less than an enjoyable experience. First off, as a couple of other people have mentioned the noise is awful inside the restaurant, the first thing you feel when you walk in the doors is the sheer volume of the entire restaurant trying to talk over each other. We were sat at a table for 8 people and myself sitting on one end could not hear the people on the other end of the table.

On a positive note their service before the meal was on point. Two of our party are vegetarians and they were accommodating to that, (one of us has a gluten sensitivity which they were less than accommodating about which I'll discuss later). They brought out 3 loaves of bread before our main courses arrived. I ordered a soda and they always brought out refills in a timely fashion. We ordered a few small plates and vegetables for before and with our main courses. Thick cut bacon was enjoyable, I really liked their potato gnocchi, and they didn't mess up their fries. However when the main courses came out that's when things started to go downhill...

Five of us ordered different cuts of meat. From the time the food arrives problems arise. The person who has a gluten sensitivity in our party ordered their Rib Eye with the Mushroom Rockefeller on the side in case someone else wants it, and asks for the Garlic Chips to be left off the plate. When the food is brought out the Mushroom Rockefeller is on its own plate as requested, but the Garlic Chips are on the plate, beside and on top of the Rib Eye. We mention this fact to the person who brought out the food and they took the plate away and brought it back within 2 minutes. It looked pretty obvious that they just took the chips off the plate and brought out the steak on the very same plate, if they weren't going to do more than that they may as well not have even bothered taking the plate away as we could do that ourselves.

Then there is the meat itself. Of the five of us it sounds like one of us got a cut of meat cooked anything resembling what we asked for. I for one asked for my steak cooked medium rare, the steak I got was more to the well done side of medium well. They have you order a sauce with your steak, and I thought to myself I wouldn't use much sauce most likely because I usually enjoy my steak as is, but I was wrong. The steak was drier than I've had in a while, way too charred on top and bottom for a "medium rare" steak, it looked more akin to a "Black and Blue" steak based on the char marks on the surface of the steak. I ordered a blue cheese to go with the steak, but they actually brought out the whole selection of sauces to the table. I took the opportunity to try them all out and I can say the best sauce they had was the Bearnaise, I really enjoyed that one and I would love to have it again, on something other than a steak. A well cooked steak shouldn't need a sauce.

Last impression I had of this place, I mentioned earlier that one member in our party has a gluten sensitivity and their plate came out wrong? Well after they brought out the plate with just the steak on it, she was the first to finish her meal as she didn't have the chips on her plate and her Mushroom Rockefeller was on a separate plate on the side. The waitress comes to our table and without saying anything grabs her empty plate and sauce container, as well as her side plate with an entire Mushroom Rockefeller sitting on it. Now this person specifically asked for the Mushroom Rockefeller on the side to see if someone else would want to eat it, and it came out on it's very own plate. It had not been touched yet at this point and the waitress took it away before we could say anything. It seems rather passive aggressive to take a plate with a Mushroom Rockefeller we specifically asked for on the side without saying anything, especially since the rest of the night she specifically asked people if they were ready for her to take their plates away.

This was not a terrible meal, but neither was it enjoyable. I would avoid this restaurant...

TL;DR The service was not great. Based on reviews, I don't think this is the norm. The food was also underwhelming and I believe this is the norm. Though, to be fair, I ordered salmon at a steakhouse.

Service: I entered the restaurant wearing jeans and a sweater, a waiter said hi, I said hi back. And then, nothing. I asked if I should seat myself. The waiter laughs and says no. I am then led to the bar area passed a nearly empty dining room. Even if your dining tables are reservation only, it's a courtesy to squeeze someone in, mention that they are or will be full, or at the very least let people know that your dining section is reservation only. They were not even close to being full. I was taken aback by this, but okay.

I sit down and ask if they are associated with the hotel as they share a building - you can enter from the hotel lobby. The waiter says no. I explained I planned to put it on my room, and that I'd grab my wallet and return. I leave a book I'm reading so they know I am returning.

A bartender stops by to ask what drink I'd like immediately after I return. I let him know I needed a moment to look at the menu. This bartender was awesome.

Almost immediately another person comes by and asks if I had been helped by anyone. I begin to say I was still looking when the last person stopped by. This person takes off mid-sentence after I say I was still looking. I figure, ah, he probably thought that was all there was to say. Understandable, but the interaction felt rude and unnecessarily rushed.

I then see the waiter who sat me down and the one who rushed away talking and looking in my direction.

There are waiters actively not making eye contact with me. I don't know what's going on. Then the delightful bartender takes my order for drinks and eventually food. I'm not sure if this is normal for them, but it would've made sense to explain who would be serving me so I'd know who to direct my attention towards. There were literally waiters just standing around talking to each other. I'm guessing bar tenders handle the bar section, which contains smaller undressed tables and booth seating and waiters handle the dining area, but I did not know this.

After I ordered food, it was as if my invisibility buff wore off and boom eye contact.

I'm not sure why they treated me this way, maybe the jeans and sweater, or maybe it was something else. Regardless, the main reason I'm writing this long review is to remind the staff to treat people with kindness and respect. I'm not sure if wires got crossed but I felt really disrespected.

Luckily, I can tell from the other reviews this is not the norm but I'd keep an eye on it. Seeing as you are attached to a hotel, you will likely get a diverse group of people at your restaurant and I think you should prepare your staff for this.

The food: Was better than the service but only slightly. I ordered salmon which came on a bed of spinach and a small plate of brussel sprouts.

The salmon was overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside. It was not fresh - maybe people don't order it much. It is a steakhouse afterall. The chutney and pear puree sauces that were put on each side of the salmon did not pair well with the fish, spinach, or each other. The spinach was not washed properly so it had that gross sandy crunch and it was drenched with vinegar. The brussel sprouts were oily, undercooked, and vinegary.

Overall: I could get better service and food at a chain restaurant and I don't really do chain restaurants.

I genuinely hope you improve or that a new restaurant begins to compete with you. In my opinion, based off of this one experience, which may have been a fluke, you are everything that fine dining shouldn't be. I think the people in this area deserve more.

Putting on airs and black ties will not make your restaurant, caring about the food and people...

If you aren't familiar with the area, plot out your parking ahead of time - if you call, you get routed through to corporate headquarters, and they have no idea where parking is.

Next, although the hostess was very nice, the wait staff is almost cloying. I don't need a 10 minute story on where all the ingredients come from, but I would like to be able to get ice for my not-very-cold water without asking three times, especially since it had to have been 75° or 80° in the restaurant. The cocktail was also cool but not cold, and would have been better colder.

Finally, food. I recommend the sweet fire cauliflower, my steak was perfect, and the chips were absolutely melt in your mouth amazing. The samosa cigars were just ok, although the spicy sauce that came with them complimented them well. My dinner partner, however, ordered a salad with steak, the same doneness as mine (medium), but hers arrived well done. The apple pithivier was delicious, but I've made pithivier myself and thought the whole thing was a bit flat - there should have been more rise to the pastry and more filling, plus they only offered a scoop of ice cream afterwards, when it was already sitting on the table, and neither of us wanted to leave it to get cold while ice cream was fetched. Lastly, the espresso was delicious, served with a nice thick cream, but who serves a single shot of espresso in a full sized coffee cup? And could I not at least get a double shot for $4, especially considering it's LaVazza, which although undeniably a good coffee is still available in most grocery stores? Which reminds me, the wine came in a quite large wine glass, but was only maybe 1/4 full, which is just weird - if you're only going to do a 3 oz pour, why put it in a huge glass to make it look extra stingy?

When you expect your customers to spend $50-$100 per person for dinner, details are important - it's important to provide a comfortable environment, food cooked perfectly, everything the correct temperature, and for heavens sakes don't be stingy - it doesn't make you look elegant and European, it just makes...