I hate having to write this, but it's necessary. My mother and I went today at 4:30 pm to celebrate my birthday before we went to Van Wezel for a concert. We had a little under two hours, but we went early enough that we thought it would give us the best experience. We were very wrong. It started off decent. We gave our waitress our entire order and had plans to stay for espresso and a birthday dessert. We enjoyed drinks, raw oysters, and a salad, but then, for over 30 minutes, we sat and waited for our dinner. With hardly anyone else in the restaurant, we couldn't understand what was taking so long. As the time ticked by, we were told twice that our food was coming out, but another 10 minutes later, it was too late. We had to go. They then brought our food out, but the plates were so hot they couldn't even be touched, and the waitress even said, "That's the hottest plate I have ever seen in my life." We looked at the food, and it was obvious they had both been sitting under the heat lamp for a long time. The potato puree was like soup with a film over it, my tenderloin was tough even though I asked for medium rare to rare, and my moms pasta was dry on top and the sauce had become like glue. How they thought it was okay to serve that to us, I will never know. I strongly dislike being the person who complains, but there was no way we were paying for the entrees. Even when she comped the meals, she asked if we wanted to take them home, and we both said no, even though they were free. That right there says everything. We asked for the check, and she repeatedly apologized. I am still baffled how, with only a handful of tables in the restaurant, our food came so late and was so inedible. The biggest disappointment was that my mom and I barely get to spend any time together as it is, and the dinner she had been so excited to buy for me for my birthday was ruined. No dessert with a candle, no nice dinner and conversation. Needless to say, we will not be going back, and the reservation we had made for dinner next month before Christmas will be canceled, too. Such a disappointment for both of us.