North City Bistro and Wine Shop — Restaurant in Shoreline

Food 5/5, Service 0/5 - We were excited to try North City Bistro based on a friend's recommendation and the reviews posted here. So we called in ahead of time to book a table for 5+ a toddler for a meal with family from out of town. While the food was undeniably delicious the service was terrible and at times embarrassing. We tried a variety of appetizers/small plates and main dishes (scallops, steak bites, steak frittes, artichoke dip, crab cakes, cauliflower, seafood alfredo - all excellent). Everything tasted delicious and was well priced (except for the beverages). Given how good the food was, the service was a shame. It wasn't a big deal when one of our drink orders was forgotten. Less forgettable was that our party of 5 + a toddler was squeezed into a four person table even though we were surrounded by vacant tables on all sides - when we arrived and even when we left 75 minutes later. It was harder to overlook that early in the meal one of the, assumedly, owners interrupted our meal to inform one of us that they should be cutting their dish on a different plate and that our server should have said so. Weird and impolite but we would have forgotten all about it had it these been the only issues. Then, another server/owner interrupted the meal to discipline the dog that was begging for scraps, blaming other patrons who fed the dog from the table instead of their decision to let their pet wander in the restaurant. The final straw came when we asked to see a desert menu 75 minutes after arriving for our reservation and were told that a subsequent party had called in and told the restaurant that they would arrive early. So if we wanted to have desert, we'd need to move to another table. Thanks for the good food, we might come in again for a casual meal. But we certainly won't be bringing friends & family here again for appetizers, dinner, drinks...

If I can give this place no stars I would. The owners were absolutely rude. The first time I went here I fell in love with the atmosphere and owners. Very friendly and understanding. The second round I came and I brought friends to introduce them to this spot. The owners were not accommodating and when my guests were not happy with their dish and asked to swap it with another we were given attitude and was told that we were going to be charged for the new plate as well even if they had one bite and did not like it. They had a guitar player there, when we arrived and sat they informed to us that they are here and that they only are paid via tips from the guest, that it’s up to us to pay them to play at their restaurant. We were using the laundry mat next door and when we left after paying the owner - mind you the owners were the only servers this night - he proceeded to follow us into the laundry mat and slam the change we left as tip onto the washer machine and proceeded to yell at us saying he doesn’t want our tip since he had to remove the dish. I work in the community and I know a lot of people who dine here. When I told them this story they already knew about the owners attitude and behavior. I normally don’t write nothing negative but I can not tolerate owners being completely rude to their customers new or old. The food is not worth the attitude and negative attitude from the owners. Not...

We support those community businesses that treat us, the public/their customer, with human decency. Unfortunately, a lot of folks are really stressed out right now (spring 2020 pandemic times) and maybe that explains this odd experience ... We've regularly made a point of reaching out to local organizations so we decided, with this business, that we would purchase a case of wine as a way to help support them. (Ee don't even drink it, we're just giving it away to friends.) First, they got the order wrong. Then, we asked them to fix it, which they did without question ... or so we thought. Then I received a personally addressed message in which the owner was highly critical, even going so far as to call me a name (which I will not repeat here). We find this behavior unconscionable and utterly confusing given the level of support we've given this small business for more than 4 years now. Sad to say, we will not be buying any more product in the short term and, later, we will not be going back whenever/if they reopen. Dear owner: If chasing away a longtime customer was your intent, then...