Retro Metro — Restaurant in Springfield

11/10 hands down, no question! I called earlier in the week to make reservations for my husband & I for Friday night. I explained to the person answering the phone that we were heading out for a much-needed, way overdue date night & celebrate the 15-year anniversary of our first date early. Imagine my surprise when I found out the person I was speaking to was none other than the chef of this fine establishment, Chef Brandon aka Chef Tiny! Not too many places where the Chef answers the phone himself! We immediately began discussing some potential menu options & Chef was even gracious enough to work on some special entrees for our night out. We communicated back & forth about entree options & Chef was extremely helpful & considerate of certain dislikes or food allergies. I was diagnosed with Alpha Gal Syndrome several months ago & because of that, I'm unable to consume mammalian meats like beef, pork, rabbit, venison, etc - basically, if it doesn't come out of an egg, I can't eat it 😢 We arrived at the restaurant to be greeted by a friendly hostess & were taken care of by an amazing server named Carrie. She was extremely knowledgeable about the menu & super accommodating about my food allergies. We met Chef Tiny in person & were very excited about the tasty dinner to come! We started with an appetizer special of mussels in a heavenly, rich garlic butter sauce which came with grilled foccaccia bread. If I was brought a whole loaf of bread, I would've made an absolute fool of myself making sure I got every last taste of that sauce in my belly! The mussels were tender & not overcooked like a lot of other places & the sauce it was needed to be bottled & sold everywhere. Chef worked up a 20oz ribeye with something he called Johnny sauce - a way back Metro recipe - gouda mashed potatoes & asparagus. Even though I couldn't try the ribeye, it looked absolutely delicious. The ribeye was unbelievably tender, cooked to perfection! I had a lobster thermidor with mushroom risotto which included 2 gently poached lobster tails with a flavorful butter cream sauce. The risotto was creamy with the perfect texture & plenty of morsels of mushrooms. Neither of us had anything left on our plates if that tells you what we thought of our food 🤣 We couldn't have such a fulfilling dinner without making an attempt at dessert! The offerings were a chocolate torte with blackberry compote, vanilla creme brulee or sopapilla cheesecake. We chose to split the chocolate torte & were not disappointed at all ... or shy about eating every last bite either. Super rich, creamy & luscious is the only way I could describe the dessert! Our experience was beyond stellar thanks to the care & attention of Chef Tiny & the staff at Retro Metro. If you're looking for a place with relaxed atmosphere, contemporary decor, nice cocktail & drink selection & consistently well-prepared flavorful food in satisfying portions, you need to call & make your reservations now at Retro! I've eaten here for a girls night out dinner with some friends & now a romantic dinner with my husband. Retro is a great place for just drinks & apps, dinner with friends or a place for a celebration. We will most...

Man, such a disappointment.

We went a few months ago and it was really, really good, but I have to amend my five star review because last night was a complete waste of hard earned money.

Let’s start with the service.

Our waiter was the bartender, very nice young man, but very overwhelmed. The chef, which was very welcoming and hospitable last time , was unfortunately only focused on his friends in the bar area.

I will say the bartender, our server, made some good drinks, but that’s where the fun ended.

We had Tuna nachos and a puff pastry for starters. Maybe our server/bartender was overwhelmed, and didn’t get our food out on time, but it was all cold. Oh well, we get it, let’s move on and let’s be impressed with the main course.

I literally order the most expensive cut of “dry aged” beef they had in the menu, $115.00 steak, the Airline Chicken and shrimp and grits.

The steak was overcooked to medium well, which was ordered at medium rare. We couldn’t eat the edges which I can only describe as burnt ends, and did not resemble a dry aged cut whatsoever.

The Shrimp and Grits were so bad it’s hard to explain. The grits were undercooked and chewy with small, overcooked shrimp, and the airline chicken was something you could expect to be served in coach on a United flight. A very small portion, very tough and overcooked.

I truly wish we made the decision to take out out of town guests to Flame, or Ocean Zen, instead of deciding to spend our money at this underperforming, overpriced, and vastly overrated restaurant.

I let the steak go and that’s not like me, especially on such a high priced cut, but I felt bad for our server/bartender and Ijust chalked it up a busy night, and decided to eat my pot roast.

The grits were so bad that we had to send it back, only to have the chef, who we found out had been in the bar the entire time partying with his friends, act like it was beneath him to fix it. He acted like it was our fault the grits were the texture of raw oatmeal and insisted that was how they we’re supposed to be.

He hesitantly took it back and brought out another portion that was worse, more undercooked and chewy, almost mocking us.

Grits obviously can’t be cooked in three minutes and that’s how long it took the second batch to come out. He was insulted and instead of understanding, he was condescending.

The chef then proceeded to hang out with his friends at the bar, and brush us off, putting all the weight on our waiter/bartender’s shoulders.

We spent over $600.00 and tipped generously.

This will 100%, be the last time we consider Retro Metro. There are far too many amazing restaurants in Springfield to deal such a bad service and subpar, condescending service from a head chef..

The chef should lay off the socializing, support his staff, be accountable for mediocre food and not act like he’s a celebrity on a Friday night when people are spending ridiculous amounts of money on his food.

Disappointing at best, spend your money somewhere else…much better options in the area.

Don’t make the same mistake we did and go home feeling like you flushed $600.00...

A fair score is 3 Stars, 60%, 6/10, or a D-. However, you want to look at it. The food was probably 7/10 but the price and environment bring it down a Star or Grade.

12OZ. NY Strip $34 - Cooked well. Tasted pretty good. I’d give it 4 Stars. A little heavy on the spices. Where it went wrong: Mashed Potatoes looked like they were scooped out of a tub with a ice cream scoop kind of like in the high school cafeteria and tasted like it. 3 Pieces of Asparagus which was average. The sides bring the entree down to a 3 Star. Seems to be a common theme.

Chicken Parmesan $26 - Red Sauce w/Angel Hair Noodles - 3 Star Garlic White Sauce Noodles - 2 Star Chicken 4 Star. I was asking myself would I rather have Pasta Express Chicken Parm. The answer is yes when you consider food quality vs. price.

Bread and Dipping Sauce before meal I thought was good 4 stars.

We wanted a side Caesar Salad but was $7 which again was a little high for a side.

Music was and environment was weird/contradicting. Fine Dining on the front of the building, prices reflect, but it felt like I was in a 80’s roller skating rink. Tables and decor was cheap, the seat fell off when I slid in the booth. The cups were way to small and had to have like a half a dozen refills. I drink a lot of beverage but it’s just making the service worse and harder for the waitress. Just get bigger glasses. Fountain drinks are cheap. Odd corner to cut. Just a peeve of mine that a lot of restaurants do. However, the soda and sweet tea were good. I know it’s not their fault, but it was a Great American Taco before and felt like they just reused a bunch of their tables, decor, and just painted/ covered it.

At the end they brought out two complimentary cut and bake chocolate chip cookies, or looked like it. About the size of a silver dollar. However, I like cut and bakes, so I was happy, but it was a weird gesture for a fine dining restaurant.

Service was good, waitress was nice, Chef was nice. Just an odd experience.

My advice: it’s only been open for a month. Shut down, correct these things on the reviews that people put. Do a new grand opening in a month. No one knows about it yet. Not to late. If that’s not a option lowering the entrees by $10 a plate would probably help. Like other reviews said. To many other better restaurants to choose from for the money, quality, and...