I performed various functions in the service industry for about 12 years. Still, 15 years later, I support the James Beard foundation because of their efforts to promote sustainability. I preface with that because I don’t like writing negative reviews. I make every excuse for the FOH and BOH staff, because I’ve experienced all of it, personally. This was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had, anywhere, ever. The restaurant is on the top floor of a lovely building and it is decked out with ambiance. The bar looks great and extends over more than a third of the dining room. We’re seated at a booth facing the bar, in full view of the bartender, and it’s impressively private considering the space. So far, so good. The first hint was a table storming in from the patio. They try to engage the bartender, a remarkably aloof woman wandering haphazardly between side work and making drinks, and despite looking directly at them, she takes a while to acknowledge them. They ask if she’s seen their server. She says “I don’t know who you server was”, and goes right back to polishing stemware. By the way, the restaurant’s hours indicate that they don’t close for another two hours. Still, it would be inappropriate to allow our experience to be influenced by theirs… so we begin to wait for our server. And wait. And wait. Ironically, after having made eye contact several times (including an awkward smile), the very same server that seems to have abandoned his patio table identifies himself as our waiter. Maybe there was an issue at the host stand or maybe they operate purely off of rotation vs assigned sections. He takes our drink order and starts back to the bar before I ask if we can put in our “small plate” order as well. He begrudgingly obliges and wanders off with zero sense of urgency. I notice him meander towards a large party that I assume he’s waiting on as well, so I begin to temper my expectations. About 10 minutes later a woman happens by, she notices our empty coasters and asks if we’ve been helped. “Someone did stop by and got our drink/app order but we haven’t seen him since.” She tells us that the entire staff has been working doubles all weekend and everyone is exhausted. I sympathize, as I’ve been there, but if I’d been the floor manager… I would have lost my mind. She serves us water, finally, after having arrived 30 minutes ago… we thank her and she disappears. If I would have caught our waiter after receiving our drinks, I would have told him to cancel the food… no such luck. Food arrives moments later from a disheveled older server and our waiter conveniently asks how everything is while he happens to still be nearby. I don’t hesitate. “What’s going on? Are ya’ll understaffed? Did the whole place just recover from getting slammed?!” “No”, he replies. “We’ve all just been working doubles this whole weekend and everyone’s tired.” Hearing that twice indicates that either the owner doesn’t know how bad their management staff is or the management doesn’t know how bad their wait staff is. Still can’t figure out what the chef was hoping for us to get out of our small plates. The pork belly pho was served cold. The deconstructed crostini fell completely flat. Won’t be back.