Sanctuaria — Restaurant in St. Louis

After working up quite an appetite during an afternoon hike, we were just in time for Happy Hour! Tapas were definitely the way to go - we ordered a bit of everything and shared with everyone at our table.

Cheese Plate - One of my friends wasn't crazy about the selection of cheese plates, but I thought it was fine (when it comes to cheese, I'm happy with just about everything). However, everyone was crazy about the bread...probably because it was fried!!!

Tostones - They're described as plantain "chips", but this isn't an accurate description at all. They're actually smashed plantain patties that are about a half inch thick and about as wide as your palm. They're salted and served with two dipping sauce. I loved the citrus garlic and herb mojo dipping sauce because it added a great zing of flavor! I really liked the tostones and there was a lot more to this happy hour special than we expected. I think the order came with six - they're very filling, so you'll definitely want to share these!

Plantain Chips and Mango Ceviche - Ok, these are actually chips. Yay! I wish they'd been salted a little bit more to balance out the sweet of the fruit.

Frito Sliders - WINNER!!! This was probably my favorite of the afternoon and one of the plates I can't wait to eat again the next time I return! The Cuban pork and chorizo patty had so much juicy flavor! And the potatoes on top are fried matchstick potatoes!! It was fun to have a crunchy haystack of potatoes to add a different texture to the soft patty. And the chimichurri sauce that topped it off added the perfect burst of flavor!

Cabrales Cigars - This is one of my friend's favorites that she gets every time!

Bacon-Wrapped Dates - ALWAYS a favorite! How could you go wrong! They fill them with chorizo and pepper jack cheese - the flavor of these ingredients actually didn't come through very much. But I was okay with that because I definitely tasted the dates and the bacon!

Now, as for service...for some reason we started with one server, Kelsey, and then we were switched to another server, Elliot, half way through. Kelsey was great! She struck the perfect balance of friendly, chatty and helpful, without lingering too long. Elliot, however, was a complete disaster. First off, one of our friends participated in "Drink Roulette". When he received his first drink from our first server, she told him the the name of the drink and the ingredients when she set it down. But when Elliot brought his second drink and was asked what it was, he said that he didn't know because he wasn't told...Considering the patron expressed an interest in knowing what he was about to put in his mouth, I would imagine that were I the server, I would immediately apologize and run back to the bar to find an answer for the person who is in charge of my tip. But he didn't do that. He just shrugged and rushed off to take care of other tables. For the next fifteen minutes we didn't see him - he didn't come by to check on us or clear dishes. We were finally able to flag him down and ask for the check, which took another five minutes. When they did arrive, our friends' was wrong. We sat with our credit cards out forever - we had to flag him down again. We noticed that he seemed very chatty and friendly with other tables, but was the very opposite with us. When he finally came back with our bill and credit card, we quickly realized that we had switched our bills (there was a big enough difference in price that it really mattered). So he left again. We saw him at the register for the long time with what I assume might have been a manager. By the time he finally returned with the final bill and our credit cards, you could tell that it had finally sunk in that things weren't going well. There had also been a paper jam in the printer, so our friends didn't even get a complete receipt to take home. Our waiter stood awkwardly at our table to much longer than he needed to - I don't think he knew what to say.

So, if you make it to Sanctuaria, I would certainly suggest that you do everything you can to...

Probably up there with one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. I was there with a party of 5 in mid June.

First of all, not sure if the AC wasn't working or not, but it was was very hot. Of course being seated right next to the unisex bathroom didn't help, I guess we weren't good enough for one of the other 10 open tables. We all ordered the salmon which we all typically enjoy.

After an hour of waiting patiently, I asked our waitress, her name was Hailey, about the wait, she became somewhat confrontational and basically said there are other orders ahead of yours it's almost ready. This "almost done" rhetoric continued for about the next 20 minutes until the food finally arrived.

Now, I will say , we ordered "cooked" salmon, but what we had served to us was a small step above sushi in how "cooked" it was. None of us could eat it, I just left it as I was pretty disgusted at the entire experience by that time. A few others sent it back and had them cook it more.

When working with the public, I understand it can be frustrating for a server. Remember, when you are a server, you are the face of the restaurant to the people at the table , and how you treat them is ultimately what will be perceived about the restaurant as a whole. If she as a server can't handle some simple questions after waiting over an hour for our order from a paying customer, perhaps she is in the wrong line of work, there are other careers where you do not need to deal with the public, that seems more like her calling.

The Manager came out and I will say she was professional and courteous and tried to do everything she could to repair what was an obvious bad situation. She looked at the Salmon and agreed it was completely undercooked, seriously surprised no one got sick , but then again, no one ate enough of it which was probably good. She took some of it back to continue cooking it, and offered to "replace" one of the meals with another dish. After getting the bill, apparently replace there means add as they charged us for the replacement dish as well.

Needless to say , we won't be going back, and...

Made reservations two days in advance. Arrived on time and table wasn't ready. Ten minutes later the hostess seated us right next to the restroom. There were several other tables, so when I asked to be re-seated, she told me they had a 10-top coming in...basically "tough luck".

Shocked at her response since there were many 4-top tables uncleaned and clearly open, I asked my wife if she'd like to leave. She was engaged in a conversation with the folks seated at the adjacent 4-top table (also right next to the restroom) who had complained about the same thing except they had a reservation for six, only four made it, so they gave up their 6-top nowhere near the restroom only to regret it. The manager was rude to them...they were livid.

We should have just left.

It took 2 requests to get a second menu., 2 more to get water. Then the waitress arrived and asked if we had made up our minds...like this was a cheap diner with a wall-menu or something. We asked for the renowned drink menu -- one of the main reasons we made a reservation -- only to learn from her that "nobody ever looks in there" and that she couldn't recommend a single drink. My wife got the drink the waitress said "is the most popular"...which turned out to be $22 and not good.

We ordered three small plates as appetizers. The first was hot on top, cold on the bottom...didn't take Albert Einstein to figure it out. The others were just OK. Ordered the Meatloaf (which was great) and the Jambalaya off the main plates menu. The latter consisted of four meatball-sized fried balls – for $18!. Asked if that was the small plates version and got the stare. What a ripoff!

Desserts arrived. Churros weighed 4 ounces each. Fried too cold – grease sponges. Was offered a dessert off the Valentine's Day menu from two days prior – was dry, tasted like it had been sitting out the whole time.

Oh, the 10-top never showed up. All but one of the other tables were still empty when we left 90 minutes...