West 122 — Restaurant in Tacoma

My fiancé and I were more than excited to try West 122 after seeing the torrent of positive reviews this restaurant was receiving since it opened. Unfortunately, after eating here, I cannot contribute to the praise.

Our first complaint was the speed of service. We waited for more than 45 minutes for our appetizer - pecorino meatballs - to arrive. While we did eat on a Saturday night at 7:30 PM, we observed open tables around us, so the restaurant clearly was not operating at full capacity. Our entrees also arrived slowly.

Our second complaint is in regard to the food itself. Our appetizer - the pecorino meatballs - was delightful. The meatballs were not too firm and well textured. The marinara sauce was flavorful without being too sweet, and the pecorino cheese complimented the meatballs well. However, at just 3 meatballs, we felt this appetizer was overpriced. Our entrees for the night were the roasted chicken and the grilled octopus special. The grilled chicken was quite nice, but for $28, the portion and variety of flavor was subpar. The dish consisted solely of the chicken itself and mashed potatoes. Then the grilled octopus. Wow. Never have I been more disappointed in a $40 entree. The dish consisted mostly of over-salted and over-spiced green beans and lemon slices. On top of the green beans were two, small grilled octopus tentacles which themselves were over cooked and also over-spiced. The entire dish was drowning in avocado oil and chili flakes. It’s as if the chef dumped an entire jar of chili oil on my food. For a restaurant that has an octopus in its logo, I certainly expected the octopus serving portion to be more generous especially when you’re charging $40.

Overall the food was ok, but for a restaurant that charges a premium ($50-100 per person; current price range on Google Maps is not accurate) West 122 was unfortunately a disappointment for us. We understand that the ingredients are locally sourced and procured fresh, but the price, especially considering the portion size, seemed outrageous.

Some positives to note are that the restaurants itself was clean, our server was polite, and the interior designer clearly put effort into capturing the essence of the PNW with the nautical-themed chandelier, wall fixtures, and other accoutrements. However, we will not be coming back...

We had a frustrating meal here on a Tuesday evening. The worst part of the experience was the service, or lack thereof. There were 7 tables of diners in the restaurant, about half were parties of 2, the others, parties of 4. There was a single server, a bartender/manager and presumably, one person in the kitchen. The one server was simply bad at her job. I get that as a restaurant owner you don't want to overstaff, but the server was so incompetent she should never have been left on her own.

Took a few minutes for anyone to recognize we were waiting at the hostess station, we were seated fairly quickly and left with our menus for ~15 mins. Drink orders were taken, and after another 15 they were finally delivered, more waiting before we could order. 5 minutes later we found that 2 things were not available - why was this not made clear before we ordered? We had a pregnant person in our party and asked for some bread to get something in her after more than half an hour of waiting - after another 20 minutes I finally walked back towards the kitchen to get the bread myself if necessary. Our server just made excuses, but the manager finally brought the bread.

The food was a mixed bag - mostly good, the steak and chicken were good, the calamari wasn't as crisp as I would have liked. The Brussels sprouts were cold and limp and covered in a too sweet sauce (most of them went uneaten). The salad was overdressed with a delicious dressing, but the greens were starting to become translucent from the excess dressing.

I can't explain just how bad the service was... we were nearly done with our dinner when our server finally came back to ask if our food was good and if we needed anything else. A few minutes later she just brought the check - no asking us if we wanted dessert, or anything else, just dropped the check. Just a couple of a dozen examples of her lack of skill at being a server, no matter how many tables she had.

Our meal for 4 was $240 with just 3 drinks. That was way too much considering the service and inconsistent food. There are too many better places. We will not...

I was honestly quite disappointed with West 122. In my experience, it did not live up the the average 4.8 stars it is graced on Google. We went on Valentine's day, which to be fair was trimmed down menu. But I would expect if they plan to do a slimmed down menu, that they choose the very best their menu has to offer, and not foods that are simply easier to make. That was an immediate red flag for me. My partner got the steak, it came with a baked potato and asparagus. The baked potato and asparagus were fairly bland, the steak was a decent cut and was cooked properly, but also wasn't mind-blowing. His words to me "This is something I could just make myself", which he has in the past, for much less money. I got lamb pappardelle. When my dish came out, the pasta was fully undercooked. It was gummy and stiff, as if they blanched it for half the time it truly needed. To their credit, they remade the dish for me better and cooked the pasta a bit longer. And the pasta itself was pretty good, definitely fresh. The sauce was fine, but not amazing. We did also get bread as an appetizer and chicken skewers, both of which were just okay, again not mind-blowing. We did find portion sizes to be sufficient and we left full. As far as atmosphere goes, we sat in the back room and it was quite boring decor wise. White walls, white artwork, and what felt like Christmas trees or Christmas tree like decor around the room? From where we were sitting, it honestly could have used some design aesthetic, and it didn't feel like a fine dining restaurant. Aside from that, it was fine. Service wise, staff were excellent. Attentive, fast and friendly. We ended up paying around $210 for two people, with cocktails and appetizer and dessert. Definitely pricey, and in my opinion, the food and atmosphere didn't justify the cost. Overall, we won't be going back. And if you did want to check it out, I would recommend not going on a day that they have a special menu. It seems like the menu they have daily might be...