I emailed the Dakota 2 weeks ago and never received a response. I even explained in the email that I did not want to rush to a negative review.
My email to them that went unanswered:
"I contemplated writing google and yelp reviews based on my experiences at your restaurant/bar but before I do, I feel the professional thing to do is to share them with you first. As a business owner myself, I am very aware that things happen from time to time and that no business is perfect. Additionally, I realize there are unethical competitors out there who will write fake/false reviews to make a company look bad.
With that said, I have to tell you that I am beyond disappointed with your place on several levels. These are my last 3 visits to Dakota;
My wife, myself, and another couple met at Dakota for a few drinks and something to eat. We sat in the bar area at a table that felt like it was going to tip over and it was never made clear that we needed to wait for a server. I decided to go to the bar and ask the bartender if I could order drinks. She was not overly friendly (pretty much 95% of the job requirement) and told me we had to wait for a server. We did and eventually, a server who was working both the dining area and the bar made her way to us. We ordered drinks and did not see the server for a very long time. My friend went up to the bar to get another round and was met with a bit of hostility from the bartender who said we were supposed to order from the server. He explained she did not come back so the bartender very reluctantly let us buy drinks (yes, you read that correctly, we wanted to give you money). We wanted to order food and my friend and I flipped a coin to see who had to ask the bartender because neither of us wanted to. I lost the coin flip and asked the bartender who got mad and left to find the server. At this point, the server was bitter too and took our order like we were bothering her. We ordered pizzas, ate them (they were ok) and left to go to another place.
Some time went by and I chalked up that bad experience as an isolated incident and returned to the Dakota a few weeks later with my wife. We sat in the bar area again and ignored as all the attention was on what appeared to be a "regulars" sitting at the bar. With no server around I rolled the dice and waited for the bartender to stop talking to the regulars so I could order drinks. This time it was "ok" to order from the bartender and not wait for a server (keeping us guessing and uncomfortable). We ordered a salad and a couple of appetizers all of which were thrown together as fast as possible and were well below average in taste and quality. We both agreed this was our last trip to Dakota.
On to my 3rd experience which was yesterday (7/20). I convinced my wife to give Dakota one more try, this time we would eat in the dining area and it would be better. My wife, me, and my son showed up and the hostess asked if we had reservations. We said no and she continued to look at her book and finally said "ok come with me". We expected to see a full house based on what and how she said it and upon entering the dining area, there was a total of 6 people. ????????? Regardless, we sat and the waitress, a very pleasant younger female took our drink orders and told us about the specials. She came back and took our food orders;
Apps:
Sicilian Arancini: it was fine, nothing to tell your friends about but nothing to complain about.
Coconut Shrimp: terrible. frozen product dumped in the fryer and served with cocktail sauce? who serves cocktail sauce with coconut shrimp? A simple mango based sauce is what should be served with it.
Entrees:
Wife: Filet with baked potato and broccoli: rubbery filet, dry, overcooked potato, unseasoned broccoli (2 tiny pieces)
Son: Dakota Burger w/Fries: soggy, messy, fair at best.
Me: NY Strip, salad, broccoli: The steak was inedible, extremely tough, very difficult to cut, not seasoned, thin, and everything you do not want a steak to be. Unseasoned broccoli (2 tiny pieces). Over...
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