Black Rooster — Restaurant in West Columbia

Meh.

We’ve been three times now - twice when it was French and tonight (since they switched to Italian) with the intention of celebrating our anniversary.

I think the experience really depends on the time of day you visit, your server’s abilities (they’re college kids so not exactly the most knowledgeable in fine dining, which is fine, I have no problem with them learning on the job and getting answers as they come up - that’s how you learn and I’m absolutely fine with being apart of that process), and what stage of gentrification west Columbia is in, which very much determines who’s coming in and what they’re wearing/their overall vibe. (Iykyk)

We saw our server three times over an hour - I’m not sure why she even had our table since she had three tables and the big party table on the other side of the restaurant. So, we didn’t get to communicate with her about anything (my husband’s mixed drink wasn’t made the way he requested but we never got a chance to fix it), get refills for waters, etc. By the time she got back to us, we were beyond ready to just pay our check and leave. Which is a shame bc I was looking forward to dessert, another drink, and just enjoying our night out.

For being a fine dining restaurant, Idk why the music has to be so damn loud - it just makes everyone else around us have to yell to be heard. I couldn’t hear my husband, but I absolutely got to hear the ten minute lament from the guy at the next table over yelling to his wife about his burn out and no longer enjoying coaching little league sports. Which, my dude, just take the season off. The kids deserve someone who wants to be there with them and if you’re spending your anniversary talking about it….come on.

Food was mediocre - we ordered a salad that came out about two minutes before our pasta dishes, which yknow, couldn’t be fixed or communicated since we only saw our server three times. But she seemed to be really attentive to her other four tables, so I bet they’d leave good reviews and probably had better nights than we did.

So, $100+ to be ignored, have to decide which part of the meal I wanted to be room temperature (I went with pasta, my husband chose salad), and listen to someone else’s husband process their mental health needs during my anniversary meal.

But, this is a fancy restaurant for Columbia, so if you hit it the right time of day and with the right server, it’ll be...

As someone who is a vegetarian with Celiacs, I was disappointed with the appetizers/entre selection. I finally settled on a salad, because they did not have gluten free pasta, no gluten free crackers (like Crunch Master) for the cheese plate, no gluten free bread, and for some reason they wanted to put lamb on a caprese salad (marked vegetarian on the menu)??? I asked for a larger portion of the caprese (vegetable/greens/etc.), minus the lamb, and got a small salad the size of my first for $18. Luckily, the desert selection was far better, being I was starving and had ordered a bottle of wine for the table. I actually had several good gluten free choices for deserts. My husband and friend (who knows the owner) enjoyed their appetizer and main course selections. My husband's pasta dish potion was ample. Our service was excellent. In fact, the first bottle of wine had a bad cork, and Drew got us another bottle. We ended up taking another bottle home (as a gift for our friend) and tipped him well, because he was so conscientious. With Italian restaurants like Travinia's near, which cater very well to people with allergies (they have a separate allergy prep area), we hope this establishment will choose to do likewise in the future so "everyone" can enjoy their meals and not worry about someone not getting enough to eat. It is actually nerve wracking for me to have others trying to advocate for me, because they are worried I can't enjoy my food like they are in these situations. In all, Drew's efforts gave the review an extra star. He did what he could to make the situation better, but I don't think those preparing my salad paid attention to his notes. My friend who knew the owner was a bit embarrassed for suggesting this restaurant in the end because of the rigidity of the menu and lack of catering to gluten allergies. We plan to try the Dragon Room (same owner) next together and hope the meal goes better for all...

Had a good meal tonight but it fell short a couple times. The watermelon and pork belly was just ok. The compressed watermelon just tasted like ordinary watermelon. So, yummy, but without the intensity that it should have had. The fried pork belly was just overcooked. Like very, very crunchy croutons. And the consomme was meh. The sweet corn floating in it was a high point but not enough to make up for the rest. We also had escargot, curry crepes and an Algerian eggroll, all yummy. The Royal with cheese never disappoints. The salmon Wellington was good. I laughed that the side was a riff on ratatouille, called summertime ratatouille. I mean, ratatouille is fundamentally a summertime dish, so... Also, the sauce on the plate was heavy for a summertime dish. Don't get me wrong, it was tasty. I'd like it again in January. The market fish tonight was scallops and they were cooked perfectly, the rice was delicious and the buttery sauce scrumptious. The marinated cherry tomatoes should have added a just right amount of acid but the vinegar was over the top and made me cough and my eyes water with a few bites . The desserts proved to be irresistible and we ordered a few for the table to share. We devoured the blackberry bao and the dulce de leche creme brulee but the peach tartin was a disappointment. The peaches were underripe and flavorless, leaving the whole thing unappealing. Well, the buttermilk ice cream on top was good. Lastly, I have to mention the coffee. The regular coffee tasted good but was barely hot. The waiter pulled out a container of Folgers decaf from the cabinet under the wait station and brewed some in a French press. It was hot but tasted terrible.

Did we have a nice meal? Yes. Will we go back? Yes. Was I a little...