The Sweet Spot Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Wichita

Having seen pictures online of masterfully plated dishes, I was excited to finally try Sweet Spot for the first time. It is unlikely I return.

Drinks: I was initially put off by their inclusion of club soda in Old Fashioned cocktails; this is NOT appropriate. I instead opted for a cognac, which was refreshing to see listed. A friend attempted to order a "double" bourbon on the rocks but the server struggled to comprehend this and instead brought out a single pour in a tall glass, with twice as many rocks. Another at the table ordered a drink and after a nearly ten minute wait was informed the drink was, in fact, unavailable.

Food: The previously viewed pictures of well-plated dishes must have been one-off's for the purpose of advertising because none of the dishes brought to the table had the same care taken. Pieces of entrée and scraps of greens were strewn along the edges of the plates, and the main food items were haphazardly dropped onto the plate. We ate the moderately-portioned caprese and tiger shrimp cocktail as appetizers. As entrees, the table ordered the meatloaf, lamb lollipops, and pecan-smoked pork chops.

Service: Having done a little research prior to visiting, I was aware of the negative reviews surrounding service. I can attest to their truthfulness, as the service during my visit was mediocre at best, but familiar to those who have visited the likes of Chili's, Logan's, Applebee's, et al. The drinks came slowly, but not egregiously so. The timing of the appetizer's arrival was decent, but we quickly were forced to deal with a stack of empty dishes at the edge of our table. Once those were cleared as the entrees arrived, offers to replenish or provide new drinks came at a decent pace. However, another attendant made a poor attempt to top off the waters, resulting in water and ice visibly spilling on the table. Moreover, no attempt was made to remedy this, leaving us to tend to the mess. After completing the entrees, we again sat with empty plates for five to ten minutes. The mess was removed only when we were again offered more drinks. However, the table requested to see the dessert menu prior to deciding. After making this request and ten minutes of not seeing our server again, we flagged down another attendant to request the bill and some boxes. Only then did our server arrive, dessert menu in hand. This was too little, too late, so we insisted on receiving the bill. When it was brought to the table, the bill contained items we did not receive, requiring another delay in our ability to settle up and depart.

Atmosphere: Generally, I enjoyed the atmosphere. There were not many tables, maybe twenty, and a bar area. However, we were sat at a poorly constructed booth, able to feel every movement of those sat behind us. Given the limited space and plentiful help, I struggle to excuse the poor service described above. In the end, the atmosphere left a feeling of a smaller and quieter grill one can find at any major intersection.

Prices: The drinks seemed decently priced. The food, while good, did not meet the expectations set by its pricing. The meatloaf was fine but lacked any special treatment, and I would have been comfortable paying $10-15 for this entrée as opposed to over $20. The pork chops and lamb lollipops tasted good - but again I felt would have been more appropriately priced at 50-75% of their $40+ menu listing. All in, patrons ordering drinks, appetizers, entrees, and dessert may expect to spend upwards of $100 per person. Being sat so closely to other patrons while receiving poorly plated small portions of okay-tasting food, all the while receiving sub-par service, I find it hard to justify these prices. If more care were taken with plating all dishes and the staff service issues were addressed, an argument could be made of paying these prices for the food as well as the experience. Unfortunately, most simpletons will equate high prices with nice dining and continue to patronize Sweet Spot, likely resulting in no or little changes...

We were at your restaurant on Saturday, May 11 with a 6:30 reservation. I had been gifted a $150 gift card and wanted to use it for a nice meal with my two adult children and my 18-month old granddaughter to celebrate Mother’s Day the following day. We had to wait about 5 minutes for our table which was no issue. Once we were seated it took a while for our waitress to bring our menus. After 10 or 15 minutes she returned to take our appetizer order, we ordered 4 appetizers. No drinks were ordered, we only drank water. We decided at that time to go ahead and order our entrée since everything was taking a while. We ordered three entrees and another appetizer to go since my daughter-in-law couldn’t come with us. After an extraordinarily long wait, our appetizers arrived, three out of four of them. We had to wait even longer for the fourth, which was a bowl of soup. By now we have been at our table for over an hour. My daughter went to look for the manager only to be directed to a man who introduced himself as the Bar Manager. He said that there was no Restaurant Manager on duty. There was nothing he could or would do since, in his words, “Everybody is upset. We are behind.” His attitude was terrible, he just didn’t care and was unwilling to help. The kitchen staff were yelling at each other. Other people were frustrated. Our waitress, Yanette, who did a phenomenal job was very apologetic but this was no fault of her own. Finally, after almost two hours, our entrees arrived. By this time it is 8:30 and we needed to leave. The 18-month old, who although had behaved wonderfully to this point, had just about had enough. Our waitress boxed up our meals to go. Our bill for 4 appetizers and 4 meals to go was over $200. My son took the baby and his meals home. My daughter took her meal home, and I took my meal home. So, our special night out ended up with all of us eating alone with a take out meal. My Mother’s Day was ruined. I used my gift card plus paid the balance of over $50 for a take-out meal to eat at home alone. We wanted to speak with the manager to try to make our complaint and see what if anything could be done to make this right. My daughter called the restaurant the following day to speak with the manager, and I have called twice. Three messages have been left and nobody has returned our calls. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. This was our first time to visit this very nice, expensive restaurant, for a special occasion, yet there was no owner or restaurant manager on duty, on a Saturday night, the night before Mother’s Day? I find this to be unacceptable. And no return calls is also unacceptable. I will not recommend this...

After trying this place for the first time in their new location, I read some reviews but didn’t really know what to expect. They have done a great job classing up the restaurant, the liquor wall with the warm lighting makes for a pleasant ATMOSPHERE.

I’m torn on the SERVICE, while the host staff and the management stopped by to check how things were periodically, our main waitress was a bit overwhelming when it came to trying to take our order, she kept coming back before we had even settled in, and had even ordered or taken a sip of our drinks. It was almost like we were being rushed to order. I must also say…Drinks and food for our table also came out at different times, not all together as a fine dining establishment normally should. It was awkward waiting for everyone to get their food and drinks— even when ordered all at once.

When it comes to FOOD, again didn’t really know what to expect. The menu is quite extensive with a variety of different cuisines, from seafood to burgers to salads to pastas, which always makes me question the quality of food you’ll actually receive. I ordered the Truffle Fries which were EXCELLENT. For my entree I ordered the Chicken Picatta: Pan-Fried Marinated Chicken, Capers, Lemon, Chefs Vegetables, Tomato, and Capellini Pasta (pictured*). The Chicken may have been fried at one point, but with all the broth everything was soggy. The noodles were the tiniest noodles, which were over done and barely had any on my plate. The Chefs vegetables were very random and also soggy. I found zero capers, which I love, and zero tomatoes. And I’ve never had a Picatta that was so soggy. Taste wasn’t bad, but overall dish could use some major improvement. Another friend ordered the steak tips which were smothered in heavy sauce, and much more like a beef stroganoff. Very tiny bits of steak. For the prices listed on the menu, I would expect a higher quality food experience.

DRINKS overall were good. The favorites at our table was the Raspberry Lemon Drop, and then the Espresso Martini. Both were really good, although price point again seems really high.

I wish them the BEST OF LUCK and MUCH SUCCESS, and would try them again in the future. I hope this review assists patrons decide where to dine, and the business make some...