RUMCOW. — Restaurant in Wilmington

Where to start. Upon entering, it was clear that the stressed wait staff was highly “in the weeds”, running in circles to keep up. Each one of them were doing all that they could to stay above water. We had reservations for 7:30pm, and were told to come back in 10minutes. We empathized to start, and we were sat soon after. Our waiter, AJ was excellent, doing the best he could under the circumstances. Truly, that man deserves a week off with pay - or more. Our heart went out to him.

We had reviewed the menu prior to, and were told that two items were not available. We decided to split 4 appetizers amongst our party & ordered right away. 8:30pm came and we had 1 appetizer - the hummus, that was appalling. A few minutes later we received the second appetizer, also flavorless & at this point we kindly requested the bill. We could understand the busy nature of the evening, however we also had plans ourselves after Rumcow. Plus, at that point we had only gotten half of our food.

We received the bill, and right after got our two appetizers. All of us attempted to take bites of each of the 4 appetizers and were far less than impressed. Flavorless & lackluster. Noticing that the table text to us had also not received their food - I went up to the bar with the bill and quietly requested to speak with a supervisor. I hated to be a ‘Karen’ of sorts, as I’ve also worked in the industry, but this feedback could not go unsaid. Jen, who stated that she was the owner, (who I also believe is responding to reviews, even as recently as tonight saying that she “didn’t receive word of this issue” - she did) came out to speak with me. I spoke to her face to face, beginning with an apology for even having to bring it to her attention, because - at that time, I was of the mindset that as the owner, she might be unaware of the specific details of the evening. I explained to her our dissatisfaction in the overall quality & timing of the food. She grew defensive and said “well what would you like me to do” in a vindictive tone that I quickly glanced around to see if those near me also sensed her unprofessionalism. I let her know that I was not the kind of person that was looking for $$ off our bill, this was simply feedback of our distaste and disappointment in the evening. That our food will look untouched - because it was. I could tell she was taking my words of as a personal attack and my expressions were not being well received, so I went back to my table to find that the table next to us was also leaving as fast as they could and requested to cancel their order. They had no entrees and had been there longer than 15minutes than we had. They wanted out - and fast.

Jen came to our table and had comp’d our meal - I had told her again that in no way were we asking for this, but thanked her anyway. While we were grateful, it did not get better when she began arguing that the table next to us had only had their food in for 30minutes but had also never received their food. They also wrote a review here - see below.

What an event it was. I can understand having a wildly busy night, being short staffed, etc. But to argue with those coming in to pay you? Mind boggling.

My suggestion: Have a sense of pride in what you place onto your tables, no matter how busy you are. Those who come into your establishment, chose your restaurant out of hundreds of others in Wilmington.

And take constructive criticism as kind suggestion to help improve and elevate your restaurant as a whole. The mindset shift starts from the top. My hope is that Rumcow learns and adapts to hearing feedback to improve for those choosing to eat there...

This is going to be a long one as I went with a party and took pictures of everything. The waiter was good. He told us about some of the popular things and things he liked. He also got us the drinks quickly. I had a similar issue with the chairs, but I can overlook for the rating. I had polyester blend dress pants and was sliding all over the place. Our table was a big block of wood. It was pretty cool. We started with appetizers and think we got 5. These pictures might not be in order to my review. We ordered the avocado fries. And they were very good. The crust was very crisp, and of course, the avocado was soft and warm. I typically don't eat avocado but wanted to try it.And I was impressed. The next step was the coconut curry shrimp. I'm not very big on shrimp, but I decided to have a spoonful of the curry. The one thing I always think of when I have curry is comfort food, and it did not disappoint slightly spicy but not hot. The next appetizer. That we had was the chips in queso with goat cheese. First, the chips are crisp. They probably make them in-house. They're light and airy. The cheese dip is made with goat cheese. It was very smooth and creamy. I could have poured it on everything that I ate. The next thing that we got was the peppercini, Hummus, that also came with those chips. Everybody commented how the Hummus tasted different from what they expected. But it had a little thing of different flavor and everybody loved it. For my main course, I ended up having the island burger, which came with a pineapple salsa that was really refreshing as part of the burger I asked for a medium cooked burger and it came out exactly as I had requested. With all the appetizers, I could not finish the whole burger, which is rare. I wished I had because it was one of the best parts of the meal. It came with a side of French fries. They were also crispy. Despite our large party, I thought that the bill would be very high, but it was not. The food was very affordable. In my opinion, $10 appetizer, $15 meal, not a bad way to spend dinner with friends and family. If you want something a little more exotic, you could go for the waigu beef steak, which was a bit more than my meal...

Took the Mrs. out for some cocktails & to get out of the house for a couple of hours. After parking nearby, Rumcow was one of 2 places we stopped in to experience a unique house drink. We walked in, was immediately greeted by the hostess & were seated at the bar. The place has a modern, black and white theme w/ industrial fixtures throughout & a nice mix of steel w/ weathered wood throughout.

DRINK: The Painkiller. Well...the Caribbean flavors of rum, pineapple & coconut make this drink, not only refreshing, but dangerous. :) The sprinkled nutmeg over the top, gave the drink some spice to the sweetness & you barely taste the alcohol. Served in a copper mug w/ a lemon wedge, it's a cool, citrus drink that is easy to drink and reminds you, you're near the beaches. The only thing I would change about the drink next time would be to request half of the nutmeg on top. SCORE: 4.3 STARS!!

SERVICE: The bartender was accomodating, polite & patient as we decided what to order. He even re-made my wife's first drink since it wasn't what she expected. He was also fast, efficient & entertaining to watch make your drinks. SCORE: 5 STARS!!

OVERALL: Rumcow is a Wilmington jewel that has an inviting atmosphere, wonderful service & some creative drinks that are sure to surprise. Rumcow is also a bit more up-scale so leave your well-loved t-shirts, tennis shoes & old jeans at home. ...