We really wanted to like this place and, ever since we noticed that the building was being remodeled into a restaurant, we were interested in giving it a try. The reviews are good so we had high hopes.
Our first impressions were very positive. We really liked the setup and the vibe. Everything was open, clean, and nice. There was plenty of parking in the back. And we were greeted immediately.
Unfortunately, that was the high point.
We arrived early for dinner (about 4:35 pm) thinking that it might be full later. We were given the lunch menus and told that they didn’t do dinner until 5. No problem, we ordered a couple of drinks and an appetizer and told the waitress that we would order dinner at 5.
The appetizer was their spring rolls and they were actually pretty good. I ordered an Old Fashioned and my wife ordered a Lemon Drop Martini. The Lemon Drop was very good but the Old Fashioned was far too sweet and not all that good.
The service was unimpressive…at best. There was a LOT of standing around and chatting. To the point where it became almost comical watching the degree to which they would ignore their six tables in the restaurant (yes, I counted). There were two servers, one bartender, and ultimately (at 5 pm) a hostess and all of them spent far more time talking to each other and wandering around than they did paying attention to their customers. To be fair, the hostess didn’t have any customers come in so she did have somewhat of an excuse.
And, to be honest, they were all actually very friendly; they just didn't seem to know how to do their jobs effectively. Maybe it isn’t their fault because they were really young and I just didn’t see anyone who was supervising them. If it was supposed to be the bartender than that is a mistake since she spent more time chatting with them than she did making drinks.
The bottom line is that it was obvious to me that no one was telling them, “listen, you need to pay attention to your tables.”
I ordered the ribeye with carrots and wild rice. The steak was very fatty (which can be the case with a ribeye) but it was flavorful and it was cooked exactly as ordered (medium rare). I don’t know what to say about the rice and the carrots other than to say that they just weren’t very good. They weren’t bad per se, but just not good either. “Meh” is how I would describe them and I didn’t finish them.
My wife ordered the fried flounder with fries and it was an utter disappointment. It was a small piece of fish and the batter looked pretty much like the fish sticks they used to serve in elementary school. And that is what she said when she tasted it. Needless to say, she didn't finish it.
The fries were hand cut and that was a positive…probably the highlight of the meal.
By the way, we ended up ordering our mains at 5:05 (we had to flag down the server who was busy talking) and we received our food around 5:35. By this time they were down to four tables and that seems like a pretty long time for a medium rare steak, sides that tasted like they were sitting at a buffet and fried flounder/fries.
OK, so I REALLY don’t like writing a review like this and I can't remember the last time I did. But the truth is that it needs to be written because the owner(s) need to have some honest feedback if they want to make this work. They have a great space and, if they rethink what they are doing and how they are doing it, they could make something great out of it.
They really need to pay attention to their staff and the food that they are putting out. Let's be clear, they are charging a premium price for what they are serving (our bill was over $100) and if you are doing that then you need to have outstanding food and you need to have excellent service.
Instead, we ended up paying a premium for comically bad service and below average food. Obviously that is a losing combination and, for us, this was the first time in a very long time where we were in 100% agreement that we would...
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