Alisha Knight

Review of Al's Upstairs

I know this review will not be popular but it is m...

I know this review will not be popular but it is my honest opinion of our visit last night. My husband and I celebrated 25 years of marriage yesterday. I put a post on my FB asking my family/friends out of Al's Upstairs, Mr. Friendly's and Rioz, where they would go and what they would order. I would say 80% of the people who responded said Al's Upstairs. I looked at the menu online to see what they had and decided to give it a try since we had never been to this restaurant. We arrived and were seated immediately. My first concern was there was literally 4-5 inches between our table and the table beside us. I thought to myself "maybe no one will sit there". I was wrong a few minutes later they sat a couple right beside us. The entire meal we could hear their conversation which was uncomfortable. That is also surprising we could hear them because we could barely hear each other it was so loud in there. When I saw this restaurant was rated #1 romantic restaurant, I was shocked because of the noise level and closeness of the tables. It is so small and all the table are so close. I had to turn sideways to squeeze through. Definitely not a romantic restaurant. So we ordered drinks and an appetizer. Everything was going great. It comes time to order entrees and I order the filet and request it be cooked Medium Well. The waitress informs me that she is not allowed to put in the order of medium well that she can get in trouble. I look her like WTC do you mean. She tell me I can get it medium or they can butterfly it and cook it well done. Now I'll be honest at this point, I wanted to get up and leave. I am ordering a $27 steak and you are going to tell me I can only get it medium or well done?!?! My husband tries to help the situation and asks if medium is warm red and she replies that it would be very red. To try and not ruin my 25th anniversary dinner I simply let her know that if my steak comes out bleeding, I will be sending it back. She then tells me sending it back will only take longer and something about slowing down the kitchen. So when the food comes out, she asked me to check my steak. I cut into it and it was much redder than I prefer but just said it was fine. Then I took a bite. I don't believe they even seasoned my steak with salt or pepper. The meat was tender but it had absolutely no taste. After eating a few bites, I told my husband that I was not impressed with the filet at all and shared a bite with him. It just was not a good tasting $27 steak. At this point my husband tells me that Olive Garden's Chicken Parmigiana tastes better than what he is eating. He said the noodles weren't even done as they were almost crunchy. I wanted to ask for a manager but it was my 25th wedding anniversary and I did not want to ruin the night so we just paid the bill and left. It is my opinion that Al's Upstairs is highly overrated. This was overpriced mediocre food. Our first and last visit.