4 years ago
I popped in here for lunch with a friend and order...
I popped in here for lunch with a friend and ordered the crispy fish sandwich with mashed potatoes. The decor and atmosphere are very nice, and the waiter was attentive, friendly, and helpful. The fish sandwich was extremely bland and the potatoes were average. However, my friend let me try her smoked gouda mac and cheese and that was excellent. I also noticed several other items on the menu that I was interested in trying, and decided to come back later with my husband to give them another chance.
So my husband and I went back a few days later. He ordered the twin chicken breasts and I opted for the veggie plate. The chicken was -not- breasts. They were very small pieces of part thigh and leg, maybe a bit of the edge of a breast on them. They were mostly dark, fatty meat with bone. Not as advertised at all. Their sauce was good, however, and so was the rice, which thank goodness was rather plain because...My veggie plate was swimming in vinegar. It was so strong and tart I could not choke it down without mixing in large amounts of my husbands plain rice, and it was still difficult. WAY overseasoned. I couldnt quite tell where it was coming from, maybe the brussels sprouts (seasonal vege), and marinated mushrooms. They were all on the same plate so whatever it was coming from was so drenched in vinegar that it ruined the whole plate. Literally made my eyes water. The portions are very large, I'll grant that, but who wants to eat that much mediocre food?
The service this time was awkward and unprofessional. He handed over our drinks with his hands all over the rims, had bad timing on refills and checkups (at 3:30pm it was not busy), placed down the box of leftovers onto spilled food and drink so that I had to clean it, and was spotted sitting down at dirty tables (??? Weird!) while we were looking around for our check.
This might seem to be a bit nitpicky, and I would agree if we were at a ten dollar a plate diner. But this restaurant pretends at fine dining. Our total was ~ sixty dollars for two medium priced entrees and teas. No appetizers, alcohol, or desserts. It has nice enough decor (notwithstanding the broken booth seat my husband and I had), but the food and service are not much better than your average chain Chili's, Applebee's, etc. They are overpriced.
With so many truly excellent local restaurants around with much better food, prices, and overall value, we won't be returning here. Overall, they seem to put a nice veneer on with the decor and pretty plating, but the food (the most important thing!) is not fresh or cooked properly, not all of the servers are well trained, and at least some of the booth seats are old, busted, and uncomfortable. All facade, no substance, I'd much rather pay the prices they charge for the opposite.
Edit: Really happy that the owner responded positively. Thank you for that...have emailed you. Update: Unfortunately, they never responded to the email they invited me to send.