Dune D.
Yelp
Frankly, I am saddened to post a review of Amanda's with a 2 Star rating. My wife and I, combined with extended family members, have been patronizing Amanda's for years and have now found it's operation to be sub-par.
Last evening's expeience on Valentine's Day marked the turning point in my decision to dine at alternate restaurants if, in fact, our travels take us to the Hoboken area. Again, I never would have thought of posting a negatve review for Amanda's given the wonderful memories of this establishment.
Residing near the Montclair area, I gave us approx 3/4 of an hour to make our 7PM reservation at Amanda's using my private vehicle. All was going well until we encountered heavy congestion prior to the turn off into Hoboken. This did not surprise us yet we wanted to extend the courtesy to the restaurant to avoid being charged for a late arrival. We began calling Amanda's from the car which is where my disappointment began.
Using the car's auto dialing and speaker system, we could hear it ringing and we could hear the line being picked up. However, after we identified ourselves, the call was abrubtly dropped. We called back and then found that a pre-recorded message responded to our call indicating that credit cards would not be accepted that evening due to a system problem. At that juncture, the call was dropped on their end once again.
Despite the heavy traffic, I managed to arrive in front of the restaurant by 7PM. Parking was not to be found along the entire length of Washington St until we stopped in front of Amanda's! Unbelievably, one spot had opened up at which time I backed into it as quickly as I could; we were on time for our dinner reservation!
Entering the restaurant, we politely waited in a short line for the hostess to recognize us. Once she did, I handed her our printed reservation at which time she entered it into her "system". With both of our coats in hand, we were shown to our table. (Our coats were still on my lap at this time. I asked staff to take our coats which was done with receipts given to us. Typically, guests coats are taken at the podium to avoid having to carry them into the dining room.)
Now that we were seated, we both needed a drink from the bar. Numerous "servers" hustled back and forth behind us yet no one stopped to take our drink order or to acknowledge our presence. I finally got the attention of one of the servers and mentioned that we would like to order a drink from the bar. Our drink order was taken at that time.
Once we were served our drinks, a significant about of time had passed yet we had not been approached by any of the very young "servers" seen hustling about the dining room areas to take our food orders. At this time, it became very clear that management had not trained the staff properly as one could see the chaos occurring right before our eyes. Although the keyboard musician was very good at the piano, it did little to distract us from the lack of professional service and calm that Amanda's had always been known for.
With regard to our food order, for Starters, my wife opted for the Focaccia, the Ceasar Salad for me. Our Mains, The Short Ribs for my wife, the Sirloin Steak for me. My salad was quite good. My wife's short ribs appeared good. I must say that my sirloin steak was grilled perfectly. However, it was not served with any complementatry vegetables or starches whatsoever and looked quite bare on the plate all by itself. Frankly, I was very disappointed when it was presented to me.
It should be noted that the restaurant was full to capacity with tables placed somewhat close to each other. We had always perceived Amanda's to offer an intimate and romantic vibe yet on this particular evening, that ambiance was not to be had, especially noted on Valentine's Day.
Historically, I would have stayed quite longer following dinner yet given the dramatic changes that are now seen at Amanda's, I wanted very much to leave. Getting our check would be yet another annoying chapter to this dining experience. I mentioned that I would be paying in cash. I was presented, instead, with a torn off sheet of paper with hand-printed menu items. (A photo of that "check" is attached.)
I found this procedure to be quite amateurish and inconsistent with Amanda's past operational standards. I proof-read the "check" and asked the server to sign and date it, indicating it PAID. He did not do that and asked me to keep the piece of paper instead!
Hopefully, Amanda's new Ownership and Management will read this review and endeavor to focus on hiring service professionals who have the abilty to project what Amanda's represents. Clearly, we did not experience that on this particular evening. What became of the ORIGINAL Amanda's??