Anya Joy N.
Yelp
Oh Andy's, I wanted you to be great so badly.
My boyfriend and I have been looking forward to pay a visit to Andy's since I saw promotions of it on IG. We initially scheduled for a table on Sept 29 on its opening weekend, but I ended up receiving a text and email several hours before our reservation that they had to cancel it on us due to issues with kitchen equipment. I called several times to ask for a reschedule to no avail. I sent them an email and requested via Seven Rooms for our reservation to be moved to a different date, crickets. No biggie, we could always pop in another time. I'll give some leeway considering it was their soft opening weekend.
Finally got the chance to go in today for a couple of drinks and quick eats. We were received quickly at the door and seated immediately. First impressions of the interior give a cozy yet refined interpretation of a 70's bar with that retro flair. We sat behind a giant shelf that completely blocked our view of the stage, so if you're booking and are hoping to enjoy a performance (more on that later), be sure to request for a table with a view of the stage.
As we looked through the menu, apparently the day we went, almost half the cocktails on the menu were unavailable for whatever reason. Unluckily, those 4 cocktails were the only ones that caught my eye and the fact that they all happened to be unavailable was pretty disappointing. No matter, it was too early for my spirits to dampen. On the other hand, we arrived during happy hour so we started with a Silk Blossom and a vodka martini. Their vodka martinis are on the (very) small side during happy hour, so you're essentially paying $10 for a shot glass sized martini. Their Silk Blossom was smooth and balanced, I got my vodka martini dry and I enjoyed that a good bit as well.
We ordered the #19 Bao, Crispy Thai Calamari, and the Tokyo Fried Chicken Tenders. The bao was nothing to write home about, the pastrami didn't have enough salt and lacked depth. Maybe it would've paired well with a sauce had they accompanied it with one. The chicken tenders were juicy and moist, but the flavor profile was just alright. Seasoned, but not $16 worth of seasoning. By far the calamari was the best of the bunch, crispy and tender, paired with a sauce that was savory yet a tinge sweet, we honestly were on the edge to order more. Would I say it's worth $20? For the serving size, no.
We stayed for a good bit, and I remembered seeing a live band being advertised on their IG stories. We asked our server what time the band would come around, and he curtly replied that he had no idea and dropped off our food. Yikes. So we asked our main server, and luckily she was able to explain to us the situation. So apparently a they have a singer/songwriter come up on stage at around 8 PM, then around 10 PM that's when they'd have a live band perform, and from 12 AM onwards a live DJ would spin a set. Wish this was made known somewhere on their site or socials since this is what we were expecting and looking forward to, but as we booked our reservation at 5:30 PM, there was nothing much happening in there.
I was going to rate this 2 stars, but I'm giving an extra star just for service alone. Besides that one server that had no idea what their schedule was, everyone else that attended to us were pleasant and friendly. Our server was diligent and made sure our glasses were never empty, constantly checking in to see how we were doing.
As our evening was about to end, we asked for the bill, anticipating to give a hefty tip for the service we received despite the lack of performances as advertised. We receive the bill, and our waitress briefly mentions to us in passing that gratuity is included. They tack on a 20% gratuity fee, as well as a 3% credit card fee and still provide an additional option to tip, so depending on how great your night made you feel (or how drunk you might be) you can add another 20% tip on top of your gratuity fee if you please.
Long story short, we came into Andy's with high expectations, but left feeling there was more to desire. We would love to come in again to give it another shot, because throught all of its faults I do see a lot of potential of something that could be great. My best advice would be is to come into Andy's without any expectations at all, and just maybe you'd have as great of a night as they promise.