Susan B.
Yelp
I wanted to love this place so much. I was a huge fan of Black Pirate BBQ and a colleague was in Marin, I am in the E Bay, so we decided to meet here for dinner last night , Monday. I checked the website, they were open! I saw a mention of Happy Hour and tried to click to get more details but there were none so I left Alameda and drove to Pt. Richmond. I love the atmosphere, the bartender was good, friendly but not pverbaring, and my colleague's drink was perfect.
We decided not to sit at the bar, and asked about seating on the restaurant side, there was a group of men around a table, the only folks in that area and turns out they were finishing. Met the owner, who couldn't be nicer, and was told we could sit anywhere. And we were ready to eat some southern-styled food, as a preamble to my annual three-week stay in New Orleans, home of my heart.
The menu came out, very limited and I asked about the things I wanted to order and was told on Mondays they only offer the Happy Hour menu, which I did not want to eat. I asked why that wasn't on the website because we wouldn't have come had we known that. He shrugged, didn't know. We weren't the only folks who had this experience, the table behind us, the only other people eating there (now I know why...) asked the exact same questions we had 30 minutes earlier.
My colleague who is gluten-free had only one choice, red beans and rice with chicken and sausage...the guy who was taking care of us didn't know what was gluten-free (he is usually the bartender for that back room he said) but checked with the kitchen. They said they could take any of the sandwiches and make it a salad.
I found Not Yo' Momma's Bologne described as delectable bolognese with pork belly and ground pork (a personal favorite of mine) on penne past, even better to soak up all the sauce. I was in even at the very hefty price of $25 (which was shocking a bit because I could go to Via del Corso in Berkeley for some of the best pasta you can ever eat, at that price.)
Our orders came out a few minutes later. My colleague's was a big bowl of red beans and rice, some sausage, and chicken. I got a plate of spaghetti with chunks of pork. I thought I got the wrong order so asked our server about it. Back to the kitchen he went.
The explanation was she/ the cook I suppose) thought it would take too long to cook the penne so made spaghetti instead... I sat waiting for the actual explanation thinking this was one of the craziest things I've ever heard in a restaurant...you don't want to take the time to cook what is on the enu, so you cook something that works for you without asking your customer. ..OK
So there was no ground pork or real sauce on this dish...there were sma;; chucks of pretty fatty pork- no way pork belly - it looked and tasted more like the leftover parts of a pork shoulder which seems likely since that is on the sandwich menu.
It was bad...honestly not good, and if there were viable options for dinner at now 730pm in Pt Richmond we would have gone.
The red beans and rice were unedible, once the sausage was gone there was no flavor. The beans were dry and no sauce to sauce the rice. Almost the entire bowl went back to the kitchen with no questions about why. I managed to get the strands of boxed spaghetti out of my bowl but the chunks of tomatoes and pork weren't edible either.
The bill came out and I was stunned that there was no reduction to the $25 spaghetti which was DEFINITELY NOT anyone's bolognese. At this point I just wanted to get out of there, the place was now filling up with people there for drinks (makes perfect sense to be there for drinks) and a 9pm comedy show but I'd had enough comedy for one night.
We paid the $42 bill for food that was correctly priced at $12 for red beans and rice and my meal should have been comped. The spaghetti I got should have been priced at $12. It wasn't what was ordered, or even what was on the menu, but at that point, it was easier to pay and go home and et something good.
It would take so little effort to care about the food here...esp with such an incredibly limited Monday menu. There was no care or love that went into the food we ate, it was DOA.
As much as I'd hoped to love this place and did stepping through the door, I won't be back. I will remain fondly missing Black Pirate.
It might be worth the stop for drinks if you are in the neighborhood. I don't drink alcohol so don't go out of my way to go to bars. There is music nightly, and comedy on Monday night. Clearly, someone cared about making the place look a certain way, and succeeded in that. Someone needs to care about the food in the same way they care about creating a community place to eat and drink, laugh, and hear some good music.
This was probably the worst food experience I've had in over a decade, which is why I am writing a review. For folks who are looking for the deliciousness of Black Star Pirate BBQ keep looking this sadly isn't it.
