Tom D.
Yelp
After a morning of touring the National WWII Museum, we slipped away to grab lunch across the street at the Higgins Hotel and Cafe Normandie. At 11:30 a.m. the restaurant was almost empty. We seated ourselves and were puzzled about the lack of any type of host. We were served water and menus immediately. Then the wait began. It was a full fifteen minutes before our server, Avery, even noticed us. He apologized, which is appreciated, and took our order. My ice tea was served, delicious and fresh brewed. But again, no follow-up to check our table for refill. I ended up flagging down another employee because our server, who only had three tables including ours, was nowhere to be found.
Our salads, a Caesar and a wedge with shrimp, arrived in good time and were very visually appealing. The wedge was excellent, somewhat deconstructed, with unique additions of pork belly versus bacon and a soft boiled egg. The traditional blue cheese crumbles were intensified with a warm blue cheese dressing, a nice contrast in temperature on the crisp, cold lettuce. It was delicious. My wife's Caesar was lightly dressed, a plus, and topped with large, crunchy fresh croutons that were tasty. The shaved Parmesan was appealing in looks, but bland in taste.
So what could have been a strong rating for the Cafe Normandie, ends as just average because of poor service. Restaurants need to recognize that no matter how good you are back-of-house, you're only as good as the front. The Normandie management needs to correct this.