Adam F.
Yelp
Unfortunately, the news I'd been hearing, is absolutely true. They were recently bought by new owners, and the new owners have *no* idea what they're doing. I was there a couple weeks ago, sure it wouldn't be as bad as it sounded, and yeah, nope, it's as bad as it sounded. (Spoiler: the burgers suck now.)
As far as the new table service, if that was the only thing they messed with, it would have still been a weird choice, but I would've lived with it. Admittedly, I was there for lunch on a Friday when it was never busy to begin with, but I've seen it super busy later, and this would dramatically decrease their throughput (then again, once news spreads about the new ownership, I suppose they may not have to worry about being busy...) Anyway, if you're there by yourself or as a small enough group, you can sit at the bar, which is *usually* quicker service anywhere, and certainly was in this case (just by being closer to the action, as it were.) *Especially* in this case, cause, again presumably due to new management's decision to spend as little money as possible, there was basically just one guy bartending and serving all the tables most of the time I was there. Not his fault, obviously.)
But regardless of that decision, the bigger issue is that they must have fired or had a disagreement with their old chef or something, because the new burger is... a burger. Obviously I'm way more disappointed to say that than if I had just tried a random new burger place and it sucked, cause Congregation *used* to make some of the best burgers in the city. The new recipe for their spicy burger is just a regular burger, one that tastes like it could've been from a grocery store, on just a regular bun, not quite enough cheese, and a glob of sweet-and-spicy sauce that doesn't totally fit, for $16 with fries. It was edible, but I can't stress enough how much of a disappointment it was that their amazing burger effectively no longer exists. (To add insult to injury, it also falls apart easily, whereas their previous burger was particularly well designed in that regard.)
The fries... are fries. Weirdly, they also no longer have the amazing sauces they were previously known for on the menu, but at least for now, you can ask for it, they still have a bunch in the back (don't know if that will continue, though, or if they just inherited a bunch.) The fries had always been a way of getting sauce in your mouth, so as long as those sauces are there, they'll be just as good. (Other than, again, in convenience, as they're currently being served on a platter that might look nice when served, but gets them all over the counter in practice.)
The beer - is still the same beer, though, for about the same prices as always. Their beer is pretty good - but with Trademark and Beachwood both nearby and making *stellar* beer, it was never beer I specifically went here for. Rather, until now, it was always beer that I got because I was already here getting a burger, because their burgers were, again until now, great, and went great with a beer. Well, now, and until such time as they figure out that they just killed the proverbial golden goose and get their chef back, not so much. Strongly *don't* recommend paying $16 for their current burger, but it feels weird giving less than three stars to a place that does still make pretty good beer.