Taylor G.
Yelp
Please know that I make this review in the hopes that it can be taken as constructive criticism, because I truly believe this place has potential. And honestly this place has seemingly good reviews on both Google and Yelp, so maybe we went an off night. The experience here was just so bad in every way that it's just frustrating.
To start: the service
I've never been to a restaurant, where so many servers seem like they just don't want to be there. I used to work for almost a decade in the restaurant industry (host, to-go, server, busser etc.), so I get the stresses and burn out. But our first server we started with was a young lady who didn't seem to know what she was doing, nor did she know much about the menu. When we asked about sending one of the dishes back, she informed us that she was about to get off of her shift so she would just tell the next server.
That's probably why the service was as weird as it was. She wanted to get out of there, and was probably upset that she got sat a two-top right before she was about to leave her shift. I've been there haha. However the next server we got was just as aloof with her attitude. It was genuinely just the most bizarre experience I've ever had with service. Every single employee we came in contact with (besides the greeter) seemed like they were doing us a favor and had an attitude. On top of everything else with the service, no one refilled our waters the entire time. I would understand if it was a packed house and servers were in the weeds, but there weren't many people there when we got there. It was the first time I didn't leave a 20% tip, but after the fact - thinking about it, we probably shouldn't have left one period.
The Food:
A telltale sign that a chef is trying to cover up mistakes is if there are extremes in the meals. Typically salty, too sweet, too sour, too acidic etc. In each dish we had, there was an overpowering flavor. The dishes here were like someone trying to cook gourmet for the first time and they hadn't figured it out yet.
In the burrata dish the acidity of the basil sauce overpowered everything. And the bread/ crostini that accompanied was rock hard. Like break-a-tooth hard.
The steak frites was charred, but not the smokey, grilled type of charred. The seasoning was nonexistent and it tasted burnt. If wasn't for the porcini mushroom sauce, it wouldn't have much flavor at all.
The scallops (the only dish we sent back) were undercooked and served over a mountain of risotto (also never a good sign). The risotto tasted like you were biting into a lemon. Again, another dish overpowered. It also needed serious seasoning.
As what tends to happen when you send a dish back - the manager came out. It can be an embarrassing thing when you have to send a meal back, but as long as you're upfront about what you didn't like about the meal, it's good to have an honest dialogue going. And I told him straight up. He was kind, understanding, and the night moved forward.
The mushroom ravioli was what we ordered to sub for the sent back scallops. This one was just simply not good. It's hard to describe. It was too sweet and too salty. You put balsamic glaze on top of ravioli and the sauce had the consistency of water. In fact that was probably what happened. One of the ravioli while cooking probably filled with water and when plated, drained into the bowl. But everything they put on top of it and into the dish was just is not good.
The pricing:
$75, not including tip, for two entrées and an appetizer: you should expect it to be much better than it was. We literally went across the street to Caraluzzis afterwards and just made our own steak with sides for $20. If the food is going to be that bad, the prices need to be lower.
So I unloaded a lot here. I hope this is read with an open mind and not taken as "oh, they're one of THOSE customers". It's not that at all. In fact I've never written a review like this, nor would I lie for no reason. The experience - the food, the service - it was just that bad. It's frustrating and disappointing, but I can only hope this was just a complete fluke of a night. We're definitely the outliers when it came to the meal based on other reviews. This was a restaurant we just didn't have a good experience with unfortunately.