Don R.
Yelp
I reached out to the owner via twitter the day after our February 28 visit. As of March 28, I have not received a response. I was reaching out to see if our visit was out of the ordinary and to give this small local business an opportunity to address the deficiencies in our visit. With this as the delay, please enjoy this review of Element Bistro Bar and Lounge.
As someone who really enjoys supporting local business and gastronomy in general, I was elated to discover this newer bistro and to enjoy what they had to offer. Prior to dining here I checked out their website which really sold me. However, my real-world experience was anything but awesome. I should have known there were issues when I tried calling them from 5-6pm on the day of our visit and the phone rang busy the entire time. I even went so far as to call their number for the club and although this number was answered the gentleman that answered told me I needed to call the other number even after I told him I was calling for almost an hour and just wanted to know the chef's daily special. (After visiting, the distance between the spaces is literally separated by a door).
We arrive at 6:40pm. No one greets us as we stand at the door. There is a bartender and 2 customers sitting in at the far end of the bar in the corner. After waiting what seemed like an eternity in such a small space while being ignored, I approached the bar and asked if they were open for dinner. The bartender said yes and walked away. We self-seated at one of the 2 booths at 6:42pm.
At 6:50pm we are greeted by the bartender. We ask about happy hour and are told the craft cocktails are $5 and most everything else is on sale too, so we order craft cocktails as we are still hoping to have this phenomenal bistro experience by chef, John Rodriguez. One of the craft cocktails we order they cannot make as they are out of an ingredient, so we choose another. Two customers come in and immediately sit at the bar, they order and their drinks are served within 2 minutes.
At 7:02pm one of our craft cocktails is served. The bartender has forgotten what we ordered for the 2nd drink. It's a busy bar with their 4 customers and who could expect a bartender to remember so many drink orders? At 7:07pm, 17 minutes after ordering, we have our cocktails...cheers! The drinks are decent, and we still have hope for this place even though the service has been Walmart like to this point.
At 7:08pm the bartender approaches our table. He does ask about the drinks, which are good enough. We are disappointed to learn that there is no daily chef special today. I had admired the rolls through my visit to the website, and attempt to order them. Unfortunately, no rolls. Apparently, they are out of many things on Tuesdays. It would have been great to know this in advance, like perhaps had I only tried to call first. At 7:09pm the bartender left with orders for salad (first course), flatbread (second course) and entrees.
24 minutes after ordering, at 7:33pm, the salad and one of the entrees (duck) are served. We have no silverware and must request it. At 7:35pm we are served the flatbread, silverware and napkins. We try waiting for the short rib entree and decide to start eating at 7:40pm. The deconstructed Caesar is ok. The menu really sells it, but it was basically a wedge salad made from romaine but missing some of the ingredients from the menu description. The duck was very good, although slightly overcooked. There is still hope for this place. The sides are average. The flatbread is what I would expect for bar food.
At 7:45pm I approach the bar to ask about the short rib entree. It seems the bartender forgot this item, but he doesn't acknowledge that detail. He runs off to the kitchen after telling me it will be right out. At 7:57pm, 48 minutes after ordering, the short rib entree is served. It is a huge chunk of beef with heavy seasoning. It is quite good, although I needed a steak knife to cut through it. The portion size is huge, potentially because the kitchen forgot to make it and was compensating as I doubt it is usually this large.
We order desserts at 8:22pm. I get up and go to the bathroom and see the desserts sitting in the window for the kitchen at 8:25pm. Our desserts are served at 8:40pm. The peanut butter pie is quite good. I would order it again. The smores lava cake was not for me. The graham cracker cake was dry and instead of the warm runny lava center, there was a firm cold lump of chocolate.
There was trivia during part of the time we were there. We participated along with the 10-12 other customers, many of who just came for the trivia. A rather motley crew, but that's the part of life I enjoy. We won a free drink, so that was kinda fun.
We request the check. It is incorrect. The drinks are not properly discounted. The bartender corrects this. We tip generously and leave. Likelihood of returning = very low.