Marcus E.
Yelp
We arrived with high hopes. An anniversary dinner in the Ruby Room. The name alone suggested something plush, maybe even romantic, a place that would know how to mark a moment. The lighting was low, the space handsomely appointed, and our server greeted us with warmth and confidence. For a few minutes, it felt like the evening might rise to the occasion.
We settled in and began scanning the menu, the way you do at the start of a night you hope to remember. We talked about what we might order, glanced at each other across the table, and began to consider wine. When we asked about the list, we were told there wasn't one. The brief selection printed on the menu, we learned, represented only a fraction of what was available. A sommelier could stop by to explain the rest. The offer was gracious, but the absence of a proper wine list felt less like a curated experience and more like a lapse in planning. It was the first subtle indication that the restaurant's promise might outpace its delivery.
What we didn't expect was the live music. A duo was already mid-set when we arrived, and while their energy was sincere, the volume quickly took over the room. Conversation became strained. Even simple exchanges had to be repeated or dropped altogether. There had been no mention of a performance when the reservation was made. That omission mattered. If we had known, we would have chosen differently.
Service throughout the evening was attentive, though unsteady. Servers returned often, sometimes in quick succession, to check on the same things or confirm details that had already been addressed. The effort to please was genuine, but the effect was disjointed. The room didn't feel relaxed. It felt reactive.
We began with the bread and cheesesteak bites. The bread, described as soft and pillowy, arrived dark and hard. Not burnt, exactly, but far from what had been promised. Our server noticed it too and offered a second round, which arrived slightly improved but still not quite right. The cheesesteak bites were small and bland, more reminiscent of cocktail party catering than a composed appetizer. Acceptable in passing, perhaps, but forgettable on the plate.
I ordered the filet with creamed spinach. The steak, cooked to medium, arrived cold. The texture was dry, the seasoning faint. The spinach tasted like it had been quickly steamed and barely dressed. Thin, watery, and lacking the richness that gives the dish its name.
My wife chose the veal, paired with mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. The veal was crisp and well-seasoned, but the portion was outsized, a breaded cutlet that dwarfed the plate. The sides were forgettable. The potatoes were underseasoned, the pasta plain and uninspired. Worse, her meal arrived in fragments. Some dishes were missing, others delayed, and at one point three servers stood around the table trying to place the forgotten items. The effect was more frantic than polished.
Dessert menus arrived without prices. When we asked, our server left and returned with the information, pointing to each option and listing the cost aloud. It mirrored the moment with the wine. Another basic detail that felt improvised rather than intentional.
It wasn't until the end of the meal that the broader picture came into focus. I noticed the walls for the first time. Framed images of Marilyn Monroe hung beside blurred stock photos of martinis with olives. Visual shorthand for glamour, but with none of the depth. The room, like the experience, gestured at sophistication but failed to inhabit it. It wanted to be iconic, but leaned too heavily on suggestion and not enough on substance.
Despite noting our anniversary when we booked, no one mentioned it. There was no greeting, no small gesture, not even a quiet acknowledgment. That silence didn't ruin the evening, but it confirmed the larger feeling. EVELYN is more concerned with presentation than connection.
We came to celebrate. Instead, we left with the sense that the evening and the restaurant was more performance than experience.
Anniversaries don't require spectacle. But they deserve intention. EVELYN offered aesthetics. What it lacked was care.
