Ernest Y.
Yelp
It is painful to write this review. I was a regular at Kincaid's in the early 2000s, but I stopped eating there for some reason. It's been over 10 years, but after tonight's experience, I remembered why.
Friday Night 1/3 at 6:30 (Half-empty restaurant)
Food: OK
Chilean Seabass w/Risotto - Chilean Seabass was overcooked and bland. How can a seabass be overcooked? The Gorgonzola risotto came out lukewarm, and parts were cold.
Poke--the fish was bland.
Shrimp and crab fettuccine--this was good.
Appetizer Sampler Plate--this was good.
Service: Poor
Our server started out attentive. She took our appetizer order, but after that, things went downhill. She was nowhere to be found, and we waited forever for her to return to take our main course order. We had to ask twice for more toasted bread slices for our warm brie and crab/artichoke dip. Our server acknowledged our request but seemed to have forgotten. I had to ask again after waiting for over 5 minutes.
We had to ask our server to refill our water. She came around once, and that was it. Luckily, we sat next to the water pitcher; I ended up filling it myself since she rarely came by.
I ordered a bowl of soup, but it never arrived. Similarly, the crab cracker and shell bowl did not come with my brother's cioppino. When he asked for a cracker for his crab, everything that should have been brought out with the cioppino appeared when he was just about finished.
Rather than coming around to clear our plates, she asked us to hand them to her. She then cleared my brother's dishes, but he was not done eating.
We brought our mother to Kincaid's to celebrate her birthday. After clearing our plates, she brings out a crème brûlée with a candle for her, and then, about a few minutes later, she asks the rest of us if we want to see the dessert menu. I thought that was a bit strange. Instead of asking the table first before bringing out the celebratory dessert.
Conclusion:
It felt like we got the B team tonight, from the food preparers to the wait staff.
The food was hit or miss. Service was disappointing. It seemed as though today was our server's first day as a new wait staff member with no or no proper training. I wanted to say it was a busy evening, but the restaurant was not even full. In the past, when I frequented Kincaid's, the dining room was packed, the entrance area was also packed with people waiting, and the bar area was filled. Unfortunately, I'm still living in the past. I hope one day Kincaid's can go back to its glory days, but tonight's experience shows me they have a very long way to go.