Susan H.
Yelp
This place opened very recently. Usually, we give new places time to get their act together. However, when talking with my hairstylist, she said she had come here for a meal and thought that they had their act together already. Well...we were here on a Saturday around 5 p.m. and we have to say that they still have some kinks to work out.
We did come here without a reservation. However, the young woman at the host stand said they could seat us in about 10 to 20 minutes. Even though we were sitting mere feet away from her, she insisted on getting our phone number in order to text us when our table was ready. We gave her the info but in the end, she just walked over to where we were sitting and told us our table would be ready in "2 minutes", which it was.
Some things to note --- the place is very loud, so loud that you have to shout to have a conversation. Acoustics are terrible and the place is cavernous. The one up side to all of this---when families come with little kids, no one notices when they get loud. They also have an arcade with various games but we didn't investigate.
After we got seated and given menus, our server came by. He asked for our drink order. My husband wanted a lite beer and it took 3 tries before they found a brand that was in stock. I tried a mixed drink called "life is bueno". It consists of: "Camareno Resposado tequila, housemade blood orange shrub, agave, lime, Angostura orange bitters". It turned out to be a decent drink---not too sweet, not too bitter.
Here's when things started to go sideways...We decided to get an appetizer and chose "Heirloom tomato bruschetta" which consists of: "heirloom cherry tomatoes, marinated mozzarella , basil pesto, garlic grand rustico". We assumed our server left to enter our order. When he returned, we ordered our main courses. I chose the "French onion burger" which consists of: "gruyere cheese, carmelized onions, crispy onions, brioche bun, steak sauce, aioli, handcut fries". My husband ordered Shrimp + grits" which consists of: "blackened shrimp, stone ground cheddar grits, andouille sausage, roasted peppers, corn, baby spinach".
With our entire order now given, we waited...and waited. The drinks came out quickly but most of the wait time was for the food. When the food came out, the entrees showed up. My husband asked the runner what happened to our appetizer. He said he would check. After that, the appetizer showed up. We asked our server what happened as the appetizer should have come out long before the entrees. He said he would talk to the manager. Then he returned to say the appetizer would be comped.
Now...try eating an appetizer while your main course is there---no fun. As for the food --- My husband said his dish was okay. He was surprised to see that the tails were left on the shrimp and he said the grits were on the runny side. Also, we noticed that the meal wasn't well plated. As for me, I did like my burger. It was cooked medium as I asked. However, there were no crispy onions which would have given the burger that nice element of crunchiness. I was impressed that the brioche bun held up very well as I ate the burger. The fries arrived piping hot. However, there were far too many of them so I only ate a few.
As for the appetizer, we didn't think that cherry tomatoes work well with a bruschetta but they were ripe and flavorful. The mozzarella was cut into tiny cubes and there wasn't enough of it. The bread was basically 4 slices of toast. All this was smothered in balsamic vinaigrette.
When the check came, no one took off the appetizer. We told the server and then the manager came out and apologized. He said the mix up was the server's fault. Then he corrected our check to reflect the comped item was removed.
So...they are still working out the kinks. Our experience had us wondering if the servers were properly trained. Hopefully, that will be corrected. As an aside, they have a restaurant inside the restaurant called "Heirloom". Their menu is more upscale and the items all look good if pricier. We are interested in eventually giving Heirloom a try but not for quite a while yet.
If you do go to Open Road or Heirloom, be sure to make a reservation. After we were about to be seated, the hosts were telling large parties that there was a 2 hour wait! Needless to say, no one got on the list for that, instead they left. Maybe when the newness wears off, things won't be so crazy.