George D.
Yelp
This is our first visit to Shotti's Luna since they took over Full Moon Saloon and converted it a year or two ago. It lists itself as a "oyster and pizza bar" and I guess that it lives up to that description. We had always enjoyed the old establishment for its no nonsense approach to comfort food and alcohol. Shotti's version is much more casual than the old saloon. They make no bones that they are a typical restaurant. The emphasis seems to be on appetizers, wings, sandwiches, pizza and oysters. The entrees, buried between sandwiches and pizza on the second page of the menu almost seem like an afterthought.
The ambiance is not much changed from the saloon days. Dark and noisy. The brick oven dominates one side of the place, and seems to be where most of the cooking is done. But unlike some restaurants with the kitchen on the floor, it's not a showy marvel of stainless steel and efficiency, it's more like we were sat in the kitchen because there were no seats left in the dining room. In was a cold night when we were there, and even though we were seated toward the center of the restaurant, my two female companions complained that it was drafty and they were cold.
Our server was Lydia, and she did an adequate job of taking our orders and fetching drinks. Food was served by runners, and as promised, came out in no particular order. We had to establish that the wings and the oysters were appetizers, and so should come out first.
One of our party ordered 6 oysters on the half shell. The runner advised her that they were local oysters, I believe he said Assateague. She enjoyed them thoroughly.
We ordered wings for the table. The menu said one pound. There seven wings in our order. They were meaty, juicy and flavorful. We ordered Metallica which were supposed to be blackened, with Thai chili and crispy shallots.
We ordered a pizza, a Vermicious Knid, topped with pepperoni, prosciutto, marinara, soppressata, cheese and red onion. It was about a 12 inch pie, with a very thin crust. We all liked it.
The menu seemed to rely on being "creative," sometimes combining ingredients you wouldn't necessarily think of together. For example, the Tuscan Caesar Salad is made with kale instead of romaine, and included hard boiled egg. Being a picky eater, preferring classical presentations, had we delved deeper into the menu than our three simple dishes, the choices that appealed to me would be severely limited. Check the menu before you go.
The last thing that annoyed me was their handling of credit cards. There was a note on the menu that stated that customers paying cash would be given a 5% discount. Okay that seems fair. If you pay cash, you are "rewarded," which implies that the cost of credit was built into the prices. It did not mention any up charge for credit card use. However, when the check came, there was a line item, "Service Charge...$3," which amounted to about the 5% that would be discounted to a cash paying customer. The waitress explained that this charge was to cover the cost of credit card use. That amount was added BEFORE it was determined how I paid, so everyone is charged that regardless of how you pay. A cash paying customer, refunded the 5%, and so would pay no extra, while a credit user would pay 5% more. This quick shuffle means that the implication that the cost of credit is built into the cost of the food, and no additional charge is made IS PATENTLY FALSE!! And I'm not so sure that the amount discounted to a cash paying customer is even less than the amount added as a service charge. This fast shuffle is certainly misleading if not downright deceptive! I feel like the check is a shell game, which we all know is a con. I don't want to patronize an establishment that feels it necessary to con me on the check.
I do not recommend this restaurant.
