Bob G.
Yelp
Unfortunately, I will never patronize this establishment again.
I happened to see this place on my drive back home from a Costco in Fremont, even though I live on the other side of the Bay.
Talked my family into going to what seemed like an old style steakhouse (which there are too few of now-a-days). And I love me a good steak....
After making reservations, we got to the establishment at 6pm on Saturday a few days before Valentine's Day (sort of like an early valentines day dinner for us all).
We were seated in a booth in the bar area, a bit loud, but in the corner and away from others.
Server was awesome the whole night (and we gave him a really good tip for his service). Water was filled promptly, extras like salad dressing on the side and extra bread were delivered quickly. Not a beat missed.
We started with a house salad, two cups of the Greek Avgolemono soup, and Spin a Yarn Prawns, Sautéed in Garlic, Lemon and Butter in a Spicy Sauce. Everything was great here and very tasty.
We then went on to the entrees. We had Heirloom Tomato Salad with Burrata Cheese, Basil Oil, Balsamic, Croutons. The 12 oz Filet which was cooked medium and tasted great even with a side of tasty sauce, vegetables and mashed potatoes. And also the Cioppino, which had Salmon, Halibut, Clams, Mussels Calamari (a little heavy on the Calamari, but that was okay), and Shrimp in a light broth.
We were more than halfway through the meal, listening to the one-man band warm up on his guitar (he was definitely good) when we saw what looked like the manager (who was taking pictures and video of the bar and the guitarist) walking around in a "Let's Go Brandon" T-shirt. We hadn't seen or noticed this on our way in, or up until this point in the meal.
Now, for us this sort of turned the whole night around. After spending a significant amount on drinks and dinner, and otherwise having a good time with a good meal and great service, to see a member of the staff with a political shirt (one of which we don't agree with) wearing it while working soured the mood.
Now, if she hadn't been wearing the shirt and didn't flaunt her political views in front of us that would have been great. No one would have been any the wiser, and we would have gone on with our evening without knowing anyone's political bent, and not thinking about it.
We decided to let the gentleman (who seemed to be the owner) on our way out know that maybe it would be great if staff didn't wear political shirts while working and promoting the establishment. We started our conversation by letting him know that the food, service and music were great, but when we started to voice our concern about staff wearing political views, well, things took a turn.
We found out that he believes that anyone can voice their opinion and wear what they want to wear or be what they want to be, which we happen to agree with. He then stated that he was not going to fire the manager because of what she was wearing (which we didn't even suggest). I reiterated that it would be great if it wasn't apparent that there was any politics in a restaurant where we were eating and having a good time, that that would be awesome. He came back with the comment that he's a staunch conservative, and loves Donald Trump. At that point we decided that the conversation was over, and turned to leave.
He punctuated the conversation by telling me that I was welcome to borrow his manager's shirt anytime I wanted. Pretty much sternly telling me that he didn't care about my business, now, or in the future.
So, we will never be going back. Too bad the whole night turned because someone decided to wear a stupid t-shirt.