Jessyca O.
Yelp
Sweet-and-Sour Experience
I've been a loyal fan of this spot! But tonight bit of a mixed bag.
It took about 20-25 minutes for the server to swing by, but honestly, I didn't mind--had emails to tend to. I ordered the Palm Reader cocktail, when it arrived, it just wasn't hitting right. Super sweet- sour mix heavy but also tart--like my taste buds were in a battle of extremes. It felt off, so I kindly asked to swap it for something else, explaining that it wasn't sitting well with me. My friend tried it and said that is going to hurt your stomach.
Our server seemed nice about it at first, but oddly, she left the drink at the table while bringing the new cocktails (which, by the way, were amazing). Things started to get weird. We ordered calamari while deciding on entrées, and she said she'd be back to take our main order since we were unsure - she insisted we take a minute to figure it out. She disappeared. Another server eventually brought the calamari, and by then, our drinks were empty.
The new server--super sweet--let us know it was last call for cocktails. We mentioned we hadn't ordered entrées yet, and she looked surprised, saying the kitchen might already be closed. Thankfully, she checked and got the kitchen was willing to whip up a steak for us, which we really appreciated! We let her know we did want order a bottle of wine with dinner. She said she'd be back.
Then our OG server reappeared, bringing us repeat of our cocktails, which confused us bc above conversation. We said 'wait?! We discussed ordering a bottle of wine' and then we said 'actually it's okay, we'll take these.' She replied with "well are you sure?! once these are at your table, they can't come off your ticket" felt odd--was this about the drink I sent back? If so, the whole situation felt unnecessarily awkward. She also said well these drinks are probably ab the same amount of alcohol of one full bottle of wine, uhmm...?? They were old fashions .. but we're not teenagers looking to get smashed.
We noticed the bartender still serving others after last call, which added to the mystery. Typically, this place has flawless service, so we couldn't help but wonder if the vibe shifted because I sent back the first drink.
Finally, after finishing our steak, the lights flipped on (hint taken), but we still didn't have our check. Once it arrived, the Palm Reader I had sent back was on the tab. We chuckled it off but someone came up and inquired ab us discussing the bill and I said everything was okay. She was so so kind. She explained that they don't automatically remove items unless specifically requested, which was... interesting given the circumstance. I hope that isn't their protocol this place is way too classy of place to undercut themselves like that.
No hard feelings here. The food and drinks were solid overall. The whole experience felt a little off-kilter--like one small hiccup snowballed into an unnecessarily awkward evening.