Kimberly K.
Yelp
You guys Dropped the Ball, ROYALLY! And, now definitely not going there to see the ball drop for NYE (and it was highly considered initially)!
Bad first impression - While walking in, a couple walking out asked if we're going to the restaurant and warned us - good luck with getting our food hot because theirs came out cold! Ok wow... I'm already weary about eating there on a holiday and haven't stepped 1 foot into building yet!
I will say it's a nice looking hotel with creative flooring, chandeliers, chairs, curtains, drapes, beams, booths, etc
Note on the 2nd door in the ladies restroom does not close properly - Have to pull extremely hard to close and kick it out to get out!
Upon arriving, the hosts walked us over to a tiny table with plenty of empty spacious comfy booths all around. I asked for a comfy booth instead. The host said he'll have to check the front so we can wait there but decided to walk up to the front and check out the pianist and bar instead. He later was able to sit us at a booth and I realized the whole time being there that the booths never got filled up
- French onion was tasty but overly salty
- Short rib bourguignon (it's spelled incorrect on their menu - spelled as Short rib bourguinon) was almost hard as a rock and not soft or falling apart easily like how I would want my short rib, overly salty and not enough sauce. Risotto was more of a porridge and overly cooked with minimal mushroom influence like it was mentioned by the server
- Chicken fricassée was cooked nicely, still a heavy hand on the salt but the least out of all the dishes, mushroom and kale arrangement was placed neatly
Ordered the Misfit - Casamigo Reposado tequila espresso martini but with Vodka instead of Tequila. This is important to word bc this is where they totally lost repeating customers to this restaurant!
I asked the host about how their new year's eve party was like and he didn't know so I asked if he could send out the manager to speak to get more info about it. Freddy, the manager, who I couldn't tell he was the manager bc he looked so casual in his t-shirt in this nice establishment when the 2 male hosts were dressed to match the upscale ambiance in a suits. When asking about how the NYE party goes, it seemed more like of a sales pitch to do VIP bc it's just better to have a seat bc there's no other seating
This is where the the ball Dropped kept snowballing into a bigger ball drop, aside from all the lil hiccups:
We wanted to get the Misfit ($18) drink and instead of tequila we wanted VODKA. Leo, the server, said he suggested a replacement for a drink we were ordering but didn't tell us the price increase for their "espresso martini" that was upcharged to be $21 bc of the "fresh espresso" in that drink that we were told later on. I couldn't believe that a 1.5-2.0 ounce of "fresh espresso" actually costs more than Casamigo Reposado tequila! If I wanted the fresh espresso drink then I would have just ordered the $18 tiramisu martini with the fresh espresso that I actually overheard the other server mention to her table at the beginning of her newly sat customers
Note - this whatever "fresh espresso" actually tasted disgusting bc we got the brandy espresso drink upstairs and that same bad espresso taste was still there
Altira, their upstairs pool, not rooftop, area had the Mistletoe Brew cocktail for $18 - Courvoisier VS, Luxardo Espresso, Espresso, Simple. Why isn't that and the tiramisu cocktail $21 if that's what you charge for with espresso?!? The mistletoe drink has both espresso and espresso liquer! And with Courvoisier!
Went to ask the manager and the server about the confusion of our check bc the martini didn't say the correct price and they both said they'll fix it but came back explaining that since we got the misfit cocktail with vodka, that it was supposed to be charged as an espresso martini with fresh espresso and not with espresso liquer even though Casamigo Reposado is definitely more costly!
Now since they both didn't want fix the issue anymore, I asked for $3 so that we can just get charged for what was ordered in the 1st place. Freddy said no and placed the check right in front of us trying to make us pay the incorrect charged checked! RUDE AF! I wasn't even going to mention to him that the service was slow and lacking and the food was overly salted but I did after he did that and he was still rude and did not want to take off just $3! WTF. Terrible customer service on his part and he clearly does not care for service recovery for repeating customers!!!
They charge Automatic gratuity. This manager completely screwed over the server's tip by not taking off the $3 from the incorrect drink. This is a rare occurrence that I had to ask for the removal of that auto gratuity and leave nothing! Actually I did leave in huge disappointment with the place!
And it was Thanksgiving! Their prix fixe looked inadequate and unappealing thus why we ordered from the regular menu