Nigel P.
Yelp
Came here for my birthday yesterday and was very excited. The food was delicious, but the service was abysmal, like comically bad.
Let me be clear that the server was polite and appeared to be trying, but there appears to be some sort of severe logistical or operational deficiency present in this restaurant. Out of my last 1,000 restaurant outings, this has to be among the top 3 worst in service. And at risk of that being exaggerated due to poor memory, it was absolutely the worst service in the last 100 restaurant outings.
It took approximately 15-20 minutes to get water/be acknowledged in any way. I had to flag a server down and ask if he was our waiter. He replied vaguely, something like "let me go see." Then apparently he either took over or was our server to begin with, not sure, but it was bizarre. I then ordered our entire meal (drinks, apps, entrees, sides) at once since I had trust issues and feared he would never return. I had already done the waiter-search-look-back like 400 times and my neck may have physically unraveled if I continued to do so. We then got our items in a weird order, salad last, no sides until 10 minutes after the entrees. My drink disappeared for 10 mins on a refill, etc. So at multiple stages in the meal, we couldn't really eat effectively. I realize that's a preposterous statement and may risk sounding like a Karen, but I do not intend to eat a $250 meal in bizarro world. What is the point of sides if they do not accompany the entree? Are they still sides? Isolated bowls of veg for the most luxurious rabbit on Earth, allegedly. Both my dad and I ate half our steaks before the sides came and he had to eat his salad for dessert, lol. I'm not really blaming the waiter. Something strange has to be going on here larger than one person. But there is certainly severe incompetence at some level, I'm just not sure where. For all I know, the waiter could theoretically be the best in the world, but due to peripheral constraints can't do his job properly.
Even my dad, a quiet and overly agreeable man who probably goes literally 50 restaurants without even a slight complaint, was starting to let a few murmurs of discontent slip out. My gf was legit angry though. I was somewhere in between.
Let me also be clear, that prior to this occurrence, I also remember service issues during my last visit from six months or so ago. We had ordered alcoholic drinks prior to the meal, intending to drink them before the meal, but they took so long to come out we were already eating and didn't want them anymore. So the service issues did not exist in the vacuum of my last visit. I did not mention this issue in my last review because I was being charitable and forgiving, thinking it was a slight misstep, not a chronic systemic issue.
That being said, the food was overall phenomenal, which partially saved the experience. The ribeyes were overcooked (medium instead of medium rare) and overcooked at this price point is already a tough pill, but other than that, everything was flawless. The apps (tomato burrata and tuna tower) were to die for. The sides were great. The steak sauces were amazing, the favorite being the brandy peppercorn. The creme brulee was noticeably perfect, no excessive egginess or sugar.
It's too bad the overwhelming service issues sullied the experience. I chose this for my bday dinner because the food is superb. But I don't think I can return due to the restaurant fundamentally failing at the basics that much lower price point restaurants manage far better. The restaurant wasn't even full so I'm not sure what's going on. Sad to see. It was very close to being one of my favorite restaurants in the city.
TLDR: All-star potential, rookie execution.