Jeannie T.
Yelp
3.5 stars for overall dining experience. 4 stars for the food.
However, for the side eye and eye rolling we got from our waiter Greg, I'm not upping the star count any further. this was the evening of June 27, 2018. Up front: I've been here many times over the years and have always liked this place. I've often suggested it to friends too. This poor service was noticed by my entire group and unfortunately, they commented that they liked the food but not the service as well.
I made a reservation for a party of 10 a week in advance; requested to sit outside and Management was very accommodating too but sadly, rain was in the forecast and we ended up inside. The main reason I selected Veranda was to sit outside on a nice summer evening. Oh well.
My party started with a slew of appetizers first (about 6 plates) and we wanted to wait to decide on entrees or full dinner fare. The waiter was not keen on that I guess. He quipped, "just appetizers?" and the eye roll started as well as the 'tude. I responded with "For now, yes, appetizers and drinks...I'll keep a menu here. We'll order more when we decide". SMH. As the food arrived, each of us took one plate after the other and passed it around - a sampling of everything. Our favorite of the evening (I always order this when I come, it's the best) were the zucchini chips. They were crisp and light. Very airy and paper-thin (as described). Perfection. This is their signature dish...I've had it in many places, but Veranda makes it the best.
Other must try:
The platter of dips were the second favorite of the evening. There was plenty of pita triangles to go around to taste all four dips. Eggplant, Garlic, Hummus, and Tzatziki - all were on point. Hummus was the favorite of the four.
The Wild Mushroom Ravioli - the brandy sauce was creamy and lots of mushrooms on top of the ravioli. Great flavor.
The Chilean Sea Bass entrée - fingerling potatoes were ok, I liked the carrots and the fish was really good. I recommend this.
Other items we ordered:
Mini Burgers - were a tad dry but good for sharing
Grilled Octopus - all agree we've had better, slightly overcooked, but liked the balsamic and roasted peppers.
Risotto Croquettes - okay not great, sun dried aioli couldn't save it.
Grilled Shrimp - a few liked it, I am allergic but it looked fine.
Throughout the evening, we were drinking way more than we were eating I suppose. More eye rolls each time we ordered alcohol and not food. We went through two bottles of white wines (two different choices), a bunch of cocktails, and mixed drinks. Then for dessert, we capped off the evening with the brownies and ecmek. Plus a Baklava Dessert cocktail. It was all good on the sweets.
So overall, food was great! Service was iffy at best. Each time Greg brought us our drinks, he made faces and gave us looks. Never a smile. He didn't properly serve us our wine either and when he brought the bucket to keep it on ice, he never once assisted us with refills. We barely got refills on our water. Tsk. Tsk.
Don't get me wrong, I shall return...I like this place. But if I get him as a server again, I will request another. He didn't serve us well and we tipped him 20%. He didn't deserve it on principal but we will always do right given it was a large group.