I've eaten here many times before and always had a pretty good experience. But something was different last night.
My wife and had tickets for the "Kings of Late Night" comedy show, and as we generally do, had dinner on the Chateau Deck beforehand. We love the atmosphere and the time we get to spend together, especially since our daughter now has a job hosting at a restaurant on weekend evenings. Haha
If you're not aware, their menu is Pre-fixe, with 3-courses, which you pay for in advance (when you make your reservation). The nice thing is that you don't have to select your meal up front like some Pre-fixe menus; you make your selections table side.
As I mentioned before: We've NEVER had a bad experience here. But we did last night. There weren't many people at the show, so maybe the A-Team was not on duty? lol. And let me tell you, the B-Team just didn't make it happen! Imagine pulling your starters up 25 with 2-minutes left in the game, and those dudes blow the lead and cost you the game! This is the analogy to our experience!
For starters: My wife loves the Lemon Drop she gets here. We always pay for the premium liquor upgrade, and she's never complained about it. Well, she did last night. I took a sip and totally agreed with her. If I had my guess, I'd say it was made with their Well vodka, whatever it might've been. (That's issue #1). BTW, we didn't send it back.
However, my Wedge Salad had watery Blue Cheese dressing and a very gritty taste, which I likened to sand. I immediately set it aside, as it was NOT good. My wife confirmed with me that the "grit" taste wasn't salt. I confirmed that it wasn't salt, because it was pretty bland.
In over five decades of living, I'd never experienced this, but my wife said the lettuce probably wasn't washed. Huh???? But it made total sense. I Googled "my salad had a gritty taste," and sure enough, the response was "lettuce not properly washed." I told you guys, the B-Team was on-duty last night! Our waiter cued in that I wasn't eating it and asked what was wrong? She apologized and brought me the Tomato Bisque, which was one of the other starters. (Issue #2).
Issues 3&4 are not on the Chateau Deck, per se, but deserve to be mentioned, in my opinion.
Our dinner reservation was at 5:45, for an 8pm show. The weather was gorgeous when we arrived, and since the venue wasn't crowded, we were seated near the Chateau Deck's railing. I'm not sure what time they arrived (an hour later, maybe), but a group of 7-adults,
4-women/3-men--probably in their 30s/early 40s--were seated at the table behind us, against the other railing.
Issue #3: They were LOUD! I mean, I'm all for people having a great time! Heck, if you know me, then you know what I mean!! lol I'm no Librarian, is what I'm getting at!!! But they were over the top LOUD! At one point I looked over at them, and they tried to bait me into saying something to them. I laughed it off. It was evident they didn't care.
I didn't complain about them; and neither did anyone else, lest someone from the CD staff might've said something to them. Again, I am stressing that the venue was not crowded, so it wasn't enough, in my opinion, to make a huge deal over. They were having fun!
Except...Issue #4...their "fun" carried over into the Concert Bowl. The group just happened to be seated two rows back and across the aisle from us! I was on the end; and sensibly, their seats started at the end and went toward the middle of their aisle. (We were in Section 1, Row 7 or 8, I think).
The two women sitting on the end Talked. The. Entire. Time! WTF!! From my seat, I couldn't hear their conversation...just that they were talking. And it kind of seemed like one woman was the one actually doing all of the talking. She was also seated on the end of their table during dinner; so maybe she was there for a reason???? Haha
Staff actually came down a few times, but they'd start right up again after they left. Go figure. Thankfully, my wife and I could still hear the show from our seats. As I've mentioned several times, the venue wasn't crowded, so my presumption is this is the reason they weren't removed: no one made a complain. I don't recall seeing people behind them, but the seats at the end of the row directly in front of them were empty, if that helps paint the picture?
The show was great: Arsenio Hall, Craig Ferguson, and Jay Leno were funny. However, my overall feeling with the drink, gritty tasting salad, and noisy folks was NOT the best look for the Chateau Deck/Mountain Winery.
I'll keep coming back, though, that's for sure! Maybe this review helps management rethink how they prioritize staff for ALL shows, and how they keep the ambiance a chill space for everyone.
DG
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