Unfortunately I had a horrific experience at Circa. The dining experience started off wonderfully with a very nice hostess and an excellent waitress, beautiful decor. Our appetizers were fine but my entree, "Bourbon-Glazed Salmon, Tender salmon fillet brushed with a rich brown sugar and Buffalo Trace bourbon glaze" had some sort of cajun or red pepper rub which immediately burned my lips and mouth from one bite. I tried to scrape off the rub, took another small bite, and it was still red hot. I drank my water to help stop the burning but quite frankly, my mouth was still burning. I then checked the menu online to see if I missed something as I'm allergic to peppers. Entre in quotation marks is copied above and there is no evidence of any peppers or hot, spicy seasoning. My sister-in-law then took a small bite to confirm and experienced hot, spicy, burning in her lips and mouth. I then asked our waitress if the entree was supposed to be hot and spicy. She said that she had this entree and was not hot and spicy. She then spoke to her manager to tell her the issue. I was not offered a replacement or credit for the salmon that was intact except for 3 small bites from the ends. The waitress only could tell her manager who I had to request to speak to about this horrible spicy entree. The manager, Jen, came over and basically accused me of lying and insisted it was a brown sugar coating. She did not take it back to the kitchen and I doubt talked to the kitchen to find out what happened. Instead, in a very arrogant, condescending tone, told me that she does not "comp" meals and was not having the salmon tasted even though the whole piece was intact. I then told her that I would be contacting one of the owners and writing a review. She said, "go ahead". She then started to walk away and repeated to me it was a brown sugar coating.
I believe someone made a big mistake in the kitchen or they changed the entree without changing the menu. Of course, this manager, Jen, did not investigate.
Subsequently, approximately 1-2 hours later, I developed mouth sores. I'm just grateful, I didn't go into anaphylactic shock at the restaurant. This manager, Jen, needs a substantial amount of training or perhaps she is the wrong job position.
I do not recommend eating at this restaurant as this manager does not care about the customer and did absolutely nothing to investigate the issue. It's about experiences and this was truly the most awful experience I have ever had at a restaurant. It's a shame as the place is beautiful and our waitress was excellent. read more