I really wanted to like this place. One of my friends recommended it, and then another group of…read morefriends invited me to go after a talk, so I was actually pretty excited to finally try it.
And honestly, the restaurant itself is SO cute. Aesthetically, I adore it. It has this old European pub / rustic countryside feeling, especially with the dim lighting. There's a bar in the front and seating toward the back, and they really committed to the whole theme. Mason jars, wood details, the menu attached to a wooden board, and dog-themed decorations everywhere. It's very thoughtfully decorated and has that cozy rainy-day feeling where you just want to sit around and chat.
The staff were also polite and checked on us pretty frequently. They kept our water glasses filled, which I appreciated.
Food-wise, though, this is where things fell apart for me.
We shared the mussels and charcuterie board, and I ordered the seafood cavatelli for myself.
The mussels were easily the best thing we had. They came with a choice of red or white, which I'm assuming refers to the sauce or wine preparation, although I wasn't totally sure. Either way, the mussels themselves were really good and the broth was flavorful. The bread was perfect for soaking up all that juice. Honestly, 10/10 for the mussels.
The charcuterie board was less impressive. It felt pretty sparse for the price, with the usual salami and ham but no prosciutto. Some of the other items also felt pretty basic for what I expected to be a more upscale board. There was even an egg on it, which just wasn't really my cup of tea. Nothing was necessarily bad, it just didn't feel worth the price.
Then came my seafood cavatelli, and unfortunately... DAMN, it was greasy.
The sauce was much more oily than creamy, and after a couple bites I already knew I wasn't going to finish it. I didn't want to leave a giant plate of food untouched at the table and look rude, so I took it home and gave it to someone else.
For $31, I really didn't think it was worth it. The shrimp and scallops tasted like they came straight from the frozen section, and the tomatoes had that oily, jarred quality to them. Everything just seemed to be sitting in oil. The cavatelli itself was slightly overcooked, although I'm more forgiving of that because the shape can have a little variation in texture. But the grease was just too much.
So overall, I think this is one of those places where I really want to love it because the atmosphere is fantastic, but the food just didn't justify the prices for me. The mussels were genuinely good, but that's about where my excitement stopped.
I could definitely see myself coming back to sit at the bar, have a drink, and chat with friends because the space is really lovely. But if you're coming specifically for the food, I'd temper your expectations.
Beautiful restaurant, lovely atmosphere, nice staff. Unfortunately, the food didn't live up to the setting or the price for me.