We had dinner (two couples) yesterday (Saturday) evening at Fields Italian restaurant here in the Pass. The build-out of this restaurant is very nice. We sat outside, with the weather being nice, the music was good, the table was nice, the cutlery and plates nice, and in general, we had high expectations. The menu looked good, and the server was very pleasant. We started by order a bottle of wine for three of us. The server brought the wine to the table, but could not open it. Another staff member was able to open it for her, which was fine. She then drained the bottle by filling our three glasses, which was very odd, and then shortly after she asked if I wanted to order more wine. Certainly she had not been trained to serve wine, or maybe this is management's way to encourage a second bottle before dinner. Then before we had even tasted the wine, a gentleman came out of the restaurant and although he did not introduce himself, by name or position, he came to our table. We assumed he was the manager on duty that evening. He asked us how everything was in terms of the food and service. Again, this was a bit odd in that we had not been severed anything, so we said the we had just been seated and received our menus. He then said he hoped we will enjoy.
Before ordering, I asked our server which pasta was made in-house. She said all the pasta was home made. I asked her if she was sure, because when I walked by earlier this week, I asked, one of the staff and they told me that their pasta maker was currently out of order, so they could not make much pasta. The server said she would find out, and when she came back she said it was still broken and that only the ink squid linguine was fresh pasta now. My wife and I ordered; the Italian Chopped Salad, the crab stuffed mushrooms, and the ink squid linguine seafood scampi.
The Italian Chopped salad was by far the best thing served. It was really too big even for two people, but it was fresh and had good flavor. This Fields uses the method of ordering from your server, then a staff from the kitchen brings out the plates from the kitchen and asks who order what, then hands it across the table to you. Having an opportunity to get some fresh cracked pepper or what ever would have been nice, but that is not how they work the serving here.
The next two items were the ink squid seafood scampi. Ordering the fresh pasta wound up being a big mistake. Rather than being the star of the dish, it was severely over cooked (fresh pasta is 2 to 3 min to be al dente), but this was so overcooked it broke into little 2 inch pieces and was tasteless. The sauce would have been ok if the pasta was decent. The dish was huge, so if you like volume rather than quantity, you may have found this ok. Again, the dishes for all four of us are brought to the table by a runner from the kitchen, and we are asked who ordered what, and then the plates are handed across the table.
The crab stuffed mushrooms were also very poor. They looked like small baby-bella mushrooms from a grocery chain, with a small dab of crab mix, that were then over cooked so they looked dried out, and then they put them in what looked like a type of alfredo sauce. Unfortunately for us, the ones served to us were cold. Again, there is no server to even talk to about the meals once they are delivered.
Since we did not eat all that was served we were asked if we wanted to take the food home, which we declined.
When you get your bill, they present it with three suggested tips; 20%, 22% or 25%. The server was a nice young lady, but she appeared to no proper training. Running the food out from the kitchen like a chain restaurant is fine, but the server should be there to assist, and to at the very least put the plate down, ensure you have utensils, if anything is needed, or if there is an issue. None of that happens. Other than dropping by, without identifying himself after we first sat down to see us (before we received any service), the Manager made no attempt to check on us.
We were really looking forward and thinking we may finally have a nice restaurant in the Pass, but despite the real nice facility, good menu, beautiful evening, both the food quality and service were hugely disappointing. On top of that, the expected tip levels are on par with a much higher quality restaurant where you get good service. I will say that the food portions are very big, so if that is a priority, then you may not be as disappointed as we were. read more