I really wanted to love this neighborhood restaurant. I had already included it in my list of gluten free establishments and couldn't wait to try it for myself. Hubby and I walked in on a Saturday evening at 5:30 without a reservation to a fairly empty dining room and were told that there was absolutely no way for us to be seated without a reservation except for outside or at the high tops by the entrance (a packed five high top area that was probably originally a waiting space) or the bar. As someone who walks with a cane and has balance issues, either one is a challenge, but on a cold night, we chose the high tops and I wedged myself between the extra stacked chairs and the window. I will place an asterisk here and note that at no time did anyone ask how long we would be or say - 'hey, if you're going to be under an hour, we can seat you at a table' because the dining room remained empty for the DURATION of the time we were there.
Service was ....'fine' in the way that you say fine to your best friend knowing that nothing was great but nothing was really horrible. Our server never introduced himself, showed up with waters, disappeared, showed back up again to take drink orders (they don't have club soda but it's a bar?), brought a glass bottle of sparkling water but no glass, brought a plastic bottle of Coke Zero no glass... he did when I told him I had allergies ask about something I was interested in and then made notes in their ordering system (which printed out on the receipt). However, I asked for something specifically NOT to be included and of course it was, so when it showed up with that on the plate, he asks, do you want me to scrape it off? Yes, actually I do.
Here's the low down on the food. I ordered the tuna sandwich, no bun, no lettuce, no tomato, no aioli (it's not avocado on top, it's guacamole) with the fries. Hubby had the tacos from the happy hour menu with a side of the steamed green beans. The tuna from the sandwich and the tuna in the tacos is identical. I thought it was overdone on the seasoning and lacked salt. Hubby had the aioli on his and thought it was fine. The fries were not good. They definitely lacked salt and were bland with a starchy finish.
What I was most interested in was the conversation and watching the host stand. As someone who is immune compromised, I recognize my take is different. I watched the host do stretches, touching their shoes, touching their hair and then touching the menus that they were then handing to customers, all the while not washing their hands. They also have a huge bowl of hard candy, not sure for whom, but it is behind the host stand and they guard it, as it is not accessible to any patrons. *it's the good stuff too, it's the strawberry hard candy*
There is also a huge discrepancy between who the management talks to and who they don't. We watched certain tables get fawned on by people we presumed were management and others not get spoken to by anyone.
At the end, our check got dropped off and we were asked about dessert by someone else and we never saw our server again. They never even came by for the check and we were glad that we had the inkind app to pay remotely and leave.
So while they want to be the place for the neighborhood, I'm not sure that's going to be my neighborhood joint. read more