I made a reservation and our table was ready when we arrived. At that time there were diners seated at three other tables in the restaurant. We were given menus upon being seated by the owner. The furniture is fun, there were cloth tablecloths and lamps on the tables. The building is beautiful, with old tin ceiling, beautiful brick walls and lots of beautiful woodwork, and of course there is art on the walls. There is a tv over the bar playing music videos, which didn't feel like it fit the finer, more formal ambiance of the dining room. The tv froze about 45 min into our visit and there was no more music during our time there.
A few minutes after arriving our server brought us water and took our appetizer order. We ordered 3 apps. They finally arrived after about 30 minutes. The shrimp seemed like frozen breaded butterfly shrimp just thrown into the fryer. There were 9 little shrimp. It was dry. The calamari was more like octopus. Really big, thick, chewy pieces. The rings were the size of onion rings and the tendrils were the thickness of a little finger. The tempura batter on them was decent, but they were very tough and chewy. There was no seasoning on either the shrimp or calamari. I didn't taste the garlic bread but others said it was "fine." It was 5 *very* small 1/2" thick pieces. In spite of being very small, they looked nice, with parmesan melted on top. We had not been given napkins or utensils, so I requested them at this point and our server brought them out to us. Our water was refilled around this time as well. It was the only refill we were given during our long visit. About 10 min later we stopped the server again and asked if she was ready to take our entree order. She said she didn't know we wanted to order entrees, but she would be back to take the orders. Our party ordered two pork schnitzels, one short ribs, and two fried chicken steak sandwiches. Then we began our next long wait. Around 20 min later the pork schnitzel plates arrived. For starters, it's a pounded pork loin dipped in plain egg and then fried. One plate had the pork, a tomato slice and 3 pieces of (cold) lightly steamed broccoli. The other plate had pork, the same broccoli, and about 15 small French fries. We assumed the rest of the food would arrive soon... Around the time the 2 schnitzel diners had finished their plates, the short ribs arrived. The plate had thinly sliced short ribs that tasted like they had been marinated in plain soy sauce, the now familiar 3 pieces of cold broccoli, and some fries, along with a cup of ketchup. We asked how long it would be until the sandwiches would be there. they said "soon." The rib plate was finished and still we waited the arrival of the two fried chicken steak sandwiches. *An hour and 20 minutes after arriving at the restaurant* the sandwiches arrived. It looked exactly like the schnitzel except that it was on buns. the cold buns had sliced onion, tomato and a whole large romaine lettuce leaf. There were also fries on the plate. The sandwich was not steak. it was a pounded out chicken breast (or pork?) that had been dipped in egg and fried. A few minutes later cups of mayo and ketchup were brought out. While none of the food was terrible, none of it was seasoned, and it was all pretty much one-note flavor. Our water glasses had been dry for some time. A diner at the table next to us told us that this was a one-time experience for her and she wouldn't be back. During our 90 minute visit we were also approached by the owner and another worker (cook?) five different times asking if the food they were carrying was something we had ordered. unfortunately none of it was ours. This was unfortunately the worst American dining experience I've ever had. Some of this could have been overlooked if the restaurant had been really busy, but there were only 6 other tables in use during our entire visit. read more
