Mediocre at best. I think the downfall of this place must be that the menu has too much on it. This would be dismissible if a large portion of them were either simple or similar, but they're all fairly unique dishes. Have your chef's make each dish, and pick your favorites based on their capabilities, and then cut the menu in half. If you only have a limited number of things on the menu, I'll look at it and think, "Wow, they must make a really good ______ _______."
Food:
The portions were big, but the quality was just generally lacking. My meal as a whole just reeked of laziness and lack of creativity. The salad was clearly either pre-made or just made with very low quality/old ingredients. Everything had that "sat out too long" texture. The onions looked and tasted like were like shoelaces, the lettuce was wilted. The "creamy balsamic" had a odd yogurt-like taste. The pea soup was reasonably tasty, but the croutons on it were stale and chewy. Also odd, the soup comes with croutons already on it, but the salad doesn't come with any?
The main dishes - the fillet of sole wasn't bad, and the vegetables with it were nicely cooked so that they were still slightly crisp. The Cavatappi a la Vodka was terrible. The sauce was too thick, seemed to be missing any suggestion of garlic, vodka or red pepper, and had just a generally unpleasant appearance. I ate 1/3 or so, and then picked at my date's fish instead, and had a snack later. "Do you want me to wrap that?" The waitress didn't seem to understand when I said no, but I kept it polite, and we still tipped well as usual. I never like to tip badly based upon the quality of the food - why should the server suffer? I just don't usually go back to such places..
Service:
The service was OK. We were seated very quickly, and the waitress stopped by shortly after. She could have been a little friendlier, but it was around 7:30 or 8:00, and I think she was worn out. The only main issue was that my glass was never refilled, nor was it offered, even though we were seated right next to the main traffic aisle.
Price:
Pricing would be somewhat reasonable if the food was better. Even if the food was good, however, I'd suggest that that the prices are a bit high.
Location:
It's in a strip mall, and doesn't really stand out from the outside. The sign made me think that it was part of the grocery store, not it's own establishment. (In the way that grocery stores often label the location of the pharmacy or flower shop on the outside so that you know what door to enter.)
Crowd:
A wide mix, with tables of families, including quite a few small children, as well as tables of elderly people and tables of teenagers. Atmosphere is definitely casual. The thing I don't understand is how full this place was. If the food was either good or dirt cheap I might understand, but that's not the case. read more