Atmosphere: 5 stars
Food: 5 stars
Service: 1 star
So a lot happened before we even got our food. We walked in on a weeknight, we asked for outdoor seating, and the place was buzzing. The building is beautiful--old wood, "edison bulb" lighting, really great atmosphere, outside beer garden and dining area, all very very inviting and beautiful. Since we are in outdoor seating, people can bring their dogs. I don't care for this, but my kids really enjoyed seeing the dogs. Instead of menus, we are supposed to scan a QR code. My son, in his 20's, tells us this is very common in his circles, but for us 50 plussers, we would prefer a paper menu. When our server came over, my husband asked for a real menu. Clearly, our server was not happy. She came back with a greasy paper menu, and he asked if she had a clean one. Not good. She told him she had just been using that for reference, and it was clean but wet. This is nonsense. It is extremely insulting for someone to tell me that grease and food bits are "water." It had mayonnaise or something greasy on it, and it was disgusting. It was all I could do to not open it and point out all the crud. How insulting. She said she didn't know if she could find another one, they use QR codes now because it is "sanitary" and she would go and look for one. So we got off to an immediate bad start. If your server thinks you are a PIA for asking for a paper menu, like a paper menu is really really a big deal, we already have a big problem, and that was a huge strike against the place, before we ever got food or drink. My husband is a nice guy, there is no reason she should be sourpussed the whole time, as she was.
My son and husband got beer, and they said it was really excellent (a red ale, I believe.)
The food was very good. Husband said the crab cakes were the best he had ever had. Daughter had hamburger, Son had gyro which was good but small, I had goat cheese and walnut salad which was fresh and really good. Giant pretzel appetizer was very good, not sure worth the $10 price. Giant nachos appetizer was really good, and really worth the $15 price. Food was fresh, came out hot, and was really good.
As the night went on, I didn't want the server interactions to ruin the night, (it was very clear she didn't like us--very chatty to other tables, not a word to us) my husband and I made a concerted effort to be extra nice and polite to her, and the mood loosened, and she smiled at us occasionally. However, this took away from what would have otherwise been a really lovely night. I know that restaurant service can be grueling, this place was very busy, and servers have to have an ever-present pleasant attitude, smile on one's face, look like you are enjoying running around all night. This is very very hard, and perhaps she was having a bad day, but it really took enjoyment away from us. Clearly she was able to look friendly and chatty to other tables, a stupid menu issue should not have ruined our night.
On a lesser note, we noticed a few of the servers petting the dogs outside, then handling food items, and this is not really supposed to be done, especially if they are trying to be "sanitary." read more