I've been to this restaurant several times for both dine in and take out and have usually been pretty happy with the food and service. Today, however, they missed the mark and I feel compelled to provide some constructive criticism, as I wouldn't want to see this otherwise good restaurant fail.
I had the Caprese Sandwich with Grilled Chicken + Caesar Salad and sparkling water, which cost me $40 with the tip. Rather pricey for a lunch, but it's Friday and I felt like treating myself, so no big deal. Except the food was rather underwhelming, and unnecessarily so. It felt as if they had the right idea and the right ingredients but failed pretty miserably in the execution.
First, the sandwich. I picked it up and drove straight to work (5 min drive), which apparently was enough time for the bread to become completely saturated with water from the burrata cheese, to the point where it looked and had the texture of soggy bread pudding and it was entirely impossible to hold it together. I had to eat it with a fork, which was inconvenient and disappointing. This seems like a very obvious recipe flaw, as the burrata has high moisture content and needs to be coupled with a more sturdy bread, such as a focaccia. Overall, I'd give it 1/5 for presentation.
Moving onto the chicken. It was cooked very well and the taste was there, but it looked extremely unappealing, as it was almost entirely BLACK and not because it was burned, but because it was just fully covered in charcoal specks, presumably from the grill, which perhaps hadn't been cleaned in a while. I specifically asked for the grilled and NOT blackened chicken, so I was very confused and initially thought that they just cooked it the wrong way, but upon closer inspection, it became obvious to me the black specks were not seasoning but plain charcoal residue. To make matters worse, these specks had contaminated all the other ingredients as well, which I found pretty gross. It certainly did not meet basic expectations, especially for the price point. I'd give it 2/5, because it was edible and the chicken was otherwise well cooked and flavored, even if a bit gross to look at.
Additionally, both the sandwich and side salad were heavily drenched in sauce/dressing. The l Caesar salad, which was very small (about the size of a small cup of soup), had very few pierces of lettuce mixed in with a disproportionately large amount of dressing and cheese, which was not only very overpowering but it made the salad really soggy. It basically felt like eating plain Caesar dressing. 2/5 because the dressing tasted good, but there was simply too much of it, and since it was already mixed in, I couldn't fix it in any way. I ended up not eating it.
I hope the owners can see this and pass it onto their chefs/cooks, as I've met them and I know they're very sweet and caring people. Everyone can have a bad day, and I'm hoping this was just a one-off, and everything will be great again next time. read more