We stopped here around 2:00 in the afternoon with four of us, and our plan was pretty simple. We…read morehad other things to do shortly afterward, so we weren't looking to have lunch or spend a long afternoon at the restaurant. We just wanted to sit somewhere nice, have a couple of cocktails and enjoy the waterfront for a little while.
When we arrived, we were greeted by two very friendly women, and we immediately explained that we weren't there to eat, but just wanted to have a couple of drinks. No problem at all. One of them walked us out to the back patio overlooking the water, and since we were the only people out there, it seemed like a perfect spot. The outdoor seating is really nice, and on a beautiful day I can completely understand why people want to sit outside.
A few minutes later, our waitress came over and took our drink orders. Everything was fine until she realized we weren't ordering food. She then told us that we really shouldn't be sitting on the patio because those tables are generally reserved for customers who are eating and want to enjoy the view. That was a little awkward, particularly because we had specifically told the hostess when we arrived that we weren't eating, and she was the one who seated us outside.
We're professionals and weren't about to make an argument over a patio table, so I simply explained that we had told the hostess that and that she had brought us out there anyway. The response was essentially, "I don't know if that's true," and she started to walk away. That part didn't sit particularly well with me. There was no reason for the situation to become uncomfortable when it was clearly just a misunderstanding between the front and back of the house.
Rather than make a thing out of it, I said, "Look, I'll have an order of fries too." A few minutes later, the hostess came back out and handled the situation much better. She told us not to worry about it, that we could stay where we were and that we should just forget about the whole thing. She also asked if I still wanted the fries because she understood exactly why I'd ordered them. I appreciated that. I canceled the fries, we stayed on the patio, and the issue was effectively resolved.
Once that little misunderstanding was behind us, we had a nice time. The atmosphere was relaxed, the outdoor seating is excellent, and being right on the water makes this a very pleasant place to have a drink. Our cocktails were also very good, and that's really what we came for in the first place.
So I'm landing somewhere in the middle with this visit. The location and patio are great, the drinks were good, and the hostess ultimately did the right thing and resolved what was clearly a communication problem. The interaction with the waitress, however, left us feeling a little awkward and could have been handled much more gracefully from the beginning.
That said, I'm not writing the place off. We enjoyed ourselves once everything was sorted out, and I'd be willing to give it another try. Hopefully next time we'll have a smoother experience from the moment we walk through the door.
