This is a difficult review to properly balance. We'd seen the rooftop restaurant from my son's new…read morecollege apartment and went for dinner. After reading the sign indicating we need to see the host inside, we went. It was packed and looked modern chic, with low lights and high tables and tall chairs. We didn't have reservations and got the sorry, but we're full, to which I said we wanted to eat upstairs. To that, we got "okay" but that is a "different experience," which I frankly took as pretension... until I got upstairs. Then we understood.
It was mostly empty on this Saturday evening, opposite the main restaurant below, and had a single person working the whole space, a Bar tender who explained we were to pull up the menu with a QRC, order, and they would bring the food; if we wanted drinks, we needed to come to the bar.
Ordered food. Went to bar and waited. Good local craft beer on tap. Decent view, pleasant weather. And then a half hour passed. For sandwiches and tacos. Few minutes later, I went in to make sure our order was sent and that the kitchen actually received it. There was no animated chef in toque at a stove to indicate it was working, but she assured me it was. Another 15 minutes go by, and our beers are low, and we're considering.... Leaving or raising a stink when the bartender leaves her bar, looks at us, and goes down the stairs without a word, returning a few minutes later with nothing. That was odd, but seemed like progress.
A few minutes later, our food arrives. Perhaps 50-60 minutes after ordering it. The runner tells us the manager apologies for the wait and has comped all our food. Without our having to say a word. We ate a fine arugula salad with watermelon, blueberries, and cheese. A good chicken sandwich with the most unusual Parmesan parsley fries--they were more thick chips, fried into curls, and topped with fried parsley and grated Parmesan. If you order it on the side, it comes with aioli, which was excellent. My burger was outstanding. I could taste the smoke, and it came with not slices, but small cubes of bacon. No need for sauce. My wife's shrimp tacos were very good eating. Frankly, it was so good, I *might* have forgiven them the wait.
They did right to acknowledge their mistake. When we visit Binghampton again, we'll make reservations for the main dining room, which we were told has a much larger menu. We paid our bar tab via their Toast app. So yes, table service, but no waitron. It was a different experience, true to the host's word.
