Our server, Caidence, was friendly, but she seemed completely unaware of what was going on…read morethroughout our meal. When we were settled we were the first table in her section, and she only had three tables total (our party of 5, a party of 4, and a 2-top), yet she seemed very overwhelmed.
We waited around 15-20 minutes just to place our order while it seemed she took care of the other two tables first. From there, there were multiple mistakes. While setting food down, the strings from her bracelet dragged right across my steak. I didn't want the kitchen to have to remake my steak because of her, so I didn't make a big deal out of it. But it's something a server should be aware of.
As she was still taking our order, we changed one side from fries to a baked potato. She said no problem and that she'd fix it, but the food still came out with fries. We had to ask for several items that were missing, and it took around 10 minutes before she returned with them. Only then did she acknowledge the baked potato after we brought it up.
The biggest issue was the Sirloin Sydney Salad. The menu describes it as fresh mixed greens, arugula, cucumbers, tomatoes, bacon, pepitas, blue cheese crumbles, balsamic glaze, and steak. The only modification requested was no balsamic glaze, with the tomatoes, bacon, pepitas, and blue cheese on the side.
Instead, the salad came out as a bowl of iceberg lettuce with about four cucumber slices and the steak on top. There were no mixed greens, no arugula, and none of the requested toppings on the side. After we had pointed it out to her, she eventually brought a small condiment cup of arugula and another with pepitas, after we were basically finished eating. The arugula was soggy, and the rest of the missing toppings never came. Paying around $22 for what was essentially iceberg lettuce and steak was very disappointing.
Some of the blame certainly falls on the kitchen, but as a former server myself, I know it's also the server's responsibility to notice when a dish is obviously incorrect before bringing it to the table and to have it fixed. There were simply too many mistakes, and there seemed to be very little awareness of what was happening.
Despite everything, we still left a decent tip because we eat out often and generally tip well. If I had been dining alone, though, this would have been one of the few times I felt a 10% tip was more appropriate.
One final disappointment was that someone in our party ordered a sweet potato and was told they were out because they had used them all throughout the week. This was on a Sunday. It seems like a restaurant should plan inventory well enough to have a basic side item available through the weekend.
Overall, the experience was frustrating because it wasn't just one mistake, it was a pattern of poor attention to detail from both the server and the kitchen.