Date night, wanted to try a new place. Called to see if getting a table at 8 pm on Sat night would be a problem, she said no, come on down. We wanted to love it, as it's not far from home. It hurts me to give a place with a new owner a mediocre review. But I have to be honest.
Happy that we caught Notes from Neptune playing music which is only once a month; they were REALLY good. Relaxing yet upbeat, nice sax & voices, & not too loud to hold a conversation; well-done choice of entertainment.
The blonde server helped me choose a wine, let me try one I was considering, which I appreciated.
My husband got beef sliders. They were tasty & toasted buns were a nice touch. They came with a few (a FEW) fries that seemed to be made from delicious, creamy potatoes, but were sadly soggy even though they looked pretty well-done.
I ordered two apps instead of a meal - the sweet potato chips (server said they are delicious, made fresh to order) and the brussel sprouts.
We did have a staggered order, as I took a while to decide on my food. Slider order went in first. But once I did order, I waited a LONG time for the chips, much longer than the turnaround for my husband's sliders. The menu says "hand cut," so maybe they actually grab a raw potato and start carefully slicing when the order makes it into the kitchen? However, I would then expect them to be uh-oh hot. When they arrived, they had NO heat at all. Given my history as a server & restaurant manager, I'm guessing then they were left in the window a while before making it to our table.
The sweet potato chips were a shockingly small portion for the $5 price - I had to hide my surprise when they were delivered. You gotta know, we are NOT "big portion" people, we often split an entree when we go out, as we are not fans of the "more is better" concept. But for $5, this was ridiculous, a HANDFUL. My husband sincerely said to me, "I planned to have a few, but I'd feel guilty, as you won't have enough." I should have counted, could have very easily and quickly, but didn't think about it before I dove in since I was hungry. They are thin-cut, come in a cutesy little mini-deep fryer basket lined very loosely with waxy paper that therefore holds them up higher than the bottom of the basket (like the gift basket trick of putting in a false bottom to lift up the gift items). Therefore, initially they look mounding out of the little basket, with a honey dip ramekin nestled in there with them (taking up yet more space NOT full of chips). Once I removed the ramekin and looked inside, I could no longer deny that yes in fact this was a - forgive me, owner - rip off. I know what a sweet potato costs, even an organic one bought at retail price at "Whole Paycheck" grocery store. I'm all for places making a nice profit, but honestly... I felt kinda "taken" by that app. If it had been delicious, maybe if it had "wowed" me (I LOVE sweet potato anything), but they were un-warm, not much flavor, and the honey aioli didn't improve them for me at all (I set that to the side after two tries).
The brussel sprouts for some reason took another 15 - 20 minutes PAST the chips to arrive (no exaggeration, the band took their entire break & went back to playing while we waited for the brussels). But when they finally arrived, YUM! we agreed we should have skipped the chips AND the sliders, and just had multiple order of the brussels. (But that would be weird, "Hi, just 2 orders of brussel sprouts, please," - not a reason to return). They were delivered hot, and their weight pushed that little piece of wax paper all the way down into the cutesy basket, no space-robbing ramekin, so I'm happy to say said basket was joyously full. We didn't mind paying $6 for those! (Surely the brussel sprouts cost more than a small sweet potato?? Don't understand pricing logic here).
Music really saved the whole experience from being really mediocre. Server was very nice, but either she screwed up my order and 1. left my first item in the window and 2. forgot to put in my second item for a long time, OR this is normal kitchen flow (she didn't say anything like, "sorry for the wait," so maybe this is normal?). Either way, unimpressed.
SUMMARY: We agreed nothing to bring us back. However, we could see it's potential. If you hit it for happy hour prices and the music is good, and maybe when the patio is open, and the kitchen and servers are humming along, it could be a fine place to go, as others describe. Moving on...........
P.S. - Funny, I just saw that "Phyllis" mentioned an odor the same night we were there. We were not sitting near either bathroom. I asked my husband at one point, "Did you fart?" He looked shocked, swore no (and he's pretty trustworthy on that Q.) A little while later I smelled a waft again... and I realized it was the same sewage smell that happens in public bathroom drains from time to time. read more