I have been to TBM twice now. The first experience was beyond excellent. The second visit was horrible. I never wrote up my first review, so this will be based on both visits.
Had I reviewed TBM upon my first visit, it would have easily received a 5 star review. My wife and I were there for our anniversary and we shared a bottle of wine and the cheese plate to start. My wife had the Steak Diane which was a total knock out. I ordered the Penne ala Vodka, which was also very good. Our server was very attentive and paid close attention to our wine glasses, keeping them filled.
My second visit was on a Sunday to celebrate my birthday with my wife and parents. Let me begin by saying that, I do not recommend this place on Sundays, especially for a first visit, because the menu is very limited, and do*es not do the chef justice. When we walked in, it was very busy, but the hostess offered us a seat at a high top table. We took it. Don't make the same mistake... wait it out and take a table. The stools at the high top table were incredibly uncomfortable (especially if you have short legs). Some of our party ended up spending as much time standing at the table as sitting. The light bulb in the light just above your head also puts off a ton of heat, so we spent the whole evening sweaty and uncomfortable. Our waiter took forever to come greet us and take our drink orders, which was a harbinger of things to come, because he took forever to do just about everything for our table. I ordered the beer tasting (a sampling of 6 beers), and each arrived independently, which is fine, but they came so far apart, that it was difficult to do any actual comparisons, and since there were only about 2-3 sips in each sample, it did not do much to quench my thirst. I got my 3rd sample of 6 before the entrees came out, but did not ever get number 4. Towards the end of the meal, I just asked for the last 3 at the same time so I could go ahead and finish it. Five minutes later when he came back to clear plates and without anything for me, I told him to just cancel the rest and take it off the bill. We also had to wait an inordinate length of time for napkins, water and food. Eventually I had to go ask the busy bartender for some napkins. As far as the food, we had 1 order of the Smoked Turkey Rachel (which was apparently very good), 1 Juicy Lucy burger (which was a greasy failure) and 2 Steak Dianes... 1 person thought it was excellent, I ordered the other one, and did not have the same reaction. The color for a med-rare seemed spot on, but the texture and feel of the steak seemed off somehow (pink in the middle but on the dry side). I'm not sure if this came from using weights to speed the cooking process or what, but it was not as good as I had tasted when my wife ordered it a couple of weeks before.
All in all, I would say this is a restaurant with tremendous potential, but they suffer from inconsistency and a staff that is ill prepared for large dinner services. I sincerely hope these kinks are ironed out because there aren't very many comparable restaurants OTP, and I'd like to see this one succeed. read more