"I've had better..." seems to sum up the entirety of the experience I had at "Weights + Measures" restaurant portion of their double barrel establishment; the restaurant and bakery.
My wife found the location on Yelp to quench our appetite before we went to see one of her favorite musical acts at Fitzgerald's. Usually she is right on the money with her selections so we made our way to the, kind of, middle-of-nowhere spot.
On first approach, I was blown away with the exterior touches and the interior decor. It was like a contemporary architect had a one night stand with an art major highly influenced by 1950s pop culture; the colors were flashy from the grass-inspired chairs we sat on to the large orange refrigerator. There was not a large outdoor seating area but no reason to fault W+M on that.
We were quickly seated, at 7PM on a Thursday night, right at a border table on the aisle that leads to the bakery so we had front row access to all the goings on. I wasn't excited about the fact that the difference in distance between us and the table to my immediate left was about the diameter of a quarter. Three older patrons came in and sat at said table, were given glasses of water, and quickly made their way to the door right when the waiter had her back turned.
I don't blame them. Nobody wants to eat with stranger's conversations annexing theirs for the night.
I was equally impressed with their beer list as I was with the decor and we quickly ordered (though the name of the beer escapes me now); the beer seemed a tad on the warm side. I did make note that the beer menu was separated into groups based on styles with small blurbs associating wayfaring ships to the beer below; I will reference this later but just keep note of this.
We then diverted our eyes to the Scantron Test-style menu for the day; Ribeye Meatballs to start followed by the Sausage, Purple Onion, & Basil pizza to share. Our waitress had informed us that there would be eight meatballs, which would be perfect for sharing between two people, but we received seven, instead. Upon mentioning this she double-checked and there were only supposed to be seven, actually. No worries here but my untrained restaurateur mind always questions why an appetizer, usually meant to be shared, isn't even-numbered portions.
The Ribeye meatballs were tasty and we enjoyed them despite my wife mentioning they tasted as if they were vegan which immediately made me note a different taste subconsciously.
The Sausage pizza arrived quickly after that and I must admit I was surprised to find it thin-crust. There was no mention of a "filo-pastry-like-thin-crust" listed on their menu but, okay, I guess I can get past this and judge based on flavor.
There was no redeeming factor for this pizza.
First off, there was flavor but it was an afterthought. The toppings sashayed off the crust like they were going over the Texas Freefall at Splashtown. The best part? The seasoned outer crust after you've eaten through the congregation of absent flavors. Oh, and they also cut the slices in, an even-numbered, six.
We finished up with a chocolate-chip cookie from the bakery which, in my opinion, was the best thing we ordered all night. I'm not sure when they were baked that day but it was perfectly sweet, still soft on the inside, and easily worth, at least, a one-star better review.
I must append this by saying that I cannot comment on what, I'm sure, are better entree offerings. We stuck with things we could split because we both had large lunches that day; I'm sure the owners will be the first to admit they are not a pizza joint. However, informing patrons of the thin-crust would be a move in the right direction.
The next thing I will comment on is one of the major reasons why I rated this restaurant how I did. We had interactions, or should I say lack thereof, with one particular waiter whom wasn't our main server. When someone says "thank you" for whatever you may be doing, it is usually common courtesy to offer back a "you're welcome" or, even, anything of that nature. Straight up ignoring my wife and my acknowledgement of your work is pretty unprofessional.
To Mr. Tall, Brooding, Moustached, Trying to Seem Mysterious Waiter-guy, we notice when you ignore our "thank you" not once, not twice, but three times yet gladly spend a significant time explaining the beer menu to a table of young women.
You were the weakest link at "W+M" for us.
Last note, our check came in a cassette tape case.
Let that sink in.
For a restaurant with mentions of maritime ships, a cassette tape seems like you're reaching to be "hip". In my opinion, it's not clever...it shows a business with a lack of identity. read more