Before I even talk about the restaurant itself, I am going to gripe about their phone system. On…read moreFriday, I called to make a reservation for 10 at 1:30 the next Tuesday, after seeing on the website that the size limit for online reservations was 8 and being directed to call the restaurant for larger parties. I got what I originally thought was a pretty advanced virtual operator. We went through all of the paces about my reservation. Then when I said it was a party of 10, it cut me off and said that the limit was eight and that I needed to call the restaurant directly to make my reservation. It gave me a number to call, which just so happened to be the actual number I was already connected to and hung up on me.
I called the number again. This time I told it that I wanted to speak with a human being. It checked to see if anyone was available, apologized, and told me to call back later before asking if I needed anything else. I said I was trying to speak with someone about a reservation for 10 people. It told me it could help me with the reservation and went through the whole process again. Then it said it would check for availability. It told me there was availability, but that it would need to be confirmed with someone. Once again, no one was available. I told it I was getting really frustrated. It suggested that I book a table for eight and call back later to adjust it. I did that.
I called again on Sunday and got the same virtual run around. Finally, after three tries, I was given an email address. I sent an email to someone named Adam at 1:30 pm, but never got a response.
On Monday, not having heard back, I called again. I got the same run around. This time the virtual operator actually told me that I should just drive over to the restaurant to talk to the manager about my reservation since the number is busy. I called one last time at 1:41 PM on Monday. This time, the virtual assistant inexplicably asked me if I wanted to leave a message! Before, when I said I wanted to leave a message, it told me that it was not possible. I left a message, but never did hear back.
When I was headed to bed late Monday night, I decided to look at the menu again. But, because the restaurant was already closed, it wouldn't even let me see the offerings. I decided at that very moment that I had had enough of Embers. I planned to call every one of my people and tell them our luncheon was canceled. This morning, I had cooled off a bit and decided to just show up and hope for the best.
Now, I'll actually review the restaurant. When I walked in and joined three of my party who had already arrived, a young man asked me how many people were in my party before I could even mention my reservation. He smiled and said no problem, walked across the dining room, and put some tables together for our group. Then he led us to our chairs and morphed into our server for the rest of our visit. His name was Justin, and he alone redeemed the restaurant in my eyes. He was a terrific server- polite, attentive, patient, and very helpful.
When we ordered, only two of us chose the same thing. We got the grilled meatloaf. Meatloaf is my favorite food, and this did not disappoint. It was crispy from grilling, very lightly glazed in BBQ sauce, nice and juicy, and packed with flavor. The mashed potatoes turned out to be the loaded kind, and were a perfect side. The green beans were cooked perfectly, but I wished they had a little bacon in them.
Everyone enjoyed their food. I didn't hear one negative comment from them. I thought everything I actually could see from my vantage point looked amazing. I definitely have to try the ribs the next time I go. And trust me... Thanks to Justin's excellent service and the wonderful food, I will forget about the phone issue. But, I am deducting one star because of it. I hope Adam, whoever he turns out to be, reads this and realizes that the restaurant's phone system needs some tweaking. Not everyone would be as forgiving as I almost wasn't!