I would like to preface this review by saying that I used to be a regular: attended Wednesday Trivia Nights, went to Sunday or Saturday brunch with friends from out of town. Most, if not all, of our past experiences have been stellar. The food has been getting better and I noticed that they update the menu occasionally to keep things interesting, but making sure to keep their popular items (like the fish tacos, yum). I hope today was the anomaly because it was quite a far cry from the usual service and food quality I am used to.
We had a large group with us since they were family visiting from another town, one coming all the way from a different state. We were hoping for them to have a good time, as we expect from our previous patronage. Our server was friendly enough and it took him a bit of time for him to come over to get us the brunch menus and water when it wasn't really busy (there was a small private party in the back and 2 other tables). Nonetheless, we gave him our order as he fumbled his way through the table. No big deal: he's probably new. The table ordered one regular Bloody Mary and I ordered the XL version to share with another since it's supposed to be a bit bigger with extra toppings. For the extravagant description of the XL, I was expecting lots of exciting toppings. When they came, we noticed the only difference was the size of the drink and a sad looking piece of prosciutto with a sadder looking, dried up piece of cheese.
The group ordered a dish each, which included a couple of burgers and a wrap. The food started to show up but the servers told us it was bacon, egg, and cheeses. We ordered burgers. Someone from the other side of the establishment asked if it was their order and the servers looks confused. They went back to the kitchen only to come back to us saying they were burgers but they didn't recognize it. Big red flag there: the servers don't know their own menu.
We happily ate our food, one person dismayed that he got a regular store bought potato roll instead of the brioche rolls they used to serve a few months ago when I visited last. I gave my shrimp away but they quickly realized that it was covered in MOLD. We all looked at it and we confirmed it was hairy, grey mold. We waved the waiter over, he apologized profusely, took it away, then went to another table that called him over.
When we got the check, we noticed there were items we did not order: extra drinks and dishes. They came over and checked their tablet and rudely exclaimed, "No, you're wrong. It's the same price so it doesn't matter." He came over and showed me the dishes were, in fact, the same price but he entered it in as something else. My guess is that he couldn't find the exact item on the tablet (remember the fumbling from earlier?), out in some substitutes, but now projecting his frustrations on us. I think we would have been more understanding if they weren't so accusatory and explained the situation calmly instead of blaming us for "our oversight." The extra drinks were actually their fault so they took them out.
We mentioned the fuzzy shrimp drink and they said they took it out of our check, but the older server, possibly the manager, told us we were wrong thinking it was mold because it was "definitely" Old Bay seasoning.
Are you kidding? When is Old Bay ever hairy and grey?
We paid the check with 20% tip and left with a bad feeling. It was worse because of our out-of-town family having to experience that but what could we do? I'm disappointed that the food quality checks and service has gotten worse since I've been here last. I love the fact we have a GOOD local brewery in the neighborhood. However, if things keeps going downhill, I don't know if I want to support it especially if they treat customers like they're wrong and the staff doesn't admit to their mistakes. I'm just hoping I don't get food poisoning tonight. read more