MASSIVE DISAPPOINTMENT. Horrific service. Solid but not life-changing food.
Saw this restaurant on a YouTube Eater channel video about their chicken parm sandwich. Looked amazing. Restaurant vibe looked great. And Michelin rated? Sign me up.
So I went there with my wife and another couple for my wife's birthday on a Friday night. Arrived shortly after 7:05. It was busy, but not like the line was out the door. It's not a big dining area, but we were told it would probably be 25 minutes to get seated when we got to the front window to order. We placed our orders around 7:12. 4 sandwiches and two sides. Guy rang it all up; even showed us the order on the screen. We also each ordered a drink to enjoy while we waited the purported 25 minutes. But then we kept waiting. Finished our drinks. Waited. Then two of us ordered another. Finished those. More waiting.
Next thing we knew we had been standing in the small waiting/ordering area for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Finally, we flagged down one of the waitresses/servers/hosts (its unclear exactly what her title would be). We asked if there was any sense of when we might be seated. She said it was really tough to say, that she knew we had been waiting for a while, but it was basically just a tough night and just kind of walked off.
Another 10 minutes pass and we try to flag her again to see if, at this point, it would be more practical just to convert our order to a to-go order and just eat it elsewhere. She couldn't answer and mid-thought just walked off. We were left hanging and just confused.
Finally, a solid 1 hour and 40 minutes after ordering, we were told our table was available and asked if we still wanted it. What? Yes we still wanted it! We sat down and the same server/waitress woman asked if we would like to order or if we had ordered at the window previously. We said we had ordered previously, some 1 hour and 45 minutes prior. She sauntered off. Another 10 minutes or so go by, and we begin wondering why she would have asked that. We hadn't heard from anyone else at this point and we start getting nervous that maybe our food was not imminently on its way. So we flag her down again and ask if our order had in fact been placed. IT HAD NOT. She then slunk away and sent the man taking the orders at the window to see us, who explained that he had canceled our food order when we placed our drinks. Wait, what? He just failed to tell us? It made no sense.
At this point I was visibly frustrated. He asked if we still wanted to eat. We said yes and ordered our same order, again. From that point on, we basically didn't hear anything from anyone. Sure, the food came out relatively quickly after that point. But no words from the server/runners. Not even any eye contact. Like they were embarrassed and couldn't face the group they had clearly messed up on.
Finally, about 2 hours and 15 minutes after we first got there, we got our food. Again, no apology, no "We are really sorry about the confusion" or "how about another drink on us" or anything. Just a sheepish dropping off of the food and slinking away.
As for the food itself, the sides were solid (fries and onion rings). Nothing life-changing, but a good and fun changeup from the classic versions. The sandwiches were mixed. The chicken nug was solid but unspectacular. The chicky pep was very good. My wife's spicy panes was exceedingly wet. She ate about three bites. All in all, it was uneven but generally pretty good.
Given that we had spent nearly three hours there at this point, we were eager to leave. Asked for a to go box and the check. We got the to go box. Another 5 minutes before we had to get someone's attention to bring us the check. I'm not usually that guy, but I figured after such horrible service--telling us it would be a 25 minute wait when it was in fact a 1 hour and 40 minute wait, cancelling our order without telling us, and then basically ghosting our table over a roughly three-hour night--they would have thought maybe, just maybe, we should do something to make up for it. But no. No "can we bring you a drink" or "how about desert on us" or anything. Just an unapologetic full bill. Whatever.
All in all, one of the sandwiches was great. One was good. One was underwhelming. The sides were solid. The service was terrible and the overall experience was brutal. I wouldn't go back. read more