We had a 7:00 reservation for a party of 9. The table was ready at 6:50 and 6 of us were seated. At 7:20, I had to let the hostess know we had seen a server or had anyone come to our table. We sat for 20 minutes before the first glass of water was poured. The manager came over and apologized. We ordered drinks and appetizers. Another 15 minutes went by before we had our drinks. We ordered as soon as the drinks arrived. There was dirty silverware found on the table. The appetizers came out rather quickly. The next batch of food came out and the appetizer plates were not cleared. Everything was left on the table, including the menus. We had to ask to see a desert menu, the huge happy 40th birthday balloon must not have been a good indicator. The desert arrived along with a stack of plates and spoons. Some of the plates were chipped and dirty. I went to throw the plate away and a male server grabbed it from me, before I could explain it was dirty & chipped. He was rather rude in his demeanor and grabbed it from my hands.
We sat for another 20 minutes waiting for the server and we asked for our checks. I've been writing this review while waiting for our server to return so I can give her my credit card.
The food was okay, it was a bit over-seasoned. It was also over priced. The restaurant was very loud and it was hard to hear each other talk.
I will not return to Essex. I could think of a much better places to go, where I won't have to wait a total of 60 additional minutes in a loud restaurant