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| - I arrived yesterday @ 11:30 to meet my friend Diane (1st time here) on the patio. The last time I'd been there, dogs were allowed on half the patio & the patrons w/out dogs on the other half. Not the case now. Five women showed up with a poodle & 2 guys with an Airedale. The noise level, due to a barking dog on the other side, Crate & Barrel construction that abuts the restaurant, & the garbage on the stereo were over the top for an afternoon lunch outdoors. But we just had to be outside on this beautiful day.
Our server appeared shortly and we ordered 2 salads: chicken/sundried tomato/feta, and the new strawberry w/goat cheese, both of us requesting dressing on the side. Though the restaurant had few patrons, the food took way too long to appear. When the salads arrived, I added creamy balsamic to mine & soon discovered the chef had already added dressing, so I had a bowl of dressing. But that wasn't all... each cherry tomato was old & squishy, there was a small sliver of cheese, a few gushy strawberries, and for some reason they had little gobs of crunchy cereal throughout. And this was whose idea? My friend said her salad was okay, but it came with the lettuce shredded which restaurants seem to think is so cool these days.
A pet peeve of mine that leaves me frustrated & curious is why servers don't seem to be trained on seating arrangements (assuming there are enough other alternatives)... i.e. if 2 seniors arrive, why would you seat them next to whiney children? Or: why would you seat two diners next to a table of 5 cackling women with a dog? Or next to the kitchen, or in winter next to the outside door? Know what I mean?
I soon realized that the great manager Phil has been gone for a few months, explaining why this trip (as well as the last) left a lot to be desired. And though this optimist doesn't want to adhere to "all good things must come to an end," I'm going for greener pastures.
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