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| - I really enjoyed this place and highly recommend it.
On Friday night, my friend and I wanted to go to dinner close to where I live so I said "Ok. Ballantine's." (There isn't much choice in Willoughby unless you want to go to Panini's or the Willoughby Brewing Company.)
The valet guy was very nice. Also, no wait, but the place was crowded. Our server (James [I EVEN REMEMBER HIS NAME, HE WAS SO GOOD]) was so helpful and, quite frankly, wonderful. I asked him if he had a certain type of beer and he said he didn't, but offered two others I would like instead. He knew his stuff.
We ordered three different bruschettas for appetizers. They were taking SO LONG. My friend was getting annoyed. They finally arrived, and James and (what I can assume is the GM) arrived, apologizing for the tardiness of the apps, and offering a round on the house. They left and my friend said "you know, that makes all the difference to me! The service can be excellent but without the GM apologizing, I wouldnt give him a great tip but now, I would give that guy anything!"
The bruschetta was fantastic. Yum. Then came the entrees. I had the salmon special. IT WAS SO GOOD. Like, really, really good. My friend asked how it was and I said "OMG. This is magnificent." I ate every last bite of it that I could scrape onto my fork. He got the Flippin Good Burger. I asked "how is it?" He said he would actually like more onions on it (vegetables is what he called it) and said the fries were really good. Against every fiber of his being and saying what I thought I would never hear him say: "I think you need to write a YELP review about this place. This is REALLY good."
The only reason for four stars and not five is while our table was a pretty good table, it was really drafty, and we did wait a while for those apps and then to order entrees. That said, I would highly recommend James and come back to Ballantine's again.
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