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| - There are a lot of positives about this place as others have stated: the romantic patio outside, the excellent food, and generally very good service. But the last two times left a bad taste in my mouth, figuratively speaking.
As a go-to place for special occasions, the last time was Valentine's Day. With bad weather, my wife and I ate indoors for a change. Tables were cram-packed together and I felt like my romantic interlude was with the people at the adjoining tables. Not fun.
This time, we were joined by another couple to celebrate my wife's birthday. I had called ahead while making the reservation to see what they might be able to do for her, as it was a major birthday. Nothing--besides putting a candle in her dessert. Unless I wanted to pay an arm and a leg to buy a cake.
So it was a bit extra warm that night and I asked if they could turn on the misters. One guy went away to say they would try....later to find they couldn't do it. So we stayed outside, a bit on the toasty side. (We didn't want a repeat of Valentine's Day).
The food was good...I had the Salmon in Ponzu sauce, which was previously well-reviewed before.
When I checked with the waiter when it was dessert time if he was going to take care of the birthday preparations, he told me it was the first he had heard of it! Good thing I said something!
My Key Lime Cheesecake was pretty good. But the chocolate nougaty thing my wife ordered for dessert was like a Snickers bar that sat in the freezer--very hard and practically inedible...she practically had to chase it around the table as it kept jumping off her plate as she tried to cut into it!
Then when we got the check, it was near closing, and we never saw our waiter again. We waited quite a while until finally the busboy came by to pick up our payments. It was like we were deserted.
Considering this place ain't cheap, I expected better service and more attention to detail regarding the birthday preparations. If you want a low key celebration, here's the place to go. If you want the staff to get into it a bit more, this is NOT the place to go. Heck, even Applebee's gives you a singing chorus for your birthday! While the kitchen is still very good, I think the staff needs a bit more snap and caring about their customers to warrant a return.
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