We had some people for out of town visiting and we were looking for a reservation for a large party and found Citizen Public. Me and my wife were the first to get there and right away the hostess tells us we have a hard out time at 8pm. We had a 6pm reservation. Sort of strange to me to pressure us right away but oh well
So they seat us in this semi private area with a large table away from the open dining area. You can see the dining area from our table. It just seemed like our server and hostess was very nervous to make sure we were out of there by 8. Anyways, our friends were a half an hour late which didn't help but oh well
I started off with the OMFG Chopped salad. It had raw salmon, dried corn, tomatoes, greens, etc with the dressing on the side. Mixed it myself. It was okay. Good salad. Would i order again. Not sure
I had the fair trade Short Ribs. Only reason I ordered this was because it was described as local coffee rubbed short ribs. Love coffee. You get four fairly large pieces of ribs with a dried cherry sauce on the side with some type of mashed potatoes and leafy greens. Ribs were moist and fell apart on a touch. Poured the cherry sauce on top and it was pretty good. Not great but good. The mashed potatoes were pretty good but just didn't think the greens went with this meal very good. So overall I thought the dish was ok.
My wife and son got the Amaro Meatloaf which was veal with mashed potatoes and roasted zucchini. It was pretty good. Moist and good. Thought the zucchini was overly seasoned but just my thoughts. It was a pretty good meal.
My mom and others got the tacos and it turns out this is three small street tacos. They said it was okay. Not sure. Didn't try but wasn't a lot.
Service was pretty good. Had people fill our water glasses. Check on us and took away our plates in a timely manner. Only thing that irked me was them constantly pressuring us to get out by 8pm. We left at 7:45 but felt pressured. So this didn't really help our meal. Didn't seem as pleasant as it could be.
The ambiance was very Downtown Scottsdale. Very loud. Upbeat. Dim lighting. Bar in the middle of dinning area.
So overall, the food was okay. Not great but good. Service really good but the pressure to get out was too much. Great upbeat ambiance for a younger crowd. Not really for older people who like peace and calm. Just really didn't feel the love at this place. So I give this place a 3 and a half star.
Will I ever come back is the true test. Not sure. The menu didn't really intrigue me but possibly I would give it another try.