| rev:text
| - This is another toughie for me to review, for a variety of reasons.
First of all, I like the decor and I like the ambiance of this place. It's not like most of the other restaurants (especially chains) in the area, and while pretentious, it at least outwardly appears fancier than you'd otherwise expect. There's also the lighting and a lot of windows, which is typically a plus in the early evening, so you can catch some of the sunset or watch the wind batting around the palm branches.
Food and service, however, have never really impressed me at this location. I don't know if it is specific to this restaurant or if the entire chain is this way, but after multiple visits, my honest opinion is that their menu is way, way too big. They have immense variety, but as they say, jack of all trades and master of none. Case in point, nothing I have had here has been the best, or even remotely close, compared to what I've gotten elsewhere.
I've tried the pulled pork, but I've had better almost everywhere else. Tried the burgers, but better can be had for far less money elsewhere. Appetizers are pretty much on the same page, things like pot stickers are literally no better than what you can buy in the frozen food section of your grocery store, there was nothing special about them. I've also given their pizza a try and it was some of the worst I've ever had anywhere -horrible, tasteless crust, nasty sauce and cheese that was just.. yuck.
I will concede that their dessert menu does offer a few delights that I have been happy with. The milkshakes, and the strawberry one in particular, were always sinfully good. I never could finish them because they were so huge, but at least they were delicious, unlike most of the food I've had there.
In terms of service, there has been a lot of inconsistency in my visits. More often than not, it's below average service, slow drink refills and the like. Really gets my goat when I see the "drink refill guy" topping off every table but mine, despite the empty glass on the corner of the table, begging to be refilled. But then, he's not the server, so do you factor this into your tip? This is why I hate when restaurants job-share tables, it puts you in a position to have to punish a good server for a crappy drink service that was someone else's fault. Sigh.
Bottom line, I think, is that this place is trying to be too many things at once, with the not at all unexpected result of poor execution. Their menu has to be close to 20 pages, and it really doesn't help that there are paid advertisements in it on every page too. I don't know why they see the need to generate revenue that way, but it reeks of desperation and detracts horribly from the experience of dining in a faux-upscale restaurant, even more so than half-baked service.
My advice? Stay away until they slim down the menu and try to specialize, or at least only go for the desserts. The rest of their food is just adequate, at best, and definitely overpriced for what it is. Combined with the unpredictable service, I just don't see any reason to go back here.
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