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| - My friends and I had intended to go to Shadygrove downstairs for their half priced wine special and for dinner, but it was pretty crowded this evening. They initially said the wait was 20-30 minutes so we decided to wait, but while we were waiting the staff kept trying to talk us in to going to the restaurant upstairs called "Up" which originally I had thought was part of the same restaurant and that "Up" was more of a directional sign than an indication of a separate restaurant. Once it was explained that it had another fancier menu we took a look, but it looked a bit overpriced and fancy for the casual dinner we were looking for. And it was concerning that downstairs was packed while upstairs was empty, despite their pleas for people to go up there. The staff were persistent in trying to talk us into it. Finally I said, well how about you bring some appetizer samples and that might entice us. The owner actually agreed to this and after about 15 minutes he came down with some ratatouille on mini toasts that was much like a bruschetta. It was decent, but all it consisted of was some marinated vegetables on toast. I tried to find the item on the menu and it was not there. I eventually figured out it was part of a portabella/mozzarella/ratatouille appetizer but they left out the portabella and mozzarella and only gave us the cheaper ratatouille. I found this to be rather tacky, especially since I intended to try it to figure out if I really wanted to go to the restaurant or not, but this was not a representative appetizer.
We still wanted to go to Shady Grove but it turned out the wait was actually going to be much longer than originally estimated. As a result, we finally gave in and went to "Up" upstairs. We ordered a $32 of Malbec red wine at half off, which was a good deal for half off though $32 was overpriced for that particular wine (and this was one of the cheaper priced ones). In fact, the menu listed it as a "2010" vintage but they brought us a "2011" and they spilled some on the tablecloth and menu while pouring. I ordered the Bolognese pasta for dinner for $24 and it tasted just ok and was a decent portion, but the quality was certainly not worth $24. There was a decent amount of meat but the pasta texture was off (a little chewy/undercooked) and while the sauce was ok it tasted like it came form a can/jar rather than homemade. It also wasn't a traditional italian Bolognese (meatballs instead of a meat sauce and an unusual choice for the pasta type, not sure of the name for it), though it didn't claim to be the traditional version. And no offering of Parmesan cheese to top it off. I've had much better pasta at Olive Garden for cheaper. Although it was kind of an interesting variant on the traditional Bolognese. Also, for $24 you might expect some salad, soup or bread included with your entree, but there was nothing but a very thin and small slightly burnt toast crisp on the plate. One of my friends had a burger for around $12 which he said was good, but the fries were cold and soggy. Another friend had a "small plate" of crab tacos also around $12 but it came with 3 of the tiniest tacos I had ever seen (barely bitesize) though she said they tasted good. The presentation of the food was nice and probably their best feature. Service was fine but nothing stood out. The owner did check up on us once but he seemed bored with so many empty tables. The decor/ambiance has an odd blend of casual features with a fancier atmosphere and the music choice didn't fit well with the ambiance.
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