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| - This was my first and most likely my last visit here. To me, first impressions are most important.
The entry is not very inviting. The entry doors are centered on the building and to access you either go left the the end and walk up the handicap ramp or go right to the end and go up aging wood steps, and then walk back down to the entry. Just not all that inviting.
Walking into a completely empty bar/wine room at 7pm on a Thursday evening was a sign that this place was not a great place to socialize. Entering the dinning room that is sparsely decorated with mismatched inexpensive poster photos of Italy. Black linen table cloths adorned a simple table with food crusted salt and pepper shakers and cheap battery operated votive candles. A leather bound menu and wine list introduces you to the offerings. The server approaches with an industry standard greeting of "my name is *** and I'll be your server. Would you like anything to drink besides water." This place probably averages $30 per person which would put it into a higher class of restaurant. I would expect a more professional introduction. No offerings or suggestions of house specialties (suggestive selling) to start. Just the standard , do you know what you would like? I get this type of service when I go to Waffle House, I wouldn't expect it from a higher quality restaurant. After asking the waitress if there were any specials she replies with "one of our specials tonight is ..." after describing it that was it I suppose, even though the menu states that there is supposed to be a fish special (the previous special didn't have fish with it). Oh well, I ordered a chef recommended dish (pollo ripieno - stuffed chicken with spinach, Gorgonzola & red pepper accompanied with a Gorgonzola cream sauce, pan fried potatoes and a side of spinach) and a glass of chianti. The wine was served on time but the flavor profile was somewhat muted and it seemed to have been opened for a while. Fairly boring room temperature bread roll served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. No crumbing of the table to keep it tidy. The entree took almost 15min to come out making the chicken dry and over cooked. The potatoes were a fairly poor being cooked through but not on high enough heat to sear the potatoes offering a textural crispness. The potatoes seemed as if they were kind of old with that certain dull translucency you get from old potatoes. The spinach was cooked well but was over salted. The sauce was thin and I could not taste any Gorgonzola in the dish. No check back performed by the waitress. After eating 2/3rds of my meal I decided I was finished. The server didn't enquire if I enjoyed it nor did she offer dessert listings. She just provided an industry standard "would you like anything else". I was pretty well done and just wanted to go so I asked for the bill.
So my overall first impression of this establishment is that it is highly over priced for the dinning experience. It was not a value at all.
Unfortunately this type of service and lack of passion in both the front of the house and kitchen is being provided ALL over. I just don't understand why everyone accepts mediocrity today. Well if you enjoy mediocrity you might like this place. For me, I don't and I didn't. Everyone can have a bad day, I get that, but for the entire experience to be that way, I'm thinking
This is probably the norm here. Too bad, I would think it could be such a great restaurant.
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