| rev:text
| - I have purposely held off writing a review of this spot thinking that perhaps my four visits were anomalies and not the norm but after my last experience on Saturday I have decided that in fact that it just isn't going to get any better... so here we go.
Yes the Rosa and the Sonny Boy are sublime. In fact there are a handful of things on the menu that I believe don't get any better. But there enough things on the menu that are done equally as well or better elsewhere that they lose their first star and are down to 4.
Ambiance is actually nice. In fact it is quaint, with the home like feel of the two rooms, resulting from what used to be the two restaurants in one concept that they thankfully abandoned. This location is far more roomy than their other venues, which is really appreciated, unless you are one of those people that doesn't mind squeezing around the door and straddling the seat to get into your allotted 2 sqft. Nice doesn't warrant a bump, so we are holding at 4 stars.
Service is what kills this location. Yes, I know you believe you are local food gods but refer to my first point... you are very good in some areas and lacking in others, so if you want to rate five stars then you are going to have to kill on service and well you do sort of, just not in the way that is good. So once again, the meal took on a sort of combative feel and to quote Patton Oswalt's stand up that came later in the evening, "I'm so pissed right now, but I can't wait to see how this all plays out."
As a customer, I shouldn't feel "beholding" to get a table at 5:10 p.m. on a Saturday. When I walk in and you have a total of 4 tables, do you have to sit my party of five at the smallest four-top in the restaurant? Should the waiter come to the table three times, blurt out some information and dash off to his other table without so much as asking for drink orders? When our party asked if we could move to one of the larger tables that might actually accommodate food for five people, is it required to hold an adhoc summit meeting in the corner, comprised of five wait staff, the GM, and the hostess all glaring at our table and whispering? Hint: If you don't want people to know what you are saying, just move your bodies into the other room... (Down .5 stars for invoking the spirit of a cold war peace talk) Should the hostess come to speak at length to our table and condescendingly explain that ALL of the other tables are reserved so the larger four-tops aren't available because the parties are coming in at 6:45 and I'm assuming she didn't think our party could eat in under 1.5 hours? After expressing that we could probably meet the time requirements for a larger table if someone were to actually take our order, we were ushered over to a different table with grand Downton ceremony. (Down 1 more star for tainting my favorite show and making this feel like we were a Make-A-Wish kid being granted their final request) And then apparently we had been branded the "trouble table" because we were now under the care of the GM and experienced peripheral glances from the entire wait staff. At least service picked up at this point. We were able to place our order, which may have included more items but we knew we were under the gun and had to vacate the table before 6:45, so we stuck with simple and straight forward and quite frankly I think we all just wanted to eat and get out of there by that point. Amazingly we had only been at the restaurant for fifteen minutes and we had gone through what seemed like a full month's worth of soap-opera drama and long staring pauses. If only we had the appropriate soundtrack to fill out the backdrop... Net result 2.5 stars.
The food came out quickly but considering the number of patrons and the simplicity of our order (four pizzas), this didn't seem like a Herculean effort. The GM poked his head around the corner for a peek or hovered around the table at approximate four minute intervals, plates were whisked away at an alarming rate and at 6:08 p.m. we left the restaurant. Fifty-eight minutes of some of the most uncomfortable dining experience possible. So my fifth visit will be my last. If you want CB's food, go to one of the two other venues in the city and pass on this one. Or just go to one of the other local, less glorified, spots that are on par with his pizza and where you don't have to take on a submissive stance for the privilege of eating.
Hint: You are honored by the presence of your customers and exist at their whim. Not the other way around. :(
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)