| rev:text
| - This scenario seems familiar to most...dinner for a friend's birthday...pick somewhere nice with a wide variety of food options that most in the party have not eaten at before. The celebrant decided on Rao's in Caesar's. I had forgotten until I walked up to the restaurant that I had actually eaten there twice before. After this experience, I remember why I didn't remember them the first two times.
Our night began with a phone call to the restaurant to find out the dress code/attire. We were told that it was business casual and that jeans were not permitted. We asked even for women if they were nice jeans and were told we would be "turned away." Upon arriving at the restaurant, the first guest I saw seated was wearing a Hawaiian print button up shirt, tan shorts and flip flops. Next I saw a women in a tank top, white shorts and tennis shoes. I had changed out of my outfit to meet their requirements, making us 20 minutes late, only to find out when we got there that we still would have been better dressed then some of the patrons.
We were seated in a far corner in the back of the restaurant. Greeted promptly with menus and a discussion of the specials. The rest of my party was a bit put-off when we were told that the poached salmon was actually served in a "foil-bag." We ordered drinks and reviewed the menu. I explained what I had eaten before and what I thought might be good selections. Being that I had been there before I decided to try something new. Their vodka sauce is truly amazing and they had a ricotta shell dish that came with their famous marinara sauce, so I decided to switch it out with the vodka sauce. The rest of the party gave their orders.
Our waiter then became non-existent and seemed rushed or busy whenever he did finally come over to check on us. Food came out after a long wait (the restaurant wasn't even busy)...mine looked like a glorified version of mac and cheese made with pasta shells and a vodka sauce. I was very disappointed that there wasn't any ricotta in the shells. When I inquired about it with the waiter, he told me I had ordered it that way. I knew I had specifically asked for ricotta so he offered to bring me a side of ricotta. The rest of the party was not satisfied with their meals either. The waiter never asked what we thought about our meals. When we finally got our check, we about passed out. The drinks we had been ordering (Red Bull and house vodka) were $22 each. These were tiny little cocktails that are served in the same size glasses that you get comp'd drinks in, while gambling in a casino. They charged separately for the Red Bull and vodka, which most places do, but charged us for a full Red Bull with each drink, with out bringing out the remaining Red Bull to the table (as most places do.) We were appalled. Dinner was over $250 per couple, the food was below average, and the service was horrible. We even told him we were there for our friend's birthday and he looked at us like, "so?"
I can pretty much guarantee I will NEVER eat at Rao's again. I am more than willing to pay decent prices for excellent food and service, but for what we received at Rao's, I would have rather gone to The Olive Garden and saved $200! At least there I can get unlimited salad and breadsticks! LOL
I am not a glutton for punishment...this girl will NEVER make the mistake of going to Rao's for a nice night out with friends, EVER again.
|
![[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)