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| - The outdoor patio and fireplace merits a 5-star rating all on it's own. What a gorgeous set up!
Unfortunately, being cold-as-balls outside doesn't really make for a great patio night, even with a fire. So, indoors we stayed.
I have to admit, if I would have written this review two years ago, I would have easily given 4-5 stars. But, sadly it's gone a little down hill on the inside over the years.
First off, this place was empty on a Friday night, which is never a good sign. I'm not looking to be packed in like sardines with loud music--but it would have been nice to see other groups chatting it up on the couches, enjoying a cocktail and nice company. You know, a good energy, not wet-blanket-city.
Anyways, we picked a couple of couches and looked over the menu. Our waitress admitted to us almost immediately that it was her first night working. She didn't really need to tell us because it was really apparent. She had no knowledge of the menu at-all. If you're going to call yourself a wine bar, you might want to hire people with some experience with vinos. Or maybe at least enough to answer some simple questions. She didn't even know where the martinis were listed on the menu. It was sort of like she was just hired and thrown into the fire with no training. A plus? Well, she was really sweet and pretty attentive.
The decor struck me as a little odder than I remembered. Lots of gorgeous antiques items mixed with weird art deco... it felt like 806 was suffering from an identity crisis. It didn't help their cause that the music situation was awful. Picture someone at the bar controlling their iPod and switching the songs halfway through to random, early 2000's alt rock music (think adult contemporary... see also: hell.) Not cool.
The space itself is gorgeous, the cocktails were tasty and the wine list is great. This is just one of those instances where our experience was murder-balled simply from atmosphere and service alone. I don't think this will keep me from returning, but it will certainly not make this a top place to visit on my list.
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