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| - Everyone seems to love Batista's, and there must be a reason. But I sure didn't see many reasons to like it last night. It was my first visit---I went with out-of-town relatives who absolutely love the place.
The pluses first: The atmosphere is great, it's vintage Vegas and there are photos galore of everyone who is or was anyone. I love the carafes of house red and white wine they give you, and constantly refill. It's house wine, yes, but I really liked the white chablis. They also give you big baskets of garlic bread, and the Italian salad was quite good.
Now the minuses: My biggest problem with Batista's last night was the wait staff's attitude and the feeling I got of being rushed. Everything they did and said---and how they said it---screamed "We want to move you out of here as fast as we can." No smiles from the waiters, nothing friendly about them, just all business get-you-out-of-here attitudes. Our waiter brought an armload of salads to the table (yes, stacked on his arm), and said "Anyone here who doesn't want a salad?" We all did, and he dealt them out around the table, just like a 21 dealer. He took our orders and soon our food arrived.
I had steak pizzaiola. My plate was 3/4 steak covered in sauce, and 1/4 creamed spinach. It was mass of liquid. Frankly, it looked unappetizing, but the steak was very good. I didn't eat the spinach, though, I couldn't get past how it looked. They never brought my side order of pasta (the menu says you get soup or salad, garlic bread, a side of pasta, and cappuccino). I didn't realize they'd forgotten it until I was done eating because I felt so rushed. They dropped capuccinos on the table and the rush feeling really started. That's when I realized there's no dessert menu! I guess they don't want guests lingering over dessert. Since the family in our group hadn't seen each other in a couple of years, we were all talking over our coffee, but they kept trying to get us out of there! So we finally obliged them.
My dinner was $29.95, and I've certainly had far better for that price or less. Although the food was good, the presentation (at least of my dish) was just awful, and forgetting the pasta side just shouldn't have happened. And the truth is they weren't really all that busy. There was no line out the door, and I'm not sure anyone had to wait for a table if they didn't have a reservation. Normally I would have had a better steak, like a ribeye or a NY strip, but those were $39.95 on their menu, and I don't pay that much for a steak that's just a steak (it's not like the menu said it's kobe or even angus). I can't speak at all for the past dishes since I didn't have any, but those who had pasta in my party liked it.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed. To me, it seems like so many people come to Batista's (perhaps just so they can say they've been there) that Batista's no longer cares about the customer as much as they used to. Or, for all I've written, it might have just been a bad night. Whatever the case, it was a disappointing enough experience that I won't be going back, and I won't be taking guests there. Hope you all have better luck than I did.
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