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| - Light on atmosphere, serious about service. Michael's is a paradoxical mismatch of high and low end dining.
Let me give you the good news first: Incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, helpful and attentive staff. Large menu with lots of tasty choices. Generous, well prepared portions and reasonable value. Healthy options and some imaginatively indulgent ones (Crispy bacon wrapped liver anyone?)
Now the bad: Ambiance; we were the only one's in the non smoking section, which was hit with 2nd hand smoke wafting over from the lounge side. Their was an office attached to our dining area, only separated by fabric hanging down from the ceiling so we heard lots of loud business phone calls. The kitchen was also extremely loud, and even though we were sitting in the furthest possible point away from it, the banging and shouting emanating from it was distracting. Last, there was a very bright fluorescent bulb affixed against a wall directly at the guest's eye level. It was placed above a side table to help the staff write notes, but it was blinding to look directly at, which was unfortunate as it was uncovered and placed immediately in front of me.
Heavy on service and food, but light enough on overall atmosphere to still make for a sub-par experience. If it was a casual pizza shop or deli I would expect the noise and look, but with $20-$30 entrees, Michael's creates higher expectations of a fine dining experience than they live up to.
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