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| - I SOOO wanted to enjoy the experience more than we have on two of the three occasions we've been here for dinner. The grounds are lovely and the concept fresh, but food and service so inconsistent that it's hard to know what to expect.
Our telephone contact for reservations was super all three times! Really, here's an area where the management really shines, as in giving warm and welcoming first contact. Unfortunately, not so warm and welcoming after that, although we were greeted pleasantly and seated promptly, which isn't always so easy to accomplish.
We had reservations for six at six o'clock to accommodate finals-week schedules of the teens in our family, so I'm not thinking we just hit the staff at the end of an exhausting holiday-week dinner shift. Short story: (1) 10-15 minutes before any contact with a server and that only b/c we flagged down the hostess as she whizzed past, (2) absolutely no overview of the menu or personal interaction with our server, mainly menus passed out and orders jotted down, (3) no follow up or even eye contact during dinner, (4) no suggestion of coffee or dessert, which we might have considered since this was a birthday dinner. However, by then we were sliding into indifference, so left a modest tip and zipped off for hugs in the parking lot. The front desk staff was busy when we left, so the server, possibly inexperienced and certainly not-so-well-trained, may have wondered why we didn't recognize her efforts.
The most pleasant interaction of the evening was with a guy who delivered some of our dishes and chatted up our 14-year old about where on earth he was planning to put that gigantic hamburger! He even paused a moment later in the meal to express amazement at the clean plate. This 2-minute exchange was more what you might expect from a nice mid-range restaurant.
The food was okay, nothing special, and certainly nothing to compare with the setting. Pomelo, and certainly The Orchard as a whole, potentially has more to offer than some of the restaurants only a bit further south on 7th street, where both food and service keep us coming back. I haven't given up on Pomelo, but will be awhile til we try again.
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