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| - I visited Roots Cafe on a Tuesday evening with four other ladies for our monthly book club meeting. We arrived around 5:30 pm and were one of two tables in the restaurant. The bartender (owner? manager?) greeted us immediately and got us settled at a table with a large bottle of water to share. He invited us to come up to the bar to order. We went up for drinks first (of course!), and he was very helpful with selection and tastes before choosing the wines. I love that there are several sub-$10/glass options.
We then re-visited the bar to place our food order. We ordered 2 bunless veggie burgers, 1 chicken and dumplings, 1 brussels tartine and 1 veggie noodle bowl with chicken. Overall, the table agreed that the flavors were good but the execution was lacking. There were a number of things that could be improved:
1. At the time of ordering, we were the only table in the restaurant. But, delivery of the food from the first plate to the last plate was about 7-10 minutes apart ...plenty of time for the first plates to get cold if you are waiting for everyone to receive their food, which we were.
2. The food didn't meet the description of the menu and/or the order placed. The bunless veggie burgers didn't come with the cruncy sweet potato strips and the veggie noodle bowl was served without the chicken. The latter was corrected by bringing out a separate saucer of sliced up chicken, but it took minutes - time where the broth and veggies were cooling.
3. I know this place doesn't offer table service....but, since they have tables...maybe consider it. We would have loved more wine, but no one wanted to interrupt the conversation to get up and order more. No one checked to make sure the food was good or that we didn't need anything else once delivered. Again, I know this is their model - but, if you are serving hot food to tables, maybe add one more person to serve the tables.
Overall, the flavors were good...but, I think Roots needs a bit more time to mature.
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