| rev:text
| - I haven't read any previous reviews as I don't want to be influenced. We were very excited when we heard Sammy's was coming to the vacated former-Applebee's location 5 minutes from our home. We went to Happy Hour on Friday.
It was crowded but we still got 2 seats at the bar. First, the good news: The Kobe burgers were exceptional, nice touch with the optional Gorgonzola cheese. We liked the shrimp & artichoke dip, much better than the spinich-artichoke dip we had at the nearby Elephant Bar the night before. The Thai chicken satays were good with an exceptional peanut sauce.
The house Chardonnay was Grey Cellars, I believe, at the discounted price of $5.50 a glass. Not bad. Some of the normal appetizers were half-price. Again, not bad.
But, as a former bar manager at a high-volume restaurant-bar in Dallas and former restaurant owner, I was shocked by the very poor service at the bar. This comes from an owner's perspective in that it was so slow and unattentive that a lot of money was left on the table, for the restaurant and the corresponding 20% tip.
The design and layout of the establishment is outstanding. The south walls were totally open and the seating was very unique in certain areas giving you the feeling of being at somebody's home. Fantastic!
The design of the bar did not anticipate any high volume. The lower inner portion of the bar prevents close interaction from the barkeep with the customers. They have to lean way over in spots to serve customers at the bar. The width of the bar is not conducive for good assistance from bar-backs. It is very crowded back there. The bartenders are responsible for the high number of to-go orders phoned in. The bartenders should be selling drinks and food while appeasing the clients at the bar, not serving up bags of already-ordered carryout meals.
Subsequently, we would have ordered at least one, probably two more rounds of drinks in the time we were there. We could not get the attention of the bartender to give us our final tab for over 10 minutes. Even after requesting the final bill, it took another 10 minutes to get our charge card ran. Again, putting the "owner cap" on, the customer turnover at the bar would be much faster with better service at the bar. Thus, the restaurant and the bartenders are losing money.
I know Sammy's owner is damn good. Overall, his restaurants show that. BUT, I wish he would have given me a phone call asking my advice on the setup of the bar.
We will come back, but never on a busy night.
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