I've been wanting to try Restaurant International for some time and finally got around to it as a…read moredouble date with my husband and another couple. Good thing we are all friends and like one another's company because the 4 course dinner took over 3 hours. The food was good, service was nice but could use some polish, and there were a few glitches throughout the evening. I realize that this is a learning facility and it's students who are in the hospitality program working here as part of their studies, so I am much more forgiving than if I was at a "real restaurant" and paying "real restaurant prices."
Prices are great. You get a 4 course meal for $22-$29. The price depends on what main you choose. The menu changes regularly.
My meal was $27, and I started with crab cakes, followed by a salad, then trout as my main, and a flourless chocolate cake for dessert. Everything was delicious, except the chocolate cake which was too dense and heavy.
The restaurant is by reservations only. Doors open at 5:30pm, which was our reservation time. We, along with other patrons arrived before 5:30pm and were waiting in the lobby. When the doors opened, we let others go in ahead of us so we were the last of the group to enter, and so the last of the group to be seated. After we were seated we were told that they didn't have enough menus to go around so we had to wait for the other customers to be done with their menus. Since it's by reservations only, they obviously knew how many customers they were getting, so I'm not sure why they didn't print enough menus. Maybe it's a "let's save trees" thing. Fine. Then give 1 menu per 2 people from the get-go. I don't think it's fair that we had to wait 20-30 minutes for the menus.
Then there was the issue with our friend's drink. She ordered a martini with olives. The server brought out everyone else's drink and told my friend that the bar didn't have any olives, but he would ask the kitchen if they had olives. After a long while, he returned to say the kitchen didn't have olives, so they couldn't make her drink. So she ordered a beer. After another long while the server returned to tell her they had run out of that beer. He apologized and said that she could choose another drink and it would be on the house. She requested to see the drinks menu again, which took another while, and she finally ordered another beer, which they had.
We saw a server (not our server) bring our crab cakes to another table, and that table still had their menus and said "oh, but we haven't even ordered yet." Our server saw her and redirected her to our table.
I had ordered my salad with the dressing on the side. I was served pre-dressed salad. So I said, "but I ordered my dressing on the side." Our server apologized and brought the salad back to the kitchen. My husband and one of our friends had soup, so I told everyone at the table to go ahead because I didn't want their soups to get cold waiting for me. They were pretty much finished by the time I got my salad with the dressing on the side.
The rest of the meal went smoothly, but it was really drawn out and took a long time. Our server was good at refilling our waters without us having to ask, and he did ask us how the food was when he cleared our plates.
I feel that he could have explained the menu more, or at least ask if anyone had any questions. One of our friends who doesn't like chocolate cake, ordered the only other option and she said to the server "I'll have this (and pointed at the Tarte Tatin on the menu), whatever that is." The server said "Tarte Tatin" and then wrote down her order. I feel that was a good opportunity for him to explain what the Tarte Tatin was and to promote it, but he didn't do that.
I feel that given their motto "Our teaching restaurant...Your fine dining experience" service is supposed to be more along the lines of a fine dining restaurant and not a greasy diner or pub. So I did expect a bit more refinement in service.
I don't know where these students are in their studies, and maybe experiences differ whether you dine earlier or later in the semester.
Our server seemed sincere and seemed like he was trying, so he gets points for that.
The quality of the food overall was very good. It's a really good deal for the price.
Due to the time it took to have our dinner, I won't be in a hurry to return. I might try again later in the semester to see if there is a difference. My recommendation if you eat here is make sure you're with people you like being with and you have lots to talk about, otherwise you will find yourselves staring at each other in silence for a long time. Although, there were people who were seated after us, who got their food before us, and left before us, so I don't know. I guess your mileage may vary.
There is a parking lot in front of the restaurant with free parking for restaurant customers only.
