The food is dependably good; the owner/cook evidently knows and cares what he's doing in the…read morekitchen. I have never eaten a bad meal here, and have brought my brother, my girlfriends, and groups from work. The owner/cook is attentive and orders are correctly and promptly filled.
So then why this 2-star review? Because of the owner's bad error which does worse than ruining the experience at his restaurant: he's got this awful "music" (I'm being generous to call it that)--a single track about 10 minutes long--on infinite repeat. It is tuneless, talentless, trapped-in-purgatory music, the kind playing in the dim, dank corridors of the only motel in an economically-challenged town that hope forgot in 1977. The kind you might expect to hear while waiting on hold for three hours to talk to the tax people or try to fix a screwed-up plane reservation. The kind probably played in the infinite elevator to Hell.
It has no start, no middle, no end; just the same few note sequences, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, endlessly, from opening time to closing time. It is the kind of opaque, dishwater-grey nothingness that might very well play all day, every day, in the heads of those suffering from Alzheimer's--what a lovely feeling to push on customers, don't you think? And it is not just obnoxious, but also obnoxiously sticky; it is an earworm. You get to hear it all goddamned day, hours after leaving the restaurant.
I tried for awhile to just grin and bear it, because the food is tasty. But the other day I just had to know why. I held my tongue til I was the only customer and the owner/cook wasn't busy, then I tactfully, respectfully mentioned to him that as much as I like his cooking, the music could do with some variety. He made a face as if I'd insulted him and said "It's a playlist." I said "It...does not seem like a playlist, it seems like just the one track on repeat." He said "No, no, it isn't!". His weird reaction might almost be justified if the track were by a band he plays in during off-hours or something, but no, it's the lowest grade of commercial slop.
And that's why the 2-star review, because there is no valid excuse for inflicting this on the people who keep you in business. Nor for snapping at a customer who takes care to ask about it politely and in private.
If he's trying to create a relaxing ambiance, it's an utter fail, especially given that he's got a television up in the corner permanently tuned to parade-of-horrible-headlines news. C'mon, dude; whoever needs to go doomscrolling right this minute can whip out their phone. Turn off the TV and the music. Or put on some real music. Any kind at all; I don't necessarily have to like it, just not this awfulness.