Given my previous rave review, it might seem strange that this follow-up is going to be so bad, but…read morethis place is really floundering. We will NEVER be back.
My husband and I had dinner there last night for a special occasion. We were immediately a little freaked out by a male waiter who appeared to be bouncing off the walls, as if he was on crack. At one point, he almost fell into our table, and all I could think was, "please, please, don't let this be our waiter." Guess what. He was. He never introduced himself, but he acted like he thought he was onstage at a comedy club. He was just getting a massive kick out of what he apparently thinks is a personality, but all I could think is that this place clearly doesn't test for drugs.
Since we were celebrating an occasion, we asked to start with a bottle of Chardonnay. After an unacceptable wait time, he brought me a single glass of Chardonnay and loudly declared it, "a generous pour." I had to remind him that we had ordered a bottle.
Despite the fact that he never once introduced himself, we were able to learn his name from our check when he brought it, and his manager and coworkers will know exactly who he is from my description. Brother, I am not going to divulge your name here, but please call someone. Get some help. Please.
He has what sounds to me to be a strong southern accent. I'm from Alabama, and I felt like I was back home, in the worst possible way. He has no concept of how to be a waiter, but he sure is impressed with himself and his schtick. Think Jeff Foxworthy - "you might be a redneck" - but without any of the charm. He's just loud, obnoxious, and incompetent. He practically hangs from the chandeliers.
Again, we were celebrating a special occasion, and our waiter (let's call him M) eventually did figure out how to bring us a bottle of wine - which tasted off, with a vague aftertaste of olives, of all things. Then he dashed off, because there were clearly customers there who were far more important than us. He had ZERO interest in providing us service. He was hyperfocused on the large table that they were anticipating - clearly someone was having a party. That doesn't mean that my husband and I didn't deserve basic service. We were celebrating something too. We just weren't quite so ostentatious about it.
I ordered the seafood ravioli, and my husband ordered spaghetti with one meatball. Neither meal came with a salad, but M seemed to desperately want my husband to have one, so he finally said, "fine, bring me the salad." Again, the wait time was downright silly, but M eventually brought him the salad, and then acted as if he had screwed up by not also bringing me a salad plate (I hadn't asked for one and didn't want one). According to my husband, the salad that nobody wanted (and that we had to pay extra for) was edible, but nothing special.
Finally, our entrees came. The menu described the seafood ravioli as "Large ravioli noodles filled with lobster, shrimp, and scallops, served in a rich, creamy sauce with mushrooms, clams, and garlic." Sure, if you say so. What I actually got was CHEESE ravioli in a cream sauce that somehow managed to be both bland and overwhelming - quite a feat! The cheese smell was so strong it was nauseating. I did manage to find a few clams in the sauce, but it was nothing like what the menu had promised, and there wasn't even the slightest hint of seafood in the ravioli stuffing. If lobster, shrimp, or scallops were involved, I saw no sign of it. The few clams I managed to find in the sauce were the only hint that this was supposed to be a seafood dish.
It was quite some time before M bothered to acknowledge us again, so when he finally did check on us, I explained that my dish was inedible. His demeanor changed completely, and from then on, he barely acknowledged us, and when he did, he was rude. He didn't apologize for the bad food. He didn't ask if I'd like anything else. He just walked away with my barely-touched food, clearly pissed, and he couldn't resist making a snide comment about having to ask his manager if he could take it off the bill, because he didn't have the authority to do it on his own (I hadn't asked him to). The manager didn't bother to say anything to us, and M barely spoke to us again. I went home hungry. Some celebration.
At this point, I just wanted out of this place, so as soon as my husband finished his food, we were out of there as fast as we could move. What we had hoped would be a pleasant celebratory dinner, ended up being, hands-down, my worst restaurant experience ever, and we will NEVER be back.
