We used a travelzoo voucher for dinner last night. We always order a bottle of wine and tip on what the entire bill would be. There was a party in the front bar area and we were seated outside, it started to rain so we went inside. We ordered the crabcake to share (part of the deal - a shared appetizer, though my date thought and told our server he might also order a small pizza as he was very hungry). We also ordered a flight of chardonnay wines. It took awhile for the wines to arrive. We got our app and the server didn't mention getting the pizza so we didn't either. For our entrees, I ordered pesto shrimp and my date ordered the steak. We hadn't even gotten our second wine or finished our app when the entrees arrived (really bad timing on the restaurants' part)...no apologies - she put the plates down - we asked for the second flight...my pesto shrimp was really good - my date's steak which was sold as a thick 12ounce steak appeared and looked like a breakfast steak - it was paper-thin and you cannot get a paper-thin steak medium rare (and it wasn't). We decided not to complain - we should have. We asked our server to bring the next wine flight and he said the owner didn't like to have flights done like that...well, who is the customer? When I have done flights in the past, you get your wines, a small slip of paper describes each one so the waiter doesn't have to...we had hoped to taste one we liked (and we liked #2) and order a bottle...but we were waiting for wine #3...and by that time we were just about done with dinner...what was the point? My date loves chocolate, so when the dessert menu was brought, we ordered the mousse. Our server returned and said there was only cheesecake (this wasn't late at night, so they should have had something more than cheesecake)...we decided not to have any dessert. We mentioned to our waiter that we liked the shrimp very much, that the steak wasn't as described by the waiter or the menu, that the delivery of the wine flight was slow and ineffective (and why), and that we love dining...but this was a poor experience at any price. The manager came over and said the cooler had broken in the night so things bought at the market that day were what they could get...seriously - a poor excuse. A good restaurant let's their wait staff know what is good - especially when what was bought for the day is of poor quality...the flights delivered as the 'owner' thinks they should be delivered is a bad idea because we didn't order a bottle of wine (and would have)...no dessert and you blame that on the cooler? Don't bring a dessert menu if you only have cheesecake? There are plenty of choices in town...unless they improve their service and let the customer decide if they want their wines at one time or as the owner thinks it should be (and really - owner - if that's how you want it - at least don't make the customer ask for them and sit with food in front of them with no wine)...i doubt i'd return. they gave me a $10 certificate as I left...I don't know if I'll use it or not...disappointing.
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