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Review content:
Did I mention that we waited for almost 15 minutes to be acknowledged by our servers? Or that once we did order drinks, we had to ask twice for them before they finally arrived with the ice largely melted. We were told the bartender was busy. Note to all Yellow Dogs: We don't care why the drink hasn't arrived. We care that it does arrive.
It was an hour from the time we were seated to the time our salads appeared. The rest of the family had Caesar salads. I opted for the spinach salad that came with an insulting three dollar up charge. It was a decent salad, but it was not the quality I would expect based upon The Dog's advertising. The blue cheese lacked the high notes needed to properly cut the sweetness of the blueberries and the vinaigrette. The Caesar salads were, by all reports, underwhelming.
For a restaurant that touts its scenic view, my and my husband's view into the server station where a huge wall clock reminded us of the delays and where we could keep tabs on the serial bickering between the servers was not worth the price of admission.
I stopped keeping track but there was an awkwardly long gap between the time the salads were removed from the table and the time the first three entrees arrived. Yes, there was a three to four minute gap, without explanation or apology, before the remaining entrees arrived. With high prices come expectations. Having all entrees served at the same time is one of them. A fundamental one, I might add. I should never ever have to say to my fellow diners, ""go ahead and eat or it will get cold"" when I am paying $44 for a filet mignon. The filet was set atop an inartful gob of over-salted mashed potatoes that were, in turn, hiding some cooked-to-exhaustion green beans and sloppily-manicured broccoli florets. The green vegetables harbored by mashed potatoes combo was sadly repeated in five of the six entrees. It is bad form to hide food with food. Three of us had the signature onion crusted chicken ($26) or grouper ($38). The chicken was overcooked and the onion crust more appropriately found in a recipe from Reader's Digest or some B-grade woman's magazine. It was overly-sweet for a savory dish, and the crust was visually unappealing. I am told the onion encrusted grouper tasted like yams. This is not what comfort food with a flair tastes like. This is what fraud tastes like. The Inconsistently-cooked half rack of lamb ($30) was inundated with an overpowering supply of spices that hid the meat's true flavor, or perhaps, a food quality issue.
There was a $54 NY strip special, and a $50 Maine lobster special that night. Interestingly, the menu listed on the Dog?s website has no prices. I bet I know why. It does, however, incorrectly state a range of prices ($22-39).
There are too many things that are wrong with Yellow Dog Cafe to chalk it up to an off night. The Dog's management knows exactly what it is doing, and it's reprehensible. Despite the evening's raison d'?tre - to celebrate a birthday - no one wanted dessert or coffee. We were all too disappointed, price shocked, and we wanted off the bus.
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