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Review content:
After having dined at Chops for the last few years and taken many clients, friends and family there, our dining experience last night was more akin to Denny's than the usual Chops experience.\r
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There are times when you have to wait to be seated, especially when you have a later reservation. What you don't expect is to be treated to a verbal tongue lashing by the host when, after 15 minutes of your guests all standing in the lobby waiting, you ask politely for an update to the situation. Being told with disdain "Would you prefer to have me try to get the people at the tables to leave or have me stand here with you and chat?" set the mood for the entire evening. Three hostesses stood by in tight fitting clothes doing nothing... no updates, no effort whatsoever to make us feel like wanted patrons. \r
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Upon being seated 35 minutes late, it took our waiter 20 minutes to greet us at the table. He asked about our water preference as usual but there was something "off" about this waiter. He was not part of the usual staff and he had no personality nor did he ever confirm a guest's request with a verbal response. Just a nod and he was off. It seemed everyone was having a bad night which didn't give us much confidence for the meal ahead.\r
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The ambiance of Chops is usually eclectically noisy but this night's patrons were rude and obnoxiously loud, further enhancing the night's frustrations. The arrogant host continued to fly through the dining areas in some attempt to seat people and make apologies for the service and food to various tables. Now I was worried.\r
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Our drinks were served but my drink was placed on top of my menu, others had their drinks put by their elbows (just waiting to be knocked over), wine was about to be poured into fingerprint covered stemware... another dismal failure of service.\r
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Then we noticed that we had not been served any bread basket as is the usual at Chops. We waited patiently for our apps and our bread but the bread wasn't arriving. In fact, the waiters for our table were not to be seen at all. We asked our waiter to bring our bread basket and he nodded and left. Time passed and the appetizers had been served and eaten and we asked again for the bread basket. He nodded again and left. After five minutes, we flagged him down and he shyly admitted that Chops had run out of bread. He knew this as we sat down but he didn't want to have to tell us. He'd rather hope we didn't know about the bread or wouldn't notice. This type of immaturity is expected in a lower scale restaurant but NOT at Chops. He then said that some rolls were coming out of the oven and he would bring some but there would be no breads of any type. The rolls he did bring were too quickly cooked (overdone on the outside and almost raw inside). \r
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Our apps were served and appeared to be ok. My tuna tartare, instead of being finely minced, consisted of huge chunks of tuna destroying what has always been a fantastic app. Others' dishes were similarly reduced in quality.\r
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The main courses were served with the immediate sign of something dreadfully wrong in the kitchen. Each plate containing a steak was covered in juices that had left each steak. Steaks were either over-charred or under-charred with inconsistencies throughout each piece for doneness and tenderness. You pay top dollar for each steak at Chops and I have never had anything but a wonderful piece of meat that is masterfully done. The steak I had was gristly, making me leave sections of the steak uneaten. The char on my steak was very thick, leaving a charcoal taste with each bite but only on one side of the steak. The other side was tender, gristle free and not charred. Did two people trim and cook this steak? Others at the table had similar experiences.\r
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Needless to say we skipped dessert and coffee. If it weren't for our guests being very excited to try our favorite restaurant, Chops, we would have left prior to our being seated based on the attitude of the front of the house. Having stayed for dinner, we wish we hadn't. \r
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Having recommended Chops all these years as THE place to go for a guaranteed great experience, I won't anymore. Having patronized Chops for all these years, from now on, I won't.
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