Our party of 5 arrived at 8:30pm on a weeknight without a reservation. The restaurant’s Google site states the restaurant is open until 10pm. The ambiguous lettering on the door lists the hours as being “11:30am ~ pm”
The host did not tell us that service shut down at 9pm, which probably should have been disclosed as we were led to our table. The restaurant is very brightly lit, perhaps to showcase the Chihouly like hanging lamps, but it unfortunately looks like a cafeteria. However, the prices are anything but…
The 2 page menu is fairly limited, one page lists drinks and the other one is food. We started with a bottle of wine, an order of Boom Boom Shrimp ($16) and Kung Pao Calamari ($15) to share. Judy, our server, apologized for rushing us, but said orders needed to be in by the last call at 8:45pm. A few minutes after she took our orders we requested she put in for a 2nd bottle of wine—it all felt very hasty.
I ordered the Cioppino ($42) which although tasty did not justify its price, especially given the meager amount of protein it contained—which would have been better priced at $24. My husband had the Pan Seared Scallops ($34.) Our table companions had the Smith Island Stuffed Fluke ($36) and the Seared Tuna Tataki Salad ($18.) For the vegetarian, it was a Caesar Salad ($11) with sides of Creamed Spinach ($9) and Truffle Mac and Cheese ($10.) Both those sides arrived cold and needed to be sent back.
Desserts were outstanding. We consumed every bit of an excellent Key Lime Pie and the Peach Cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream. By the time we ordered dessert we were the last diners in the restaurant.
The food was good, and exemplifies the buzzwords used in their marketing: “upscale,” “farm to table.” However it should be less about being “passion driven” and more “attention to detail.” What could have been an elevated dining experience was marred by feeling rushed due to the lack of clarity over service hours. Since it takes less than a minute for an establishment to update the hours on their Google site, there’s no excuse.
