OVERALL: 3 Stars
Chef Tony's had a great groupon recently, which was perfect: $25 for 1 entree and bottomless mimosas. We had a friendly, well prepared meal at a 50% discount, with plenty of bubbly. The place was crowded and people were waiting out the door as we were leaving. They should spend some of their profit on new tables and decor though.
Food Quality: 3 Stars -- The standards were on the menu; French toast, something with crab in it, steak and eggs. I enjoyed the apppetizers that were priced under $10. Calamari, fried oysters, a greek hummus plate. There were just enough of lunch to give the salty taste you craved but not too heavy or pricy. I would suggest they find a better serving dish for the calamari. The paper lined raised basket made it hard to see into. I felt like i was fishing for the squid a second time. The entrees were yummy. The french toast was my favorite, with the unique caramel sauce on top.
Mimosa/Champagne Quality: 2 Stars -- They only served the classic here. No exotic juices. They mimosas were well made though with perfect proportions of OJ to bubbly.
Service Quality/Refill time: 3 stars -- I think out waiter was more interested in discussing the latest movies that were out, but he did his best focusing on our empty glasses after a while. We didn't have to wait more than 5-10 minuted before our drinks were filled. The food was also prepared in a timely fashion, though he forgot that eggs came with our french toast, as it was stated on the menu.
Atmosphere: 2 stars -- The owners must have skimped on decorators, because the paint job wasn't the best. Some walls had traditional appearing murals of potted plants. Others had more contemporary art work. The track lighting was not positioned appropriately so the pendants hung off to one side of the round or square tables. The tables themselves had rickety, plastic legs things covered with white paper drop cloths.
OVERALL: 1 Star
Only if every other place on your list is totally full, then go here. The food was tasty, and cost effective given that $35 got you unlimited food and drinks. We had a great time, of course, because we entertained ourselves trying to come up with good stories of where the wait staff was...
Food Quality: 3 Stars -- The best thing about the place was the eclectic menu. Grits, salmon omelet, thai burger. The name makes me think it was going to be latin food, and 20% of the menu had chorizo in it, which to our dismay the kitchen was out of. The Grits with cheesy melted bits mixed in were delicious and buttery. The skirt steak was also well seasoned and cooked to order, no"rare" piece of meat with a warm center. That steak was cold in the center, just like it should be.
Mimosa/Champagne Quality: 2 Stars -- Only 2 champagne cocktails in addition to the traditional mimosa, plus 2 types of bloody mary's and 1 lemonade cocktail. All were average, when we finally got a few on our table. But those ingredients too began to disappear. No more lychee to be found!
Service Quality/Refill time: 1 stars -- The wait staff kept forgetting which drink we ordered, but after the first 45 minutes we didn't care as long as we got anything to drink at all. I maybe got 4 glasses the whole hour and 45 minutes we were there? And the food came out in single plates, making the first round of "plates" very awkward as we all waited for our small amounts of food to arrive. It did, eventually.
Atmosphere: 1 stars -- The place was trying to be modern and industrial, with clean square lines and painted steel pipes for hand rails. The lighting was good, but they had crammed too many tables into inappropriate spaces. We actually moved tables a few minutes after we sat down because the first table we were placed at was literally right next to the front door. Come on! We had a reservation, and that's where you put us?
OVERALL: 3 Stars
Nage restaurant a is a charming sidebar to a hotel on Massachusetts ave, about a 10 minute walk from the Farraget north metro. I made reservations, but you could probably get in without them. Good service and tasty food and deep wine glasses of champagne cocktails were filling and came to about $30 per person.
Food Quality: 2 Stars -- There were several unique plates on the menu, making it difficult to choose: Lemon zest pancakes, kill-it-skillet with macaroni and cheese, smoked salmon cobb... Too bad they left something to be desired: like seasoning.The pecan waffles were perfectly crispy, but needed more cinnamon. Crab Benedict left just enough crab flavor, but the home style potatoes were bland and cold. The pork belly BLT sounded delicious but the best part of the plate was the thin crispy "truffle frites". The pork belly was too thick, making the fatty meat a little too greasy to stomach.
Mimosa/Champagne Quality: 4 Stars -- $15 provided you with bloody mary's or champagne cocktails in large, generous wine glasses. The champagne was a lovely, not too dry, and not overwhelmed by the juices. All fresh and apparently changed weekly for various combinations. Blueberry was delicious! lychee and pear were just sweet enough without being syrup-ee
Service Quality/Refill time: 4 stars -- We never had to call for refills. The waitress was quick to see when one of us was empty and offer the entire table new drinks, even when we had half of one left. The place was small, maybe only 20 tables, but the staff was older, experienced, and didn't hover.
Atmosphere: 3 stars -- Small and dimly lit, the place was casual but clean and stylish. It was quiet without too much background noise, so we could easily keep up a conversation in the comfy booths. There were smaller square tables set for two, but which could probably be moved together to make a long rectangular table if a larger group was needed to be accommodated.
