Sunday, September 5, 2010
Restaurants Dinner at Empire State South
Posted by Cliff Bostock @cliffbostock on Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 9:30 PM
- Cliff Bostock
I had dinner at Empire State South Thursday night. I've got some advice: make a reservation. Although the lunch crowd was fairly sparse when I visited a few days earlier, the place was slammed Thursday night.
A second piece of advice: carry money. Dinner for three of us was $180, including the tip, two glasses of wine, two apps, three entrees and one dessert. I'm not saying the meal wasn't worth it, but I'm warning you that this is not the price of your usual meat-and-two.
Above is my dinner entree, grilled quail with figs, arugula and Madeira. My two sides included succotash and grits. Great flavors. One complaint: I got literally about two tablespoons of succotash while Wayne, who ordered swordfish, received nearly a full plate.
Comments (10)
Showing 1-10 of 10
Wasn't worth it to me at all. Came in at dinner, no reservation, sat at the bar. However during the whole process of getting told no tables were available, the host (using the term lightly) turned his back to us twice while I was asking a question, absolutely rude! The rest of the staff, and the bartenders were gracious though and made up for the host's shortcomings.
Decided to seat at the bar, had the spinach salad, which was bland, I have to give credit to the well executed Prosciutto and Peaches. However the mains were less than stellar, the I ordered the short ribs with the grits and mac and cheese. The grits were absolute gut bombs. I've never had grits so heavy, I didn't care for any more bites after the initial three. Meat was dry as a bone, and since the jus was placed underneath the grits, there was no liquid to try to use with the braised short ribs (I don't know how one can dry out braised meat, but they achieved it).
My wife ordered the chicken, more succotash, which was decent, but still fairly ordinary.
Won't be going back. If I want the meat and three experience at these prices, I'll just head back to Miller Union.
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I'm sorry to say we had the same experience with the host, Reed. We were rescued by a server we knew.
Same experience here with the host. Completely rude. I do have to say all of the food I tried was top notch and completely savory but the staff and service were horrible. Such a completely awkward vibe in the place. If it was any other Chef's restaurant I would never go back but I have enjoyed Hugh Acheson's restaurants for years and I am just hoping he will get his staff problems under control before ruining a great place.
Wow, I thought it was just me who provoked the host. He told us there were no tables and we'd have to eat at the bar. Then he literally turned away....The rest of our service was good, as it was at lunch too.
Similar experience with a hostess on a busy evening, but was attended to graciously by a manager who recognized me and made my meal a wonderful experience.
The meal was delicious, but I haven't gone back; I later heard from a server that someone on the staff was saying denigrating things about me. Loved the food but it's a bit uncomfortable now.
that does it for me, I have better places to go than where staff is a bunch of jerks (woodfire is on my no-go list too).
Yep, went there. Spent a buttload of money. Wasn't worth a penny of it. Service was crap. Food was bland. Portions were off. All have stated above. Headed to Miller Union or even Watershed next time.
Im dining at Empire State again tonight....enoyed my first 2 visits but am on HIGH ALERT for rudeness....will report back ! Dan
This restaurant will not last with the rude service. I found hair in my mac and cheese, the server says to me it happens all the time. Health inspector time!!!
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