614 George Street

I continue to try and eat at local establishments and continue to have the same results; poor service and so so food. Why do I bother? I am hoping I can leave a ZERO STAR review, but it would seem I have to give a rating for the review to be posted.

Tonight I took my family out for dinner at 614 George or is it the George Street Café? It doesn't matter because we will never return to either. The service was non-existent though our server apologized and introduced herself as an owner without sharing her name. I never received my side salad either. This was never recognized or acknowledged by staff. My wife waited for a refill and for mustard. And when I say waited I don't mean a matter of a few minutes. I mean 10-15 minutes. Everything took way too long.

As for the food, my Cajun catfish was pretty good and I enjoyed the twice baked potato I ordered. The rest of my family didn't fare as well. They all ordered various burgers which were charred to excess on one side. Sort of like someone forgot to flip them which would go hand in hand with the type of service we received. The side fries came after the burgers like it was too complex to get them done at the same time. And as far as I am concerned for what we got we were overcharged.

My first job was as a busboy in a busy hotel restaurant. I was a tipped employee so I don't ever stiff anyone. In fact, I am hard pressed to leave a bad tip. I left a big fat zero tip tonight and left a note to see YELP. I feel kind of bad about it but I am guessing the owner isn't paid as a tipped employee so that's what you get. It is very frustrating especially when you want to support your local businesses rather than national chains. However it would seem the national chains have an actual training program for staff and hold them accountable to provide good service to their customer. Just really disappointing.

I have to admit I'm actually pretty unhappy about having to pay for this dinner. I wanted to take my family out for a nice evening in our hometown. I guess the good thing is that we all found it humorous as things went from bad to worse. The ambiance was murky. I mean it was too dark to even read the menu or bill and the flickering light fixture over my left shoulder almost gave me a seizure. Stay away unless you have plenty of time to kill and have low expectations.

DOS was 11/5/2011.  DH and I took my parents out for their birthdays, and chose George Street Cafe because they were close by and steak was listed as something they had on the menu.  I found their website, but it's very incomplete and couldn't see their menu online.  I called the restaurant to see if I needed reservations (it was a Saturday night afterall) but we didn't, and I confirmed some menu items.

The restaurant, located where the former Chatterhouse Supper Club was, it has been nicely remodeled.  The main entrance opens into the bar, and there was no sign saying whether we should wait to be seated or someone would show us a table.  There was a man standing near the entrance who looked like a semi-inebriated patron in his t-shirt and jeans, who welcomed us (awkward) and told us to grab a table and the waitress would be with us shortly.  

The lighting in the dining room was somewhat dim, and the power was surging on and off the entire time, so the lighting flickered continually.  Once we'd all made our selections, the friendly waitress took our orders.  The youngest member of our party, my 7 yr old niece, ordered mozz sticks as an appetizer, which were very good, and we were surprised at the large order (10) that was brought to the table.  We later learned that the waitress brought (and charged us for) a double order when we'd only requested a single order.  Oh well, they were good.

The clam chowder is devine, and has a nice kick to it.  The men ordered burgers, both enjoying their choices.  My mother ordered the steak which she really enjoyed.  My niece ordered the 614 Pasta with chicken, which is heavy on the garlic, but she also enjoyed her selection (especially the broccoli).  I ordered the "Tips & Toadstools" (beef tips with mushrooms) and it was some of the best I've ever had.  

The cafe has a nice selection of wines, I enjoyed the Gnarly Head Pinot Noir and my DH enjoyed a Muscato they has an as alternate to the Reisling he ordered.  Deserts ordered with the Flourless Chocolate Cake and the Pumpkin Maple Cheesecake.  My niece ordered the Carrot Cake, but they restaurant was out of it.  The chocolate cake was very tasty, as was the cheesecake.

I would definitely eat here again, and look forward to trying some of the other menu items.

This place used to be good, but I feel like the new owners have given up on the food and it's just become a bar with a dining room.