Eleven

Update time:

Went back to Eleven recently. I wish I had better things to say.

It was packed. My date and I were lucky to get seats at the bar, but we still had to wait about 10 minutes for those. There were people sitting on the couches, not seeming to care that their party of two occupied a six-person space. Jerks.

But that has nothing to do with Eleven's staff. This does: The drinks were nowhere near as good as they were during my first visit to Eleven. I got an old fashioned and it just wasn't good. Not enough sugar, lacking bitters.

I was happy to have a chance to try the kitchen's offerings. We ordered a plate of fried vegetables and the thai shrimp. The shrimp dish was ok. Fried shrimp in an egg-roll type of thing, with sweet chili sauce, can't really mess that up. The vegetables were awful. They were either enormous pieces of broccoli -like, palm-sized- or they were mushy pieces of zucchini or other vegetables. The batter was insanely heavy and it just didn't taste good.

Their kitchen is supposedly excellent, but I didn't eat anything excellent that night. And the drinks were sub-par.

They still get a couple stars for their atmosphere, but they're going to need to step their game up. If anyone at Eleven reads this, DON'T think you can hire a bartender who worked at Daddio's and expect her to make the drinks on your menu. Hire a bartender who actually cares about making a good drink. I'm not at Eleven to get drunk, I'm there to enjoy a good cocktail, and I wasn't able to get one on my last visit.

Love eleven! Downstairs is a great place to have an appetizer and catch up with friends while upstairs feels like you're in somebody's living room watching tv and hanging out with your own private bartender. I've met really cool people and the staff makes you feel welcome! Definately check out this cute bar and I've heard they have different nights coming up like trivia night, 80's night, and a DJ!

Our party of 12 split up into two parties of 6, seated across the room from each other. We didn't mind at all because we just wanted a nice meal and a round of drinks before returning to the coliseum for an event.

Our server (Alli) was attentive, and she did the best she could keeping us hydrated.

The problem was getting us fed. Our party (now 6) ordered a round of drinks and shortly after put in our food order. One hour later our burgers, sliders and fries had still not arrived. When our fries arrived, they were cold. 90-minutes later our food order was still incomplete and incorrect. Again, our server did the best she could and responded to my request to talk with the shift manager.

Two hours later, the order was still incomplete and incorrect. We were told that the kitchen is small and though the local businesses were aware that a large event was happening down the street the kitchen was clearly short-staffed. I appreciate it when owners or managers make the first effort to come to the table to apologize and offer to correct the situation. In this case, I had to go the shift manager twice, finally telling her that we would tip our server but not pay the bill because we still had not received our order.

It looked like it could be a fun place, but unless you walk in and there is no one else there I wouldn't expect a hot, tasty meal anytime soon. It isn't enough to set up the place with a nice vibe. You need to be able to deliver the menu you offer. Staff your kitchen or change the menu to drinks and pretzels.