Reality Bites

Last night my girlfriend and I were looking for some late night grub and after some quick yelping discovered Reality Bites. We had been out at an a Capella performance at the nearby university which went a bit longer than expected so with its description of being open till 2 AM and handful of good reviews we ventured to the restaurant. Upon entering the place I was immediately looking forward to ordering because it had that small bar vibe that promised a great dining experience and we were not disappointed. We arrived around 11:40 only to find out from the man who appeared to be the owner that the kitchen was in fact closed. He greeted us with open arms and proceeded to grab the guy sitting next to him at the bar and inform us that he was one of his chefs and that they would do whatever they could to get us food. Wow! So even with a closed kitchen we were welcomed into the environment and continue on with our night amazed at how hospitable the service was. It only improved from there once we ordered the goat cheese balls, spinach and artichoke dip which the girlfriend said was yummy except for a little too much garlic and my delicious pork tacos. Overall, the service by Matt, willingness to help fill our bellies from the other Matt and friendly nature of the restaurant captured our hearts and our stomachs. We will be back again whenever we are in the area. I can promise you that.

I have to give another 5 star review.  Reality Bites was very accommodating considering I made reservations via email.  We had to exchange emails twice to get a seating time of 6:15PM on Saturday night for two.  However, we were going to be well more than an hour late but I was able to once again send them an email prior to our seating to let them know to release our reservations.  Thankfully they replied to let them know when we were on the way and they'd fit us in.  That's exceptional service in my book.

With about 20 minutes notice I emailed them again telling them we were on our way.  When we walked in the Manager / Door Man asked, "are you the email guy" :-).  I smiled and apologized for the tardiness, etc.  The manager was able to seat us at a table in the window without a wait.  The place was pretty busy at 8:30PM but I really loved the atmosphere.

We actually stopped by Eleven just before for some tapas and cocktails, then had to try Reality Bites.  I've been meaning to come here for several years.  We ordered tacos but the server was able to give us one of each: One Pork,m One Fish, and One Salmon.  They were very good and filling.  My wife had Pomegranate based martini.  She loved it.  I had another craft beer from Chicago.  It was okay but I'm not a big fan of wheat beers (like BlueMoon which is what this one tasted like).

We very much enjoyed Reality Bites and I plan to go again.

Beautiful place, but there are some things to work out here.  One Friday night on a whim [my husband and I] decided to check out the place under its new management.

The host did not acknowledge us immediately, in favor of his cell phone.  (Ooh, this grinds my gears.)

When we were seated, we were given a table right next to the entrance (I was very cold all through the meal) despite at least seven other tables that were completely vacant for all of the time we were there.

The specialty drink served in a martini glass (not to be confused with a martini) was fine.

While I was happy to see a small menu, I decided to order the chicken special.  Chicken was overcooked, and the crispy potatoes were served standing up in the sauce, which almost completely negated the crispy preparation.

Husband's risotto was overcooked.  He suspects it was also made with something other than arborio rice.

Service, outside of the host, was nice, but I don't think we'll go back anytime soon.

Really miss the chocolate braised short ribs they did for Tour de Chocolat once, under the old management.  Also can't recall if those excellent fish tacos were still on the menu.