Spats Restaurant & Pub

After walking on a hot humid day and starving, I was eager to head to an establishment that served good ol' American grub.  I saw Spats and decided; this is definitely an American grub joint.  

We first had the mozzarella balls but they were more like tiny gross mozzarella  pancakes.  I mean I'm a bit of a mozzarella stick addict and despite being essentially the same thing, these were some of the worst I've tasted.  (I thought they were easy to make?)

Then we had the buffalo chicken wrap and a burger.  The burger wasn't so bad until about 25 minutes later when I felt beyond sick.  The buffalo chicken wrap was flat out the grossest one we've ever tasted.  I'm not even sure it was chicken?

While the waiter was super nice and cool, he was inattentive and SUPER slow.  We were one of the only patrons here and we had to wait quite a long time for him upon any request.  I will avoid Spats next time.  My stomach and tastebuds will thank me.

I recently bought and used a Groupon for this establishment.

Why you ask?

In looking back at my 11/22/2009 review of this place, I was feeling a bit nostalgic.  The date I spoke of was the 1st of many many more to come... why not return to the place where it all started (good or bad) to relive old times and get a quick bite to eat.  Unfortunately the experience was so poor that it is unlikely we will return in the future except for a drink or two to relive old times in another fit of nostalgia... if that.

Having never eaten there before, I was unsure what to expect.  I figured a bit of pub grub would be satisfying enough... though this turned out not to be the case.  First came the warm Magner's Cider's.  Next, the overly cheesy and not enough spinach and artichoke dip on limp Greek pitas.  Onwards, to the mediocre burgers.  Lastly, the gelatinous New York Cheesecake.  I wasn't expecting a gourmet meal... but at least one in which I don't have a complaint about each and every portion of it.

... at least give me a cold beer on a hot day... thats all I ask...

And the service, my god the service.  Sooooo sooooo sooooo slow.  The bf and I started trying various strategies to catch and elicit the attention of our waiter, who always seemed to happen upon us, seemingly surprised by our presence at every turn.  The final straw came when he stated he would "be right back" for my Groupon number in order to receive the check... then proceeded to flirt with a patron at the bar, take an extended trip outside, then finally return for my phone before disappearing behind the scenes for another long period of time before finally returning.  Ughhhhh.  Painful.

Not worth it in my opinion.

I go back and forth on this place, but I'm currently very happy with it because of its delicious appetizers, beer (and other tasty substance) tubes and atmosphere that's perfect for hanging out. I tend to like it better here when there aren't tons of people around.