Tell me, how does one fuck up a burger and fries? By ordering it at Romeo’s, apparently. They could have run next door to Shady Grove and gotten decent food in the time it took to screw up our fare.
Let me back up a little. We usually drive into the city for lunch on weekends, and Romeo’s was an option today. We both like it, so we decided on that. The guy who seated us had a really bad haircut and didn't seem particularly enthused to be at work. Our waitress was very sweet and attentive, checking on us several times. The coffee was good. The ciabatta rolls she brought were good and warm at first, but got a little tough as they cooled down. The dipping oil, which I’ve always loved, had some kind of sandy particles in it today, and it actually made gritty sounds between my teeth.
Finally our food came. The Steak and Eggs should have been labeled Steak Petit. It was a little thing, maybe a 3-inch diameter on it, and was well done and even a bit charred on one end. Definitely not medium as ordered. The eggs were eggs, but they were not poached like the menu said. The potatoes looked okay, but didn’t have any of the rosemary like the menu said. But they were downright gourmet compared to the potatoes on my block. That’s right: my burger and “fries” were served on a wooden cutting block. Nice concept, except there’s nothing on the edge to catch anything that falls off. I thought perhaps that was why they arranged the long fries in a neat little stacked formation with all the lengths running in one direction. I was wrong. They arranged them that way hoping I wouldn’t notice that they were cooked too long in not-hot-enough oil. Big brown greasy soggy potato logs. They would have looked like a big soggy pile if they weren’t arranged. And here’s the truly disappointing item: the hamburger. It was not big in diameter but thick, so thick they had to put a long wooden skewer through it to keep it from toppling over. To make matters worse they used teensy slices of tomatoes and pickles and put them right in the center to make it even taller. This makes it extremely difficult to eat by hand and even harder to eat with a knife and fork. I moved half of it to my bread plate to try to do something with it. I shouldn’t have tried to eat it. Ordered medium well, it was so thoroughly cooked it was charred on the outside. Like, all of the outside. I ate half. Santi tried a bite and spit it out. It was really that bad. And honestly, who uses bread-and-butter pickles on a burger without telling you first?
You could read the looks on our faces when the waitress asked how everything was. I give her credit for trying to fix it. Some kind of manager came over to discuss the issue with us so she could relay it to the kitchen. They comped our coffee. But this brings me to another issue: dress code for staff. Our sweet server was dressed fine, but this manager was wearing shorts that were a little too short for the Romeo’s I’m used to. I first saw her come out of the back and walk out the front door with some kind of letter in her hand, and I figured she had come in to get her check and would continue on to Barton Springs. But no, she had actually worn those to work today. Way worse than her was some woman whom I didn’t see until we were nearly done. She was wearing some no-shouldered striped top. I mean nothing going over her shoulders. Think of a loose tube top with an elastic edge that goes over the boobs and under the armpits. She actually wore that to work today. Very inappropriate. What were those two people thinking when they got dressed today? That it’s hot and they have a patio? Too fucking bad! Our waitress was appropriately dressed, all in black, and she was working the patio as well as the dining room! She got a 24% tip for being nice, trying to fix our food, and not looking like she’d rather be somewhere else. Like Hooters down the street. O wait, those girls have something resembling an armhole in their tops.
So come on, Romeo’s! Get your act together! I know it’s Sunday morning, I know we’re in the middle of a very long and hot summer, and I know when you wait tables you look for your rewards in places besides your paycheck. But Romeo’s IS one of my preferred places to eat, and today it seemed like only 1.75 of you cared. So a big thanks to Laura, for really caring and trying to fix things, a half-thanks to the manager for talking about the food issues and comping the coffee (she could have comped an entrée) and for the rest of you, fix that hair, don't burn the food and for God’s sake, put some bloody sleeves on!
And for you, gentle diners, Romeo’s is an Italian restaurant. When you go there for brunch, do yourself and Romeo’s a favor, and order something Italian. Lesson learned.
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