"Service Lacking"

JPG's Rating

On a recent Saturday night, my wife, my parents and I decided to check out Third and Olive for our first night out as a foursome (without kids) since my younger daughter was born 3 years ago.

When we arrived, several areas of the dining room were reserved for or already occupied for some large (10+) parties, so we were seated in what I can only assume was the "sound-proofed VIP room." It felt like a banquet room (my wife's chair was right next to a ceiling to floor curtain that could be used to divide the room in half - every time someone delivered something they had to pull back the curtain to serve her - odd). The room also had a row of air conditioning vents on either side that blew a small gale every five minutes or so. In hindsight, we should have asked for a different table.

When our server arrived, we ordered drinks, hoping to sip them leisurely while we chatted and perused our menus because, as I said, the kids were at home and we could do that kind of thing. 15-20 minutes later, our server finally returned to tell us that the bar was really busy and that our drinks were still coming. Would we like to order? No, but we did anyway, our bad.

Within a few minutes our starters arrived (still no drinks) so we canceled them and asked for the wine we had ordered. Now, I might be being extra picky here - that's where I was at this point - but when our server came with the wine, he asked the table who would like to taste the wine, even though I had clearly ordered it. I would consider that improper wine etiquette even at a lesser restaurant.

From there on, our experience improved, but overall our server was inattentive. He seemed overwhelmed.

That said, the food was quite good. All four of us really enjoyed our starters, entrees and desserts.

The food was good enough that we will probably give the place another try (dining options in the East Valley and esp. Burbank are pretty tired), but we'll make sure to try and reserve a table NOT in the banquet room. And we'll hope the bar and wait staff have risen to the level of the kitchen staff.