Silver Spoon - Ridic Slow Spot

Posted by admin on April 2nd, 2007 at 08:20pm

We entered this quaint River North spot on a recent Friday night. Some tourist types were near the door and decided to come in behind us. IF we had anything to do with their decision, I am deeply apologetic.

Upon our two parties entering, we were greeted merely by a sign “Please wait to be seated.” I have seen such fare before, normally at an off time when there is only one hostess working and she has taken another party to their table. Soon she returns and all is well in the world. However, this was 8pm on a Friday night and the dining room was crowded and in full swing. We proceeded to wait 10 minutes when a woman finally came over and could not comprehend how the two parties before her were not one. As lovely as these strangers looked, we were not particularly interested in sharing a table with them. The woman left.

A few minutes later another waitress came over and upon understanding that we were two separate parties, explained that it would be a 20 minute wait for us and a 30 minute wait for the others. I noticed that no one was seated at the sushi bar and inquired to its availability. She said that we could sit down.

To keep this review shorter than my dinner, I’ll resort to a timeline here:

• 5 min later – Asked for menus
• 10 min after menus – Asked to order
• 30 min after ordering – Asked if we were getting our drinks
• 10 min after that – Received soup, drinks, and someone else’s entrée
• 2 min after that – Went to cashier to get napkins
• 15 min after that – Received main course
• 10 min after finishing – Requested bill
• 5 minutes after asking – Received bill, went to cashier to pay

Notice not just the times, but the fact that we had to ask, and in a few spots stand up to walk and ask sometbody else, every step of the way to inspire action. At a spot where I was spending $60 for two people, this is inexscuseable.

See here is the thing. I’m a very patient diner. To upset me with poor service takes a lot. What this means is that when I do become upset I realize that the service is reaching epic proportions of horribility. This was probably the worst service I have ever had. It put me in a bad mood for the rest of the night.

The food was fine, nothing special, but nothing horrific either. However, I will not return to Silver Spoon because of the absolutely terrible service we received. There are enough far better sushi restaurants that care enough to staff enough people to pay attention to their guests that I just don’t need to.

Under $$ - Good Eats