redemption after forgetful service. having read the reviews on both locations of dick's kitchen, i was curious what kind of experience we were going to have. it could go either way.
we met family here at the nw location on a saturday at 7pm for a nice evening dinner on the recommendation of my sister in-law who had lunch here two days before. parking is a challenge in this neighborhood but we got lucky. the restaurant was busy but not overly when we arrived and the wait for a table was understandable and not too long.
once seated, our server asked us for drink orders and when they were brought to the table one of the beers was incorrect. this turns out to be the foreshadowing for the rest of the service. the beer issue was made right and we were asked if we wanted water at the table, we said yes. two carafes of water were brought with the promise of glasses.
next, we placed our orders. i ordered the host burger, which was elk, the not-fries and a cup of the smokey tomato soup. the starter was delivered to my sister in-law but i had to ask for my soup. it arrived and by the time it cooled off enough to start in, the meals were arriving. we had to remind them about the glasses for the water and i received my not-fries but no meal. i ate me soup and when we were asked if everything was all right, i had to remind them that i was missing my meal.
"oh, what did you order?"
"well don't you write these things down?"
"i don't want to bring someone else's meal to you."
i told him i had ordered the host burger.
a few minutes later, after a round of comments about how interesting it was that this was happening to the one person sitting at the table that writes reviews, a young man, i assume the manager, came over and apologized. he said this was not the way they wanted the restaurant to be represented and offered to buy the table a round of drinks. we declined not wanting to drink that much more alcohol.
my elk host burger arrived and i was still finishing my soup. the manager asked how it was; i had not bitten into it yet but did, for him, and pronounced it "great."
everything was very good. the not-fries (baked) were indistinguishable for fried fries, my soup was nice and the elk burger lean, juicy and perfectly cooked. the vegetarian ruben was great according to the not-meat-eater at our table, and the other burgers were equally good. portions are modest and you will not likely take home leftovers. i was stuffed from the soup, not-fries, elk burger and a beer.serviceout of the kitchen was fine.
now addressing those who complain about the food being bland; compared to processed foods, fast food and chain restaurants i can see where your palette would find the food at dick's lacking in flavor. however, we cook for ourselves and eat little processed and fast foods. dick's does a wonderful job of bringing food to the table that emphasizes the ingredients, not the salt and seasoning.
when the bill came, my whole meal had been comped to make up for the forgetful service. we tipped well and i would return, and recommend dick's kitchen.