woodland's date agrees with woodland : ). with the hopes my dining buddy will write a review - i will only explain my half of the experience.
my friend and i come to the owl bar and were greeted very warmly. so far, i am happy. the owl, well known for their pizza, and i were to become fast friends since i lived in chicago (pizza) for 8 years and it was happy hour! 4-7pm. he and i ogle the menu - he chooses two 5 dollar items from the happy hour menu, i a 5 dollar start (calamari, very tasty) as well as a greek pizza. the greek pizza which consisted of a black olive spread, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, garlic oil, mozzarella cheese and feta. yumm! before we ordered, i asked for a glass of pinot (happy hour consists of 3 dollar wines) and he ordered a beer. we are laughing and enjoying the service until our order was taken. then, our waitress leaves for an extended period of time, for such a while, i have to get another glass from the bartender… okay - our food arrives. my pizza was an entire red pepper, 7 leaves of spinach, sliced black olives, garlic oil, mozz and… do not remember the feta - when we told the waitress (once she was found) she apologized and asked if we wanted a box. (cuz i need to dislike the pizza in the privacy of my own home, i suppose) then the pizza maker came out and said he put the spinach at the "bottom" i guess he meant center of the pizza - which is odd, but okay, still had 7 wilted leaves i tried to enjoy at only the first bite. i was also told by him that he was told not to use a spread. again - odd - if you look at the online menu it says spread. tapenade and a few sliced olives are two different animals. during the meeting did a manager say "no matter what! do not use the spread on the greek pizza!"? if the pizza guy says so… i guess he is to be believed. the manager comes out and i told him of my grievances politely. he turned to the pizza guy "you are to use a spread…here, look…" opens fridge "okay - if there is no more, you will have to make some" he took the item off the bill. cool…
when we got the check - our drinks were charged full price. mine, because my wine was not a happy hour wine. how did i know this? because of the happy hour wine list? nope, there was none. the waitress went over the drink specials? nope. when i ordered it - she said "oh that is not one of our wine specials" uh uh. mkkay - so we had to chalk that up and be on our way. the manager came out again and said this is his second week as the manager, and if he was the waitress, he would have made it 3 bucks a drink… this is the manager who said that. the dude with the "key" you know - the "key" that can make it 3 bucks? and why would he say that? why talk about your staff instead of rectifying the situation? he ended it with "well - my name is (i forgot) when you come back i will take care of you…" meh - you know me… bad service + good food = no return. i also feel ripped off because the waitress wanted a fatter check at the end.