Cafe Santorini

I went on a friend's recommendation and I was very happy with the results as far as the service of our waiter and the entrees we received. Our waiter was knowledgeable and helped me make a choice between two entrees I couldn't decide on. I went with his suggestion and it was an excellent choice. I got the pesto farfalle with grilled chicken and my companion got a brochette dish. We went at night during a weekday so it was quite empty and we immediately got seated outdoors and it was a wonderful spot. However, the hostess tried to seat us by the wall even though there were three empty tables by the railing where you can oversee the plaza. I requested for us to be seated by the railing but she refused saying they were saving those for bigger parties. I was a party of two, yet I saw at least one of those tables were set up for two people so her reason made no sense. Since we arrived nearly a half hour before our reservation, I told her we'll come back at our reserved time and maybe then seats will be "available". I guess to make us stay and not risk losing customers, she agreed to seat us by the railing. About halfway into our meal, she seated a party of 3 right next to us, despite 6 other (yes I counted) tables that were empty. My dinner companion was a Black man and he made a joking comment to me that perhaps it was because he's Black that these things happened to us. Although it was a joke, it was disheartening in face of what happened to us.

I used to get dragged to this totally mediocre restaurant whenever\t\nfriends insisted on sitting out on their 'fabulous patio', which in\t\nreality is an exposed, crowded, ambience-free holding pen for saps who\t\nwouldn't know good Mediterranean food if it were handed to them on a plate. \t\nNever mind the bad meals, the rude waiters, the food you were\t\nserved that you never ordered, or the food you ordered but were never\t\nserved. That was, until the day the maitre d' (if such a low-class\t\njoint can indeed be said to have such a position) refused to seat\t\nthree of us until the fourth member of our party arrived. Call me\t\ncrazy, but adding insult to the injury of their food and service was\t\nthe last straw for me, and I vowed never to go back.\t\n\t\nFast forward 10 years, when I stupidly agreed to try it again, just a\t\nfew weeks ago, thinking that it must have changed hands, or at least\t\nlearned something about restauranteur-ism in the intervening decade,\t\nif only by osmosis from the many superior restaurants within spitting\t\ndistance. Well, as the adage goes, you can't teach an old dog new\t\ntricks, and apparently it was business as usual -- that is to say, bad\t\n-- in this doghouse. After seating us on the 'fabulous patio', we were\t\ntold that if we were only going to order dessert, we'd have to sit\t\nsomewhere else! In disbelief, we took it up with the management, who\t\ntold us helpfully that if we didn't like it, we could always leave!\t\n\t\nWhich we were only too pleased to do. A short walk down the stairs and\t\nacross the plaza brought us to Il Fornaio, where we were seated not\t\nonly promptly and courteously, but on their lovely landscaped outdoor\t\npatio, a veritable oasis compared to Santorini's swill-pen. And when\t\nthe desserts arrived -- without mistakes or delays -- they were\t\ntranscendent. Something Santorini's owners wouldn't know the meaning\t\nof.

The outdoor patio is great and you can eat right in the heart of all the shopping. The food is pretty good and for very good prices. The sizes are fair and the platting is very nice. The service was not so good as they over charged me by 10 bucks, and when I brought it to there attention they did not want to change it. However, beside that mix up the experience was very good.