S@mple

I’ve been there a few times with large groups of people. The wait for a table is never that long, which is nice.
The drinks are yummy, but the food is lacking most of the time. Every time I go, I try something new because I didn’t like the previous dish. The food also comes out at different times. I had gotten sides 15min before the main dish comes out, which is a little odd. And not everyone’s food comes out at the same time…
If I go back, it’d be for drinks and not the food.

Executive summary, atmosphere and decoration are terrible, but the food is good.
We came on a Saturday night, 8:30 reservation and were seated immediately. The décor is horrible. White tables, weird things on TVs, blue back lit panels, I liked the exposed brick up front, I wish they stuck with a rustic casual instead of pretentious Tron. To make matters worse, they were playing dubstep. Luckily they moved into more of a trip hop ad shoe gazer tip which prevented me from leaving.
The food was good. We started with the fried oyster sliders. Great sauce, nice heat from the spice. One of my favorites of the night. Next we had the chicken lumpia, another pleasant surprise. Very light, flavorful, and the sauces were amazing. The red chicken curried duck was missing salt. So much so that we had to ask for it. After grinding a generous amount it was tolerable. I enjoyed it, but for $ 16 it had way too many veggies and potatoes, the amount of duck was definitely lacking. The lamb chops were superb, great char, nice sauce, the raisins and other fruit were a wonderful compliment. Again, for $ 12 they were pretty light on the lamb, I’d call this a lamb pop instead of a lamb chop.
Overall I wish they used more brick and wood, if that were the case then I’d have no hesitation to return. Weighing it all together, I have to say it was a slightly overpriced restaurant with unwelcoming décor with pretty good food.

Having walked by s@ample and hearing good reviews from others, my boyfriend and I bought the Groupon and decided to give it a try.
Pros:
— The food was interesting and very delicious.
Cons:
— Despite an almost empty restaurant, we were seated right next to a very loud group of 8 women from a high school reunion. As the evening went on, we could barely hear each other talking over their shrieks of laughter.
— The service was disappointing. As an example, she never asked us if we needed anything and we had to flag her down her on two different occasions to refill our water glasses.
— I’m pretty sure we were the only people ordering food but it still took 30 minutes to get our first plate, which was only french fries. And they came out cold!
My final comment is that the pricing to portions ratio left us feeling slightly scammed (and hungry). We started with two small plates: french fries and shrimp empanadas. This small plate was $ 9 and we got 3 small empanadas. Then we ordered two large plates for $ 15-​$ 16 each (fried rice and atlantic char), expecting them to be entrée-​sized. Maybe this was our misjudgement but they turned out to be pretty small portions… served on a plate about 7 or 8 inches in size. So after 2 small plates and 2 large plates plus several glasses of water we were still hungry. And to top it all off, s@mple had a specials/​sandwich menu that had $ 7 options – one of which was brought to the table next to us… even though it was only HALF and sandwich, it was more food than our $ 16 large plate!

What a terrible evening.
If a drink you feature on special is already out a third of the way through service you should remove it from the menu and instruct your staff to share that information with patrons, not allow them to order it while someone runs to Kroger to get more raspberries. The waitress informed us only after we inquired about where our drinks were after 15 minutes that «they’re going to be a while,» with no other explanation. She left so quickly that we didn’t even have the opportunity to ask her to switch our drink order to something that was in house. When the drinks arrived a half hour into being seated they looked disgusting and were awkward to drink. We dubbed the drink the «Afterbirth» as it well, yeah, looked like just that. I didn’t care for mine for this reason and let my mother have mine, hoping to order another drink instead. Unfortunately I got frustrated after a half hour of waiting for her to just refill our water and my father’s iced tea (which she never did,) that I decided to not bother. The only bright spot of the Afterbirth drink was that one was comped. The place was not busy, yet it took 45 minutes to get the first dish – soup. The soup was actually pretty good, I’ll give them points for that. 10 minutes later the «spicy» crab empanadas arrived and were anything but – they were bland, lacking spice and desperately needed salt. That plate stayed on the table for the next hour (until we left,) clearly empty, and obviously in the waitress’s way as she shifted it around each time she brought something. The food problems didn’t end there. A Fattoush salad with hunks of bread instead of pita, lima beans – no they were definitely lima beans – instead of fava beans with the Atlantic Chard dish, a mushroom Escabeche that was delicious but offered only three small pieces of pita (which at this point, since it’d taken an hour and 20 for this dish to come out we did not want to bother asking for more – it might take another 45 minutes to get it.) My mother’s food was really what cemented our displeasure: An hour and a half for a salad to arrive with wrong components? It takes that long when you’re not even at half capacity to make a salad? The waitress came up and offered the check, we all glanced at each other and asked about my mother’s entrée, the knuckle sandwich, and we received a blank expression. When it arrived an hour and 40 minutes after being ordered it was so salty it was inedible and was promptly sent back. The bread on it was nice though – I will say that. Timing of food delivery was also a huge problem. Two diners were already finished with their meal by the time the third diner received her first course (the salad.) So awkward.
We received apologies from the waitress throughout the meal. In fact it seemed everyone was receiving apologies. The table behind us waited so long for their food they canceled their food and walked out. A couple sat in the lobby area so long without being seated they got fed up and left. Bad service is what killed this evening – the kitchen was incompetent, the waitress, reacting to the stress of a bad kitchen, forgot basics like refilling drinks, removing dirty dishes, and maintenance checks at the table. It was a Tuesday night – if this is how they handle a half-​full dining room I don’t want to think about what it’s like on a busy Friday night.
Then there was the ambience. They used natural lighting, which was very nice in the sunset. But then after it got dark, one would suppose they’d turn on lights. It was very dark in the dining room, lit only by the blue neon light at the bar. Someone finally had to request some lights be turned on because no one could see. The music was so loud one had to shout. The chairs were pretty look at, uncomfortable to sit in for so long.
One might suggest that we should have taken this all up with the manager where they could have dealt with the problem in person. And we would have, if the manager had been available. Given the poor reviews they’ve received that include pretty much every problem I’ve listed here, I’d say they don’t give a damn.
The truth is we went there with the mindset of, «We’ll order a few small plates and get more as the evening progresses, along with dessert,» but after the first hour and only having two dishes served to us thus far, we decided that we better not bother with more dishes; we’d just stick with dessert. After an hour and a half we decided dessert was out of the question as well. Because of unforgivably bad service, really unimpressive to bad food, S@mple missed out on at least 3 more small plates, 3 desserts, and 2 cocktails (so call it at least another $ 60 in business), not to mention any future business from us.
It was my Dad’s birthday and it was completely ruined by this restaurant. We ended up going to Tarrant’s to salvage the evening.
Tl;dr: Don’t go to this restaurant. Life’s too short to spend it sitting around, waiting for bad to okay food, with empty glasses, in the dark.

I would give this restaurant a negative 1 star if it was solely based on service. It’s only saving grace is it’s ultra modern décor and it’s pretty decent tasting food.
Let’s talk service… the most important thing in my opinion. Even an mediocre tasting restaurant can score 4 – 5 stars if their service is top notch. So servers, please take note, my experience depends 90% on YOU. Our server was apathetic and apparently too busy to attend to her customers because her phone was more important. Yes, I understand they order off their iphones, but when you’re just standing there constantly on your phone and not paying attention to our empty water glasses, my anger does surface. And by the way, when she DID finally fill our glasses, it was with lukewarm water. Living in Richmond heat, you can only imagine how awful that is.
As the restaurant gets busier, after 7pm even on a Tuesday night they seem to struggle handling the pressure of diners in their not-​too-​big-​restaurant. Note to myself, NEVER dine there on a weekend night. I don’t want to go through hell while waiting for the incompetent waitstaff to try to figure it out. It took 2.5 hours to finish a meal here. It was excruciating waiting for her to return to our table, only to find out there was a mix up in our dessert order. By the end, we were so fed up with the (lack of) service. After waiting another 15 minutes to get our bill, we bolted out the door.
It is unlikely that I will give this restaurant another shot, especially with so many more choices (and GOOD choices) nearby. However, I did give it 2 stars with the hope that they do improve their service. I wouldn’t mind giving it another try but I’m a firm believer in first impressions. And S@mple failed to impress this foodie.

I actually joined Unilocal tonight for the sole purpose of warning people about this place. I can sum up my experience in three letters: W, T, F. I wasted almost three hours of my life in this restaurant that I will never be able to get back. I wish I had ordered a loaf of bread for my appetizer so that I could’ve used it as a pillow to take a nap until the main course arrived and then again until the dessert arrived. And this was on a Tuesday evening when it wasn’t even that busy.
Let me at least start by saying the food is pretty good. Not spectacular, but definitely above average. If the service wasn’t the most appallingly bad service I had ever received, I would absolutely go back for the food. I can also say that our waitress was very nice. But just because she was nice doesn’t mean I’m going to say nice things about her, because quite frankly, she was freakin’ hopeless.
Our waitress made no secret of texting on her phone behind the bar instead of checking up on us. Yes, the waitstaff enters the orders on electronic devices, which some might mistake for them texting. But it’s like our waitress took advantage of this and could use her time to just text away while pretending to be putting in orders. There was one point where I went a full half an hour with my glass empty waiting for her to come back to our table. And when it was finally refilled, the water was warm. No ice in it, and not even remotely cold. Seriously?
Although the appetizer came out fairly quickly, the remaining courses (entrée and dessert) took about an hour each. Whether or not this was the fault of the chef or the waitress or some random homeless guy on the street, I don’t know. But regardless of whose fault it was, she seemed to stop caring at that point. Hell, maybe she didn’t care to begin with, but at least during the first part of the meal, she was able to mask it pretty well.
Finally, it was like freakin’ Lord of the Flies up in this restaurant. If you own a restaurant that has a fly problem, do something about it. Don’t think that your customers will enjoy watching a fly sex show that lasts two hours right next to their table.
It is unfortunate that everything about this restaurant except for the food will keep me from coming back.

I am a big fan of small plates and small, new, good restaurants; maybe we caught them on an off night (Tuesday). Clean, nice atmosphere, friendly, knowledgable, attentive staff and a number of great menus, but none of our choices would bring us back, or make us want to try anything else.
The 3 spicy crab empanadas in a puff pastry had one spicy bite and were accompanied by a VERY subtle avocado sauce — the pastry was tasteless as was the sauce for the most part. I think the garlic on the undercooked but lovely looking broccolini and large, undercooked brussels sprouts was canned. The broccolini was inedible — it was gas burned (smelled like lighter fluid). The mushroom escabeche was interesting, but a flavor in the escabeche was not tasty to me but was to my friend. The bread served with it was good.
They seem to have good specials.

I came here with some friends… and the place has potential… its just not very established yet so it’s still kinda dead. The food selection is actually very interesting because there is a good variety. I like the concept they have of small plates because sometimes you don’t want a whole plate of food you just want something to snack on. It is a bit pricey for some items just because of the quality of the ingredients. Each dish looks fresh and made to order.
Service: It’s a bit slow… it maybe because the restaurant area is a little squished between tables so it does take a while for the waitress to squeeze through to serve you. Now the ordering is quick just because they click it into their itouch which allows it to send to kitchen quickly. However i cannot say the same for the food.
Overall:the food is good, the taste is fresh and clean. I most likely will be visiting again soon when i am in richmond prehaps for a cocktail and another small plate.

A few weeks ago we went on a Thursday night. Being a new, «superhip» restaurant we were expecting a big crowd. There were probably three other tables seated.
I immediately thought, oh, this place isn’t going to last long.
Which is a shame, because I had a great dining experience.
I went for the Thursday special. For $ 12 a microbrew and the fraternal twin burgers (1. blue fondue and smoked bacon 2. onion rings and fried egg). It was perfectly seasoned and at just the right temperature. I’m drooling right now thinking about it.
For dessert I ordered the apple empanadas (special) and it was delicious, too.
My friend loved her braised short ribs, but she was not happy about the cinnamon doughnut holes. That definitely didn’t deserve the hype.
Our waitress didn’t take our order with a technological device, and there were tons of TVs on, but no image displayed. For a restaurant with the techy gimmick, it was disappointing to see none of it in action.

Let me start off by saying I will give this place another chance. It certainly has potential, the menu is reasonably priced, it is in a great location and has a very unique atmosphere. So with all the fancy stuff (iPad’s and Phone’s, and lots of flat panels), one should expect to have an exceptional eating experience; In all the good ways… This was not the case.
From the inside, this place is very meticulously designed; someone spent considerable time and effort into the décor and it shows. Almost Miami-​ish /​Neu-​wave. Idk, I am not here to analyze that. On the other hand, the food presentation/​composition was a whole different ball of wax.
Poignant Examples:
1. Sub-​par presentation: Mashed potatoes appeared to have been ‘thrown’ on a large white angular dinner plate (peculiar size and shape too). To me it just came across as strange. I think they would have served better in a deep bowl; To accentuate portion size… They were also under-​seasoned and quite runny.
2. Over cooking: Duck Egg Sandwich was over cooked… I mean, do I really need to specify that I do not want the yoke cooked? (That is not rhetorical.)
The Bread was delicious, lite and crisp.
I LOVE Fennel, it is one of my favourite salads! All it needs is oil, balsamic and pepper, yeah? Their Fennel salad on the side was soggy and mushy, Yuck! Why would any self respecting chef serve something like this? I was very sad.
The Bacon had great flavor, but was predominantly rubbery and tasted like it have been cooked previously, perhaps even microwaved (!) to warm it up before it made its way to the bread. Let’s hope the latter is not the case. Sandwich is cut into two and each slice boasts a hearty slice of tomato.
Again, I may come across as harsh, but I think for a business that is willing to spend so much on aesthetics (flat panels, iPads, iPhones, etc) that a little more time should be spent on quality control /​inspection of items coming out of the kitchen. I WILL return
Cordially,
SeeLuca

Went there Saturday night with some friends. I was really excited to go because from the outside the place looked great and I heard some good things about their drinks. Didn’t know much about their food. Well, the restaurant looks even more amazing on the inside, very classy and trendy. I’m a sucker for dim lighting at restaurants, so I immediately felt comfortable and relaxed. I ordered a blueberry mojito, and there were actually a good amount of crushed blueberries in the cocktail– I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t a very strong drink, nor was it amazing, but it was nice. The food was great! I wasn’t super hungry, so I shared 2 dishes with my date (our friends did the same). The dishes are mezze style (smaller portions) and perhaps pricier than what the typical VCU student can afford (but I have money so it was not an issue ^^). We ordered the mushroom escabeche and the fried oysters: so fresh, so delish. I plan on visiting again very soon on an empty stomach so I can order 4 dishes. And no, I’m not sharing.
Love the ambiance. Love the friendly service. OH! And it’s 25% off the whole meal for VCU students if you show your ID for the rest of April. Take advantage of it!

Not bad. I hate the way the space looks, though. Besides the bar area, I think the rest of the place could use a good interior decorator. I felt like there was supposed to be an over-​arching theme to the space, but it was either Euro disco, aquariums, email inboxes, or maybe a conglomerate of everything and your mother.
Anyway, the food. It’s tapas style, so be prepared to try a bunch of plates and share and enjoy. We got a salad to start, then a shrimp and crab paella, and «Smashed to Order» which is basically potatoes with garlic and sour cream. It doesn’t sound like a lot of food, but between two people, we got really full. The paella was amazing, I highly recommend it. I think our choice of potatoes was ill-​advised, because the flavor didn’t go well with the paella, so it was kind of strange. Next time I would go with some grilled asparagus as a side instead.
They have a pretty extensive menu, and it can be a little difficult to decide what you’re going to order, but I’ve never found that to be a bad thing. That’s such a first world problem, isn’t it? Having too many choices? Lol.

I really have to give Groupon credit for introducing so many Richmond restaurants to me these past couple of weeks! I tried s@mple just the other night. The exterior of the restaurant was completely different from what I was expecting based on the restaurant’s website! s@mple is located right off of Main St. near VCU’s Monroe Park campus, right at the start of Uptown.
The interior of this restaurant is SUPER modern, trendy, and hip. I went for dinner, and after it got dark outside, the restaurant dimmed its lights even further, which accentuated the colorful neon-​esque lights throughout. There were lots of mirrors, screens, and even little bendy lights coming off of the floor! With the occasional electronic music playing in the background, it sometimes felt like I was in the middle of a club! The table I sat at was also a very interesting shape: it was arched, resembling a small cutout of a piece of a circle (like a trapezoid with curved edges).
Our waitress, Hailey, was friendly, and explained to us the purpose of her «waiter pad» (she used an iTouch app to take our order, which is instantly transmitted to the kitchen). We were instructed that food comes out when it is ready, instead of all together as a group. When we asked for a few more minutes to look over the menu, she kind of disappeared for 10 – 15 minutes, which was a bit strange; we ended up having to call over a hostess to have her retrieve our waitress. Hailey apologized and explained that the kitchen was super busy. However, it also took forever for our food to arrive after we ordered (aside from the first dish, which came out quickly), as well as for the check to arrive when we asked for it at the end of our meal. Definitely not the place to come if you’re in a hurry!
For a place that has only been open for 2.5 months, business is doing well! We arrived early enough to find parking in the parking lot, but it’s not a big lot, so keep that in mind. The bathroom was also very fun; small, but with a cool mirror and light fixture behind the toilet. The sink was also of the «bowl on a table» style (i.e. the faucet is completely separate, and the sink is literally a giant bowl on a stand), which I feel like I’ve been encountering more and more these past five or so years. I obviously can’t comment on the women’s facilities.
Finally, I will address the most important aspect: the food. We were advised to order either three small plates or a «larger small plate» (yes, that’s what they’re called) and a small plate to feed the two of us. I ended up going with one of that night’s specials (Soft Shell Crab Po’ Boy) and the Cubano. My dining companion ordered the Lobster Knuckle Sandwiches.
I absolutely LOVED the soft shell crab sandwich. The texture was PERFECT; a nice crispy fried outside with warm, tender meat inside. The sauce was delicious and the bread nice and crunchy. The special also came with a side of coleslaw and some fingerling potatoes with bacon. That was by far my favorite dish of the night. The Cubano was also very tasty, although the mustard was a bit overpowering at times, and I wasn’t the biggest fan of the pickles. Also, I kind of regretted ordering the Cubano after the fact, since the bread part was practicallyidentical to my Po’ Boy sandwich (think panini bread). I sampled a bite of the Lobster Knuckle Sandwiches, which were yummy but cold. The Cubano and Knuckle Sandwiches came with small sides of baby herb salad.
Overall, I really enjoyed s@mple’s food. There really is an impressive variety of international offerings and an extensive array of flavors! I will admit that it’s slightly on the pricier side, but it’s a fun dining experience and worth a visit! =)
P. S. There was some old, black-​and-​white feature film playing on some TVs on the walls, including the big projection screen in the room at the back near the restrooms (my friend guessed Robin Hood?). It was actually pretty random, and I wonder if anyone was actually watching, especially with no audio or subtitles!

Great for a fun night with friends. This place is all about atmosphere but that doesn’t mean they slack on the taste! Also, pretty reasonable prices for a tapas style place. The «small plates» are actually pretty filling (very rich). These dishes are not light by any means. Best for sharing because after a few bites you can’t help but feel guilty. Best things we had: Crab empanada (best puff pastry I’ve ever tasted) and the cinnamon donut dessert (with yummy ice cream and chocolate ganache sauce (I would go back JUST for that dessert, so good).

I ate here 2 weeks ago on a Saturday night with my boyfriend and the food was excellent. I loved the décor… it’s a complete remodel from what Sprout had there. We sat at the bar and the service was fast and everyone was friendly.
I took my friend there for lunch after class today and it was a completely different experience. About 20 minutes after we ordered the bartender (not our server) came to tell us that the chef didn’t show up for work today and the person cooking didn’t know how to make everything on the menu. Then he asked if I would mind choosing something else (and was nice about it). I changed my order and at that point just thought it was weird that they waited 20 minutes to tell me. There were only 3 other tables eating so it wasn’t like they were busy.
My food came out about 15 minutes later but only part of my friends order (a small salad) was brought and the server or the bartender never said where the rest of the meal was until we were finally able to waive them down about 10+minutes later. We thought at first that they just forgot to put the order in. She never did get her food… they said it was another issue with the cook/​kitchen. It was only a side a potatoes!
They were going to comp «part» of our meal and I brought it to the bartenders attention that they should have made something else to replace the food that didn’t come. It ever occurred to them to ask her if she wanted something else and he never acknowledged that point when I asked him… he just said that he would comp our whole meal. He then asked us if we wanted a gift certificate for next time… which was odd… is that a yes or no question? Just tell me that you are giving me a gift certificate! It was at this point that we found out the owner was in the kitchen and he had never came out to greet us himself. It would have been different if he wasn’t there when this happened but your primary job as the owner is to meet your patrons! I heard this owner guy owns a computer shop… the restaurant business is different… hopefully he fixes service like this or I will not be back. I have eaten out a lot and when a place doesn’t have something or runs out of something they also tell you right away and offer to make something else. Lunch was disappointing… my friend left hungry and we both felt awkward over the whole situation.

Don’t go hungry.
I might be the wrong person to rate this place as I am not much of a «tapas» kind of guy, so know that before reading.
This is a very trendy place and I feel like it tries a little too hard to be so. There was a sterile feel to the room. Everything was white, stainless steel or gray with a few colored lights here and there.
A good place to go with a larger group as the small plates ARE good for passing and sharing, but the food itself was just so-so…and expensive. I spent $ 50 (tip included for our group of 10), and still had to grab something to eat on the way home. It’s something different and I respect that, but not somewhere I’d go again.

S@mple was great. It is a cute new restaurant that I can image will be much more busy in coming months. They have a diverse and tasty menu. I enjoyed all the plates we sampled. I will definitely be back to try more.

Tried s@mple for the first time last night and the experience was completely unexpected. The décor, for one, is stunning. The space is literally unrecognizable from its former restaurant, Sprout. Talk about being transported to another place… South Beach perhaps?
From the moment we walked in, I was struck by the swanky ambience and mood lighting. Exposed brick surrounds the entryway, with accents of white showcasing the hostess station. The white theme continues throughout the dining rooms– white tables, white chairs, and white counters. Orchids are also strategically placed throughout the restaurant, adding to the modern and minimalistic feel. The front room, which houses the bar, offers patrons the use of computers at the tables and guests can also rent iPads for a fee. The back dining room, where we were seated, features a large screen that projected nature scenes throughout dinner. To further highlight the tech aspect of the restaurant, the servers use iPods to record orders, which are then transferred to iPads stationed by the kitchen. Kudos to the mastermind behind the complete transformation of a formerly casual space.
To me, libations are an integral part of any good meal. I tried the raspberry blonde cocktail, which consisted of fresh muddled raspberries, raspberry lemonade, and vodka. SO GOOD. It wasn’t too sweet and the raspberries were so plentiful that my first few sips actually required chewing. I found this to be a welcome addition, and one that definitely added to the deliciousness of the drink.
As for food, s@mple’s menu features two sizes of small plates, which are perfect for sharing! We ordered three between the two of us, thinking that we would order more once we finished. But by the time we reached the end of the third dish, our appetites were more than sufficiently satisfied. My favorite was the mushroom escabeche, which was an excellent choice for sharing. The mushrooms and cheese sauce were each in their own bowls, so it was perfect for individually portioning out our desired amounts. Contrary to what the menu says, we were served pita rather than crusty bread, but I loved the pita and thought it was the ideal accompaniment. If s@mple is playing around with a different take on this dish, I would encourage them to replace the bread with pita permanently!
The service was stellar, the décor is fantastic, and the food was good. I definitely plan on returning and trying a few different dishes. I’ve got my eye on the knuckle sandwich… not the kind you find in a schoolyard scrap, but the kind that appeases a craving for lobster and toasted brioche.

This is absolutely one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had.
After walking by one day and seeing the chic interior, I was really excited to try S@mple. It looked like a really nice bar where you could get a fun creative cocktail and catch up with friends. So this week, my friend and I decided to check it out. Here is list of what made our experience terrible:
(1) The service: While our server was very nice, she was completely incompetent. We asked for very basic cocktails; she had no idea what we were talking about. We order two glasses of wine, it took 20 MINUTES to get them. We ordered food; and she literally came over three time and tried to take the plates away when we had only eaten half of it. So annoying and a constant interruption to the evening.
(2) The food: I ordered the mushroom and creamy goat cheese plate and my friend ordered the potato puffs. Both were totally underwhelming. The mushroom dish should have been terrific but the bread was coated in salt that made it nearly inedible. The potato puffs were simply bland and chewy. no flavor at all.
After all of this we were ready to leave and asked our server for the check. She inquired about the quality of the food and we decided to give some nice constructive feedback (I promise it was kind). In what was definitely a nice gesture, the chef came out and apologized. I was just ready to leave but the next thing I know more food shows up that he says he «redid.» All I wanted was the check but no one would bring it to me. The food was just as bland as before but I felt obligated to take a few bites since they were nice enough to try. Finally after getting a bit pushy, we received the check, tipped more than we should have because I feel compelled to always give 20%, and bounced as fast as possible
I really really wanted this place to be fantastic. Aesthetically it has so much potential. However, nothing about the experience was up to par.

A 3.75 for now.
The restaurant atmosphere is very modern and cool. Seems out of place actually on Morris St and considering it used to be Sprout, but I like it. A lot of blue lights and flat screens and sleek tables.
The food was good. There was a lot of variety in the small and large plates. The reason I don’t give it a solid 4 or higher yet is because between the two of us we had 3 small plates, two desserts, and drinks and we were nowhere near full, but the bill was adding up fast. We also did the Sunday Sampling special (small plates for $ 8 and desserts for $ 5). Granted the waitress did recommend at least 2 small plates per person.
The actual dishes were ok to very good. We liked the pork belly the best — every component of it was tasty. The corn cakes and the shrimp were ok. Out of the desserts the bananas foster was pretty good and the cornbread was ok.
The blueberry mojitos were excellent.
The «tech» part of the restaurant. It could be a cool idea, but for now I don’t know that it adds anything. The waitresses actually put orders via ipod or other device and it goes to the kitchen. While a cool concept, they had issues finding the actual food on the device. Kinks for now.
I’d definitely try this place again. I wish the portions were slightly larger or the prices slightly lower for me to be a more regular customer though.
Check it out for yourself. Probably one of the more cool looking restaurants on Main St.