Still learning to deal with crowds…
Hotel Vitale
Downtown across from Market Bar & Boulevard
Rating: Buzzkiller
I work downtown near the Ferry Building. Where’s a grubgirl gotta go for good service? “Good” = attentive bartenders that get your orders right, and ask you if you’re ready for another (not too early, not way too late).
For now, it’s not Hotel Vitale’s bar, though the patio seating (with heat lamps) is what seems to draw the Melrose Place crowd, while the slightly older set (potential cougar alert!) mingles inside.
This last Friday I sat at the bar with my 2 (non-cougar) female friends…and the poor bartender was over his head. Not friendly, but not rude. We were just…invisible. Seemed like many people were invisible. We had to wait at least 10 minutes before we saw the cocktail menu, then another 15 minutes before eye contact was acknowledged and orders were placed.
I specifically said to him that I wanted to open a tab…he nodded and upon finishing our round of drinks, took the cash from my friend. This defeated my whole purpose of waving the plastic in his face initially.
The drinks were fairly potent, but once our 1st round was drained…the whole waiting game repeated itself. Eye contact was not made, others behind me were waiting to place their orders…my goodness. You’d think such an attempt at hipness could either turn up the snootiness factor of the bar staff (MAKE me feel like you are ignoring me because I’m not a celebrity), or increase the service level. Oh well. After we waited another 10 minutes without any question about filling our glasses, we bolted.
Sorry to say…you can’t judge a book by its cover.
