09/24/09

Unbelievable

by DTR Diner Patron

Last night (09/24/09) several of my co-workers and I dined in your restaurant. I must say that I was hesitant to accept the invitation as my three prior dining experiences have not been pleasurable…but I decided to give Poole's one more try. Unfortunately I must say you failed miserably. This was my fourth and final time that I will ever dine in your establishment. Each time I have dined in your restaurant your staff tries to encourage my dinner party to split up and dine at separate tables and or eat in shifts. Your staff while they are polite…they are not friendly nor are they focused on making it a wonderful dining experience. The size of your portions have gotten smaller while the prices have continued to increase. For what one pays to dine at your restaurant one would expect a larger portion, a printed menu and a friendlier staff.

• Pros: walking distance from my home
• Cons: wait time, pricing, wait staff

08/19/09

Wonderful anniversary dinner

by natesmom

My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary here on Friday 8/14. It was a pefect evening and we enjoyed every morsel of every dish. We knew Poole's was known for fresh, local, made to order, high qualifty food, and we were not disappointed.

If you want GIANT portions for a bargain price- this is NOT the restaurant for you.

If you are a very picky eater-probably also not the place for you, since the menu changes daily and has a small number of choices based on the availability of local, in-season food.

But if you are a "foodie" at heart- you will be in heaven!

PS....we had great service, and our waiter, Fern, was the best!

• Pros: First class, local food
• Cons: not for Golden Corral lovers

08/15/09

Pooles was a disaster!

by JHW

When we first arrived, the host said the wait was 20 minutes. We waited an hour and a half, but had a drink and were in good spirits. We were seated at the worst table in the place, right by the kitchen with the constant "thunk" of the door and a strobe light that would blind us on a regular basis. But again, the place was busy so we weren't upset.

Then, they told us they were out of the roast chicken. They had previously run out of another one of their five entrees. So before 8:30, this place had run out of two of their five entrees. And, honestly, if you have pretentions of being a bistro, you need to have enough chicken.

This was getting obnoxious, but we decided to stay. Our first course was an heirloom tomato salad. It came and it was pretty good--which means they actually seasoned the tomatoes. But it was listed as a vinaigrette and there was no vinegar, just oil. The waiter came and told us all about the five kinds of tomatoes in the salad, but we could only see three. It turns out they were out of the fancy kind of heirloom tomatoes.

We asked the waiter if they run out of food here often and he replied "absolutely!" as though it was something to be proud of.

At this point, we just wanted to get our entrees, eat and leave because we had been there for two hours already. After the waiter took our salad plates, it was 40 minutes before our entrees arrived. They must have messed them up and re-did them because towards the end of our wait, the kitchen staff kept bringing out plates that we had not ordered and could not eat (because so many people have allergies to shellfish, it is not a good idea to bring out a plate of oysters without asking first).

The whole thing took three hours! By the end, I was just exhausted. Of I decide to devote an entire evening to dining out, I expect an experience. This place gave me an experience, but not one I'm anxious to have again.

• Pros: uh. . .
• Cons: See below