La Grolla

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

So my wife and I walked up to La Grolla ready for another great dining experience tonight. As we entered and approached the hostess, she basically just stared at us without a smile (it wasnt busy either). We had to start the conversation by asking if there was room on the patio. The hostess mumbled something like "let me check," again far from friendly. She sat us in the worst possible location for a table with the waiting staff zooming by seemingly inches away from my back. If there was to be a collision with a customer, it would have been with me. My wife politely asked the hostess if we could sit at a table with an umbrella (like we did the previous visit). The hostess quickly said "you may only sit at a table made for two." She quickly left not giving us much chance to react to her response. Interesting that as we looked around, there were several parties of 2 sitting at 4-person tables. As we started our meal with a caesar salad, my wife bit down on something hard. It was hard enough where it was painful and she wondered if it chipped her tooth. I thought maybe it was just uncrushed salt or pepper. My next bite was also unpleasant as I can only describe it as sandy lettuce. One more bite and I too bit down on something that definitely was not supposed to be in there. It turned out to be a crystal-like pinkish stone and I quickly showed it to the waitress. She did apologize and didnt charge us for the salad. The waiting staff for the most part, well...kept us waiting. Good thing one attentive waitress came out of her area to see if we had been helped by our assigned waitress. Our waitress was mostly out of sight and it really ran our patience thin. The payment process was a chore. It took the waitress seeing our table cleared off to get the hint to bring the check. And then my wife had to flag her down to pick up the payment. By this point, we couldnt get out of there soon enough! Our first two experiences at the restaurant were terrific and we loved the food. Its a shame that this latest experience was so polar opposite. The hostess needs to be welcoming and friendly, not look at customers like "what are you doing here?" She was just plain rude! Only salt for rocks in the food please and the waitress really tested our patience. I hope this was just a fluke. We still enjoy the food and patio enough to give them another chance.

PE

Peace Prosperity

My experience at La Grolla was quite impressive. For my first time visiting, I invited some family and friends from out of town to join me for a celebration. To be fair, I would like to rate based on each service that I received. Hostess (C): polite and fairly hospitable. The hostess could have been more assuring that we are in the right restaurant as if we belonged there or could have reassured us that we were in the right place at the right time. Hostess did not connect with my group as we entered however, she did not hesitate on where to seat us unlike most restaurants. Ambiance (A +): vivid, extraordinary. La Grolla was not what I was expecting contrasting to the photos online. The music genre was in tune with the atmosphere, I really enjoyed that. Server (A +): confident while announcing the chefs menu, speedy service, provided some suggestions which ended out to be exactly what she recommended – overall, delicious and cooked to my liking. Attendants/Busser (C -): One of my guest mentioned that the attendant was ‘loud’ as in their presence was a little distracting. We also noticed that the attendant could have been more cautious while gathering dishware not as being dangerous but the sound was unnecessary. We are sure that the attendant was not trained on this sort of etiquette, especially at a restaurant such as La Grolla. But overall, attendant was very respectful. Closing remarks: My guest and I really enjoyed La Grolla for it being our first time. A good number of my guests were from out of town their judgment has influenced my own. I did not notice what they observed right away about La Grollas services which most of it comes from their experiences, their expectations as well as the culture. This critique is to not bash nor humiliate neither anyone nor the business but to share the things they may not notice that others do. I hope La Grolla appreciates this review and considers this as enlightenment.

A

A Private User

WORST SERVICE IVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE. One of my best girlfriends chose La Grolla for her birthday based on all of the great reviews, so we went there and were treated like garbage. I think they had an attitude about the fact that we brought a small bunch of balloons in with us...like it was peasant activity or something...lol. Seriously...worst service ever!! The server (Andrea) knew it was her birthday. It was at least 20-25 minutes before she came back to take our food order. My salad came out with half of the ingredients missing, but of course, Andrea didnt show up ever to check that we got our food. So I spent like 15 minutes waiting for a server without stone-face to see me looking around eagerly. I finally flagged down a different server and got the salad fixed. By this time everyone was already done with theirs. Meanwhile, the table next to us was also having a birthday and was being treated like royalty. I know this because the server kept kicking our fourth (and extra) chair out of the way so she could nudge her ample hips in closer to their table when she checked on them every 5 minutes. She literally kicked the chair, while it had our belongings on it, including the birthday flowers that nearly fell off the chair when she did that. Andrea came back to check on us ONE time during our whole meal. Then we had to wait an eternity for our check. And then our check sat there for ages, waiting to be taken, and we finally flagged down ANOTHER server to take it. This must have been another 20 minutes. Needless to say, we didnt leave any tip...who rewards such crap service? The only reason I gave it two stars instead of one is because the food was really tasty.

JU

Justin Amsler

Not impressed. I would give a quarter of a star if the option was available. This is the second time Ive been there in five years, and the second time Ive been sick from eating there! 2 for 2 is pretty bad in my book! I actually had to call in sick today because of my poor judgement in eating here. My wife and I live in the area and thought we would give this place a second chance. We had tickets to see a comedy show and agreed to stop in for dinner first. I did not go for the same dish twice, but still paid the same price. Needless to say, I barely made it through our main event and back home! During our meal I did manage to catch up on all the latest gossip and plans from the wait staff though. They for some reason were just hanging out in the main area having a good old time! I guess upcoming weekend plans and stories from the night before were so important we needed to hear all about them too. Makes me worried about whats going on in the kitchen. Im imagining all the variety of ways and reasons why I cant keep water down today. I dont know if the ingredients are bad, if its mishandling of food, or just not storing things at the correct temperature. A serious management change up front and in the kitchen is sorely needed in an urgent way! I will never come back and frankly feel they owe me a full days salary for having to call in sick. This location is surrounded by some of the best restaurants in town, I suggest you find somewhere else to go on Selby or Grande Ave.