District

Reviews 3

MA

Matt Williams

TL:DR Version - OK food, iffy cocktails and slow service. Full Version: We were looking forward to our night out, complete with a show Downtown and dinner at District. We got there two hours before our show, thinking it would be enough time – and it was – barely. We started with cocktails and the first sign of trouble was that the host was behind the bar mixing drinks. OK, maybe he does double duty and to be fair, the first round of cocktails (a Moscow Mule and Bourbon Honey Cider) were quite nice. The second set was not and perhaps had something to do with the fact that one of the waiters or busboys was now mixing drinks. The Smoked Jalapeno Margarita tasted more like a marinade with nowhere near enough citrus or sweet to cut the burnt green pepper taste. My wife’s Cleveland Sour was also unbalanced with way too much sour. Pucker your lips and wince sour. I decided to switch to wine as they can’t mess that up. For the menu of cocktails they had and the place they seem to be trying to be, I would have expected a consistent, professional bartender. We ordered the Sweet Potato Pancakes appetizer. While not bad, per se, $8 for five wilted, fried sweet potato slices is a bit much. Calling them “potato pancakes” is a bit of stretch of the term. By this time, an hour has gone by. An hour, for two rounds of drinks and a lack luster appetizer. We were not yet concerned, but the clock was ticking. We get our food after being there for about an hour and 20 minutes, about an hour and 10 minutes after we ordered it and surprisingly, about 2 minutes after we asked about it. Based on the state of the meals, I’d guess they were sitting under a heat lamp for a while. The steak au poive was OK, but lacked any true crust to it and was rather devoid of black pepper (you know, the main part of steak au poive?). I wonder if it was cooked over high heat at all. The potato puree that came with it was full of lumps. All of this was covered in a gravy that again, while not bad, wasn’t much more than you can get out of a packet of gravy mix. The green beans were nice, though. My wife’s fish was (surprise!) unbalanced, being far too herby and could have benefitted from a nice cream sauce. It was served on top of risotto which could have helped, but it was served with the skin on, between the risotto and fish, so near impossible to eat both together. The risotto was also mushy, lacking any tooth, and felt like it had been sitting far longer than risotto should. Given our upcoming show time and the lateness of when we got our food, we more or less had to wolf it down and get going. Not that there was really all that much to savor, unfortunately. To sum up, none of the food was bad (ok, that smoked jalapeno margarita was awful…), but given the overall quality and fantastically slow service, charging what they do seems ridiculous, bordering on offensive. To be fair, I’ve had comparable food at Applebee’s with far better service. I do not plan on eating at District again – at least until they start running some sort of 2 for $20 deal more fitting of their offerings.

MA

marklikesturtles

My wife and I ate here in the summer, on a Saturday around 6. The restaurant was completely empty. We were confused why it was empty, as the restaurant looked really good. It was very uncomfortable because our conversation was echoed throughout the restaurant. That was the first problem. The food itself was alright, but nothing special. The menu was very limited and most of it was macaroni and pasta related. We waited at least half an hour for our food, which made us wonder what they couldve possibly been doing back there. How long does it take to bring out food for 2 people when the restaurants empty? That was the second problem. After that wait, the appetizers came out. It was alright, but nothing I couldnt have gotten at any bar. One of our biggest issues is that I ordered a coke. A. Coke. But the waiter kept bringing them out without asking me. I finished my intended coke. He then quickly brought out my second coke without asking. I said what the heck and finished it off. He then brought out the THIRD coke without asking me. At that point I felt uncomfortable not finishing it, so I finished half. The guy was about to bring out the FOURTH coke when I told him no! What I couldnt believe is that we were charged for all 4 cokes! I almost pissed myself on the Rapid. That was the third problem. The entrees finally came. They were decent, but very greasy. My wifes ox tail, ended up being shreds of meat drenched in gravy sauce on top of spaghetti. My chicken Parmesan or something, which was also on top of spaghetti. Both of us had no knowledge of our food being on top of spaghetti. This was the fourth problem. We had both finished about half of our meals, so we decided to get them boxed. The waiter offered to box the food for us, so he took it back to the kitchen, boxed it, and brought it back. I then looked into the bag and saw something that looked like food at the bottom of the bag. I picked up my box of food, and a ton of grease fell right on my crotch! It turns out that the waiter didnt close the box all the way. I took my napkin and dipped it into my water and tried to rub the grease out for about 20 minutes when the waiter finally came over and offered to bring out a cloth. By the time he brought it out I already got most of the grease out. I had to wait for the water to dry before I could even get up. It was very uncomfortable going outside and walking 14 or so blocks to the RTA Rapid station. This was the FIFTH and biggest problem. The owner obviously doesnt know how to run a decent restaurant. Never have I had 5 problems with one dinner at any other restaurant before.

JI

Jim Smatler

I had a similar experience as Marklikesturtles did. A while ago, my wife and I decided to come here on a Saturday around 5 or 6. Note: This was a day that there was an Indians Game and some show at one of the theaters at Playhouse Square, along with all of the other busy activities going on in downtown on an average Saturday in the summer. My wife and I decided to park our car near Public Square, because we wanted to walk down Euclid and see how downtown was doing. As we walked down Euclid, we noticed several restaurants that were PACKED out the door. My wife and I were getting worried that this restaurant was also going to be packed. To our surprise the restaurant was literally EMPTY. Not a single other patron. On a Saturday. At 6. In the summer. On a day with several major events. It seemed VERY strange. It was also awkward because as Marklikesturtles said, our voices were echoed through out the entire restaurant. It was VERY awkward because even when we whispered, our voices could be heard all throughout the restaurant. Another issue my wife and I had, was that the menus were very deceiving. It didnt flat out say that almost all of their food was pasta/macaroni based. My wife ordered some sort of chicken and I got steak(?) Cant remember what I ordered. Anyways, we waited an awful while for the food to come out. And when we got it, we were very disappointed that BOTH of our meals had pasta. We asked the waiter, and he acted snooty and said "If you read the menu, then you wouldve saw it!". My wife and I were appalled at the way he acted. Anyways, the food was decent at best. The best thing that I had here was a draft beer. I STRONGLY recommend the owner/manager please work on running this restaurant better. It should be obvious if the entire restaurant is empty on a busy summer Saturday. By the way, I dont think Marklikesturtles got the restaurant mixed up. His experience sounds EXACTLY like my experience at this restaurant.