Saturday, April 25, 2009

Capones Restaurant & Live Jazz Club

Man, I swear my reviews are getting shorter.  Anyway, Hubbs & I decided at virtually the last minute to go to Capones for dinner; we figured that we'd like it since we like jazz and we like food.

When we arrived for our reso, we were seated front and center at a little round table smack in front of the live jazz band.  The amp was jacked to the max and we were right near the speakers so of course we couldn't hear each other, and we weren't fond of our location.  It then took the server 10 minutes to come and take our drink order.  Strike 1.   When I saw that a booth table had freed up, I requested to be moved.  Server guy left to go ask if the table was available, and then he ignored us for another 5 minutes.  Strike 2.  We finally had to flag him down to check if we could move, and gave him our drink orders.  He said yes, and after we moved to the new booth table, our drinks never arrived.  Strike 3.

Thankfully, another server came by and took our drink order again.  She was way more efficient and came with our ice teas shortly afterwards; turns out the first server figured it wasn't his table anymore so he didn't bother to pass along our drink orders to our new server.  Thanks.

We ordered the Capones lasagna and the Godfather pizza.  I was worried we'd be hungry but Hubbs figured this was enough food.  He was right.  The lasagna came out in a small plate and I thought, uh oh, this won't be enough, but it was hearty and filling.  The pizza, about 10" in size, was also loaded with meat and quite filling.  In the end, I could only finish half of it, and Hubbs had all of his lasagna (save for a few bites that I stole) and 2 pieces of my pizza.  We still have 2 slices left over. 

The music that was blaring was still super loud from the booth/table (since it was right at the front near the stage) but at least Hubbs & I were able to sit beside each other in the booth and hear one another talk.  Then the band went on a break for 30 min., giving us time to rest our poor eardrums.  When they returned to the stage, their next set was a bit more mellow to start out with, allowing us to readjust our ears to the loud loud music.  I must be getting old, since I don't recall loud music ever bothering me before.

Overall, the food was pretty tasty (there was foie gras in the lasagna and duck on my pizza!) and the music was good (albeit loud).  Service was hit and miss depending on who served us, and prices weren't cheap (~$20+/entree, $14/app), but it was an experience that ended better than it started.  Our server also told us that they've come under new management and now the menu changes every so often, and they're trying to improve to their former glory.

Looks like they have their work cut out for them.  First step: fire that first server.  He's bringing them down.


Service: 3 out of 5 (4/5 for the second server, and 2/5 for the first)

Food: 4 out of 5


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