Last weekend, John and I met some friends at the Gaylord Convention Center at the National Harbor to subject ourselves to sales pitches on knives, various foodstuffs, and very expensive kitchen gadgets. Oh, and there may have been some wine tasting involved. Afterward, we tried out Ketchup, a restaurant that bills its menu as updated American cuisine. Its website uses a lot of words to basically say “we’re trendy, better than everyone else, and super cool.” They’re definitely trendy, but the jury is out on the other things.
Upfront, I’m going to say that I want to like this place. Trendy isn’t really my thing, but our server was a friendly, upbeat guy and the floor manager was helpful when addressing my complaints (more on that below). They have a gluten-free menu, woot! Also, even though my Open Table Spotlight voucher specifically said it wasn’t valid on Fridays or Saturdays, the general manager was kind enough to go ahead apply it to our bill (on a Saturday night, no less). Plus, he bought us a round of chocolate cake shots. Fun atmosphere, fun staff, what’s not to love? Wellll…
Look, I’m not going to say the overall experience was horrible, but it didn’t leave me super excited at the prospect of a second visit. Despite all of the positives mentioned above, service was an issue. My order came out wrong, and when I sent it back I was told that the burger I ordered off the gluten-free menu wasn’t available in gluten-free form. Huh? Ultimately they told me that there was a computer glitch that wouldn’t allow my burger to be ordered that way. Fine whatever, but instead of our server coming back and saying “hey, that’s not an option, would you like something else?” he just ordered me a different burger. Thanks guy, but that $5 upgrade you chose for me had some condiment on it that 1) I wasn’t expecting and 2) was gross. I’m not a fan of random condiments. Strike one.
Everyone finished dinner and 10 minutes later, not a single plate had been cleared. We had finished several rounds of drinks before and throughout dinner, and not a single rocks glass had been cleared. Seriously? The dish with the spoon is the APPETIZER plate, and at this point we’ve all been done eating for a while. Oh and that’s three stacks of rocks glasses on the table. When the floor manager came by to discuss the burger confusion, I pointed out the mess that was our dining table. That I had to point it out is disappointing. C’mon people, this is Restaurant Service 101 stuff. Peeved. Strike two.
Other issues: the burger was good but not spectacular – even the upgraded version didn’t knock my socks off (regularly $19!); the “cheesy” fries weren’t very cheesy (crinkle-cut fries with cheese powder on top); and our server pulled a Houdini after we got our food and we had to wave him down for everything but the check. Most of that was offset by: they had gluten-free buns; the manager reduced the price of the burger I didn’t order to the price of the burger I did order; one of the six “ketchups” they offer was really, really good on the not-so-cheesy fries; and the previously-mentioned graciousness of the general manager. They didn’t strike out but they missed some pretty easy pitches. I wasn’t under the illusion that this joint was going to be foodie heaven but I wanted what I always want in a dining experience – food quality that fits the price and competent, friendly service. I’ll probably give them another chance when I’m in the area, but they really need to step up their game.
-KPG (Katherine)
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