James and I were both feeling like Italian, so we thought we'd try Vincent's Restaurant, a new place on Barrett Parkway very close to Dallas Highway. This place had previously been a Chinese restaurant, a barbecue place, and something called the Ridgeway Grill (the road used to be named Ridgeway Road) which seemed to open and close in the same week. It suffers the handicap of being on a road with a solid median divider, so you either have to approach it from the east, or you have to turn around down the street to get to it (you can't make U-turns at the two closest breaks in the median). Most people won't take the effort to turn around once past.

We arrived there to find it well attended and people waiting to be seated. The hostess told us it would be 15-20 minutes. It turned out to be a half hour and although at least eight or ten people left, only two people were seated in that entire time. Several couples walked away. They finally called our name and we were seated in a booth with two menus.

And that was it. We sat fifteen solid minutes. No one greeted us, no one offered us any water. They had a help wanted sign outside, and had there only been one or two servers running around, we would have figured they were understaffed and doing their best. I could see at least four male servers and two females walking back and forth and around, and only one of them seemed to be doing anything. He was walking to each of the tables he served asking the diners if they needed anything; the rest of them just seemed to be wandering about aimlessly, including one blond guy who seemed to be trying his best to do nothing while looking busy.

The people behind us were complaining to the guy who was doing all the work and he was apologizing, saying the kitchen was disorganized. When he went away to see what happened to their food, the couple across from them told them they had gotten their salad after their entree and had never received their rolls (we saw them—common brown-and-serve garlic rolls, nothing fancy). Servers walked by and completely ignored us.

Finally, thirsty and starving, we walked out and went to Brooklyn Pizza Department.

Incidentally, Vincent's menu labels themselves as a "New York Italian Restaurant." I understand why they left. New Yorkers would never tolerate such poor service.

Rating: F-.

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 11:35:00 PM

Comments:

I think that place is cursed. The Ridgeway Grille had good food and good service the one time we ate there - don't know why it didn't make it. The Chinese buffet was iffy, and I wasn't surprised to see it die. And now... well, sounds like they need a manager badly.

BTW, if you're looking to move, you'll be looking to sell. If we can help with advice on that, let me know...

J.

# posted by  Jerry : 12:30:00 AM

 

You are both full of brown organic fertilizer. I have eaten there several times and the service and attention have been outstanding. Of course, I am an Italian boy, and maybe "we" only give good service to "each other" ... sort of an Italian equivalent to Jesse Jackson and Spike Lee.

# posted by  Anonymous : 12:38:00 AM

 

I AM Italian. Duh.

# posted by  Linda : 9:38:00 PM

 

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