FYI, my friend lives there and also experienced very, very slow service and problems with a simple order at the coffee bar and apparently did let the manager know, who was nearby and talking to the press.  I admire them for wanting to employ some homless people but they need some people working there who have solid foodservice and customer service experience or else they're going to be in trouble.

how come I am the bad guy for bringing up the issues here? Apparently I am not alone. The reason I am continuing to respond is b/c of my emotional and financial investment in the neighborhood and feel the need to respond to me being the bad guy here. Whether people like it or not the web is now the main way people communicate consumer information (see trip adviser, Yelp and so on).

 

I am at the point to drop the bouncer thing unless I go again and there is a bouncer denying entry. I would not want to dwell too much on something where you cannot turn back the clock.  As far as the prices, it  IS totally subjective and does not make it a bad place, but I do not know if it can survive in that price point UNLESS the service and product  are exquisite-but like I said, if they can, more power to them. I think I have been very descriptive in my feedback, it is not as if is I saying something like "It was awful don't go" . That would be unfair (and also untrue). People may read I said the space is great, but the drinks cost too much, yet feel cost is no object for them and go anyway. And for G's sake it has only been a week. Am I to pull this poor lady aside and quibble in front of media cameras??? There is no means of emailing either from the Mocha Fusion website.

when i was there, it was a saturday evening, the day after the grand opening, and I was expecting it to be moderately busy, but it really wasn't.  they were almost over staffed considering the ratio of waiters to patrons, but even still, the service was lacking.  it was also very evident that our waitress had exactly zero prior experience.

Hey Pea, what did the bouncer look like? 

there was more than one bouncer? this guy was very large in height and weight, bald. He was working the washington ave entrance.

this guy was very large in height and weight, bald.

 

I think you just narrowed it down to every bouncer in Cleveland! :-D

 

Sorry to hear you had a bit of a bad experience with the guy, though.  Hopefully this place gets its staff issues together.  It's great to give a shot to those who are generally considered unemployable, but they can't make up the entire staff.

Saturday morning I brought my parents there to check it out; just to pop in after shopping the the west side market.  Twila was around cleaning up, etc.  We were asking how Friday night went and she seemed to be pleased, said they shut down around 2am.  I started asking some questions about drink prices, what the deal was with the restaurant section - self seating, waiter, order at the kitchen, etc.  As far as drinks, she told me they would be having happy hour from 4-8 at 50% off all drinks, everyday, including that night (Saturday).  She admitted to having a few hiccups with the food situation on Friday and was planning on changing it up Saturday night to help make it go better.  I mentioned this before, but as one large lounge area, it lacks identity.  People who want to come in and eat, or people who want to come in and just drink and listen to the band, they need to know what to do/where to go and right now that's not the case.  They also need to have a few larger tables for seating parties of 4, some of those bar tables are just too small and I'm not going out to eat so I can sit on a couch.  Based on my discussions with her and my general observations of the place, where she is strong in ideas and general business management, she is still learning the restaurant management aspect of it. 

 

Anyway, we talked for about 15 minutes about various things and I decided I would check it out later that night.  So I went around 7:30 to catch the end of happy hour but was told by the bartender there was no happy hour because "it was opening night".  I said last night was opening night and Twila told me happy hour was everyday but the bartender still claimed to not have the special.  I ended up leaving.  It was fairly busy and I didn't want to waste my time complaining about it.

 

However, after speaking with her now 2-3 times I will say this.

 

- The price is an issue for me also.  Whether or not it's too costly to succeed or I'm just not the person they are going after, I am not sure.  What I do think though is she's sharp enough to A) lower the cost, or B) find the people who are willing to pay that amount to be her customers.  So in the long run, I feel it is in good hands.  Granted, I would want the prices to be low enough for me to be a customer, but it's her business.

 

- I think there will be a heavy learning curve for the first 30-60 days, particularly with the food aspect of it.  I'll have to go back to find out, but for the first month or so I intend on going on a limited basis until they work the kinks out.  Maybe lunch on Saturday, a drink or two during happy hour, but it won't be a "destination" until I get the feeling it has sorted itself out.

 

I think it will be OK eventually and I did express some concerns and gave a few suggestions.  So while I would say it was definately a little sloppy during week 1, I've been impressed when speaking to Twila or Eddy and knowing how heavily invested they are in it, I believe they will figure it out soon enough to make it work.

shs96.  Good to hear!  I figured that the owners/management would be open to constructive criticism.

 

NOW, lets hope they take your advice.

Too many people start food-related businesses with no good knowledge of how to run a restaurant.  If you don't know how to handle something like this, hire someone that does, you know?  You can't just open a restaurant with a dream in your eye and a song in your heart and expect it to succeed, especially when you employ people with no F&B background and leave them by themselves at the counter without a fully stocked kitchen.

happy hour! woo hoo! I asked about her that  last week but they were unable to be specific-at the time they thought they may run specials for a certain drink . This has generally never worked for me (Apple Martini or Budlite? no thanks) .  1/2 off everything is a good sign. You can get your fancy pants big spenders in after 8 and give the working man and women something to look forward to before 8. I have no interest in paying top dollar for my 6 pm cocktail to subsidize a late night jazz band when I am long tucked away for the night. Rock&R is right. The restaurant business is incredibly brutal despite people's perceptions that they will have as much fun as Sam Malone on Cheers (are you kids too young to remember that one?). Even talented people in the food business either front or back of house and in business in general can get chewed up and spit out in no time. That bartender should have made SHS the drink and cleared it up later with management. It is not like it is a college bar or something. I mean did they think he was making that up or something?

I agree. To get things started on a sloppy foot doesn't look good.

I'd love to run some kind of business that is offers consultation for small, indie restaurants that get started in town.  In addition to advice from the point person, the firm could use freelancers to "shop"/QSR the establishment and give feedback to the managers about how things are rolling out and if everyone is doing what they're supposed to all the time.  As much as I hated being "shopped" (secret shopper for those of you not in the biz), it is a good way to handle quality control, and there's really nothing like that for indies. 

I got a short term gig paid by my employer to be a secret shopper back in 80's for indie joints in my town outside DC. It was one great job. I have since looked into it, but it  mostly seems to be done by chains so I refuse even though it would be free. Life is too short to eat at TGIF McMacaroni Grill. In some sense with the interwebs there is less of a need for secret shoppers. The service is free for all to see. Although some places are really clueless. I was at some place in Chicago and mentioned I had heard about this hottest new hole in the wall from chowhound.com to the owner and they had no clue what the heck I was talking out. I am a geek though, as when I worked in grocery I loved being secret shopped. All the management brown-nosers scored lower than low key me

there was some chatter on the breuer/ameritrust site thread about k&d and their building standards.  a while back, I was googling around and found this blog about construction and design.  I have no idea who wrote it, or how updated it is.  but it mentions some of the problems on stonebridge, cutting corners etc.  hopefully these things have been addressed, or at least brought to the attention of the firm. 

 

http://sbs-44114.blogspot.com/2007/03/is-it-finished.html

 

having never owned a home, let alone a new home, I have no idea what the process would be when something is built for you, and you are not happy with the result.  I'm a librarian not a lawyer.  hypothetically, how would someone proceed?   

 

 

Well for starters you hope the developers have not given large donations to people who represent you, the resident living in the poor contruction. You will have no help from the city level in dealing with any issues.  One of the problems is there is sometimes a fine line between what is subjectively poor contruction and egregious..In many cases is takes a lawyer to help figure it out. Even if the problem obvious you could still have a fight on your hands.  I would never buy anything precontruction again in my life, but that is just me- plus I like older stuff anyway.   

Anyone know:

1. How many residential units currently exist at Stonebridge; and

2. How much K&D has invested in the neighborhood so far?

I'd love to run some kind of business that is offers consultation for small, indie restaurants that get started in town. 

 

That's a great idea.  I sort of did that for the restaurant I worked for in high school & college 2 summers ago.  The owner paid me $100/hour to go in during lunch on a Saturday and train/help the current employees run it.  It was pretty easy; I just showed them a few things I used to do to help make things run smoother and that was that.  I was there from 12-2 and walked out with $200.  Apparently they broke their sales record for the summer that Saturday, so the owner was quite happy.

 

Anyone know:

1. How many residential units currently exist at Stonebridge; and

2. How much K&D has invested in the neighborhood so far?

 

1.  Plaza has 108 units, Tower has 163 units.  Not quite sure about Waterfront, but the number 146 is jumping out at me.  So roughly 417 units total.

2.  Don't know for sure.  I've seen articles that quote $600 million for the entire development once the next planned stages are done (1,500 more units, 650,000 retail space).  There are 12 phases total and 20/20 is phase 6.  Future developments seem bigger, so I would guess they are about 1/4 to 1/3 done with their total plan even though they are on phase 6 of 12.  So take that for what it is worth.

Thank you shs!

I think SB beefed up the lighting on Detroit/river red around the units. Either that or the they breathed a fire down the city's back  along with many residents and Flats Oxbow to deal with darkened streets around here. The end result is good. The lighting is very good. Unlike many parts of Downtown that are pitch black (public square should never be pitch black, come on!), we feel pretty good about walking around here. If the city would make the effort to light downtown I would be walking around much more. The excuses  and finger pointing as to why it is not done become exhausting. As far as adding new phases, the last correspondance I received was that it was all on hold.

20/20 follow up.... we visited Friday 2/29, about midnight, and was happy to see the entire building packed! A Jazz band was playing and everyone seemed to be having a great time. We got one drink each at the bar, found a seat, at the bar, read the menu for about 5 minutes and wanted to order food but no one behind the bar made eye contact with us or even asked if we wanted anything. We left the bar area and thought the booth seating would offer better service.... we could not have been more wrong! We sat there for at least 30 minutes before a member in our party of 3 stood up and flagged down another patron who asked us if we needed anything and we said yes, a waiter at which point ( I do not recall her title) stood up and came to join us at our table. Her objective was to actually see how much additional time would pass until a waiter came to our table. At least another 10 minutes passed (yes she did not make any attempt to help us while we are now in our 40 minutes of waiting) FINALLY a waiter came over, we only gave her three drink orders because we were dissappointed and decided not to give them more business with a food order. She returned 10-15 minutes later with only 2 drinks and proceeded to ask what the third drink was. 10 minutes later, she returned to tell us they did not have that specific Vodka. Another choice was made and she finally returned with the third drink within 5 minutes. During this time (about 1 hour), title-less (sorry, she did not give us a business card) woman chatted and seemed interested in our lack of timely service and bought that round of drinks. She eventually left us because she needed to take her little girl home to bed.... yes her daughter was at the bar at 1:00 AM and is about 8 years old. We wanted another round to celebrate a birthday. Guess what, we waited and waited AND waited. We saw title-less and motioned her to come over. She sat down with us again and proceeded to say we are cut off. We found this shocking and amusing, since we only had 2 drinks each. We were not making a scene, falling out of the booth or being obnoxious, only celebrating a 35th birthday with some drinks. Understanding she has responsibility, and agreeing with her to not serve the driver, she was asked why can't the other two people have drinks since one lives in Stonebridge and the other is a passenger... she finally agreed but we decided to leave. However, before exiting we asked if an owner was present and Twyla Garrett listened to what we experienced. We told her we would definitely give her another shot since they are still relatively new and the food did look appetizing. She appreciated that and gave us dinner cards. We suggested she visit this web site and see first hand what educated Clevelander's are saying about her establishment.

Well I hope they hire a professional consultant/trainer, and fast. This needs more help than message board and polite customer feedback. And while they are at it, I hope they make the website http://www.2020martini.com/    more personal. It looks like a generic formula website- the interior and food items in the pics do not even look like the actual place. Finally mentioning all the nebulous *culinary awards received raises an eyebrow in my mind.

 

*edit: it looks like they changed it to say "in position to" receive as opposed to received these culinary awards (which I have still not heard of)

it seems that the website has copied and pasted text directly from a four seasons restaurant, which might explain the stock photos or statements like:

"Since opening its doors 2020 Martini is position to received a string of industry accolades including Best Restaurant in the Restaurant Awards, Restaurant of the Year in the Restaurateurs Awards."

 

"It was a fabulous experience dining at Four Seasons.The eateries were really tasty.And the behaviour of the attendents was very friendly.They were quite helpful in choosing food-items according to our choice.

 

Ralph Stanes"

 

"Four Seasons has achieved a good name in the area for their top quality food.

 

The Times"

 

Wow, things don't sound like they're improving at this place at all.  Just terrible.

 

*edit: it looks like they changed it to say "in position to" receive as opposed to received these culinary awards (which I have still not heard of)

 

I saw that the other day when I was surfing around.  There were some other odd grammatical mistakes on there.  I just went and checked that site again and it says "Since opening its doors 2020 Martini is position to received a string of industry accolades including Best Restaurant in the Restaurant Awards, Restaurant of the Year in the Restaurateurs Awards."

 

That does make it look like it was cut and paste from elsewhere, particularly is position to received.  I think they mean is positioned to receive but who knows.  Plus when you start with "since" you shouldn't use the present tense of a verb (is).  Should read something like "Since opening its doors, 2020 Martini has positioned itself to receive..." 

 

"Best Restaurant in the Restaurant Awards"??  Has anyone heard of "The Restaurant Awards"?

 

My friend was also there Saturday, placing a to go order.  Didn't have good things to say about the service then either.

I think the web site grammar and credibility are the least of their worries now. I am finding it harder and harder to summon the courage to go back. I need to heal still I guess.

 

edited for grammar  :lol:

"Wow, things don't sound like they're improving at this place at all.  Just terrible."

 

It's still very early and it sounds like the restaurant was packed.  Lots of places start with a miss or two

it seems that the website has copied and pasted text directly from a four seasons restaurant, which might explain the stock photos or statements like:

"Since opening its doors 2020 Martini is position to received a string of industry accolades including Best Restaurant in the Restaurant Awards, Restaurant of the Year in the Restaurateurs Awards."

 

"It was a fabulous experience dining at Four Seasons.The eateries were really tasty.And the behaviour of the attendents was very friendly.They were quite helpful in choosing food-items according to our choice.

 

Ralph Stanes"

 

"Four Seasons has achieved a good name in the area for their top quality food.

 

The Times"

 

 

I noticed that too - that's pretty half-@ssed.

Wow. That is without a doubt the worst website I've ever visited. It looks as if it was penned by a 5 year old. How do you misspell the word entrepreneur when its what you do for a living? The music, the images, the "awards," the grammar...they're better off without a site until they can get something presentable figured out.

.

I think SB beefed up the lighting on Detroit/river red around the units. Either that or the they breathed a fire down the city's back  along with many residents and Flats Oxbow to deal with darkened streets around here. The end result is good. The lighting is very good. Unlike many parts of Downtown that are pitch black (public square should never be pitch black, come on!), we feel pretty good about walking around here. If the city would make the effort to light downtown I would be walking around much more. The excuses  and finger pointing as to why it is not done become exhausting. As far as adding new phases, the last correspondance I received was that it was all on hold.

 

Lighted streets around Stonebridge!?  It's about damn time.  I mean, Stonebridge is only the largest, new multi-unit residential apt/condo complex built in downtown since Reserve Sq. (a.k.a. the old Park Centre) opened around 36 years ago... and the 1st Stonebridge building went on line, what, 7-8 years ago?...can you say: Duh!

 

As for pitch black streets around Public Sq and areas adjacent .. can you see how our pockets-of-activity downtown leaves a bad taste in visitors mouths?... er, but back to Stonebridge... Let's hope the City continues to make the area a tad more people friendly.  If the so-called goal is getting people to live, dine and entertain downtown, well, …

 

As for 2020 Martini, you guys are killing the place.  Any new joint is bound to make some miscues.  Give it a friggin' chance for cryin' out loud. 

The creepiest part is that you can zoom in on the picture of the little girl.

 

I didn't see anything wrong with the website.

 

I think SB beefed up the lighting on Detroit/river red around the units. Either that or the they breathed a fire down the city's back  along with many residents and Flats Oxbow to deal with darkened streets around here. The end result is good. The lighting is very good. Unlike many parts of Downtown that are pitch black (public square should never be pitch black, come on!), we feel pretty good about walking around here. If the city would make the effort to light downtown I would be walking around much more. The excuses  and finger pointing as to why it is not done become exhausting. As far as adding new phases, the last correspondance I received was that it was all on hold.

 

Lighted streets around Stonebridge!?  It's about damn time.  I mean, Stonebridge is only the largest, new multi-unit residential apt/condo complex built in downtown since Reserve Sq. (a.k.a. the old Park Centre) opened around 36 years ago... and the 1st Stonebridge building went on line, what, 7-8 years ago?...can you say: Duh!

 

As for pitch black streets around Public Sq and areas adjacent .. can you see how our pockets-of-activity downtown leaves a bad taste in visitors mouths?... er, but back to Stonebridge... Let's hope the City continues to make the area a tad more people friendly.  If the so-called goal is getting people to live, dine and entertain downtown, well, …

 

As for 2020 Martini, you guys are killing the place.  Any new joint is bound to make some miscues.  Give it a friggin' chance for cryin' out loud. 

 

I'd say they're doing a pretty good job of killing the place without our assistance.

And anyone who criticizes the critics feel free to go drop about $100 and report back

If the critics were strictly from a poorly moderated nightmare *cough*cleveland.com*cough*, I might agree with clvlndr. But knowing a few of the critics personally, and a few via the forum enough to know that they're level-headed people just wanting to find yet one more local place deserving of support, sorry - I'd say that thus far, I'm hearing fair critiques. Maybe five or more years ago, Clevelanders might have tolerated so-so service (even with the best intentions) in a fabulous space but thanks to so many folks in the restaurant biz who busted their @sses (again, some I know personally) to provide high quality service and food - with FAR less hype than 2020 has received, Cleveland's dining scene has matured. I'd say it's matured enough that it's no longer a case of "wow, it's like a place you'd find in NYC!", it's now finally "wow, it's a place that compares with the best in Cleveland!".

 

It's like rockandroller said - intentions are great, and even I will admit the concept of employing the difficult-to-employ is wonderfully admirable, and by all that I hold holy, I hope they succeed, but like I say about so many institutions, people, and places in Cleveland - NO ONE IS BEYOND REPROACH. Their goals are great, and my heart goes out to them because everyone knows the restaurant biz is absolutely brutal.  I sooo wish them well but from everything I'm seeing and hearing, they REALLY need to get their sh!t together. And this is coming from someone who you DON'T need to convince that supporting your locals is essential to your city's health.

And anyone who criticizes the critics feel free to go drop about $100 and report back

 

Oh definitely, I will being going there very soon and will report.  And yes, MayDay, I admit I'm a bit of a soft touch for entrepreneurs who roll the dice on downtown Cleveland when, lets face it, for most the burbs are better for their bottom lines in most cases.  Downtown's a risky gamble as the failed Castaldi's Restaurant at Tower City -- which opened with so much promise, demonstrates...  For example, I've dropped quite a few bills on the Metropolitan (for one) and, not always, gotten equal value in service.  I thought folks were a bit tough on Zocalo's, too. ... That said, Cleveland should not be in the "Beggars can't be choosy" mode and except any old crap either.   Like a prized pro athlete draft pick, I give any new venture a chance to develop its sea legs.

 

Maybe when we achieve more of a critical mass, when downtown truly becomes the 'in spot' in Greater Cleveland, once agian (and not just on weekend nights), we can and should be more critical and demanding of brand new spots.  We're slowly getting there, to be sure.  But now, though, I just don't feel we're at that point.

And anyone who criticizes the critics feel free to go drop about $100 and report back

 

  Downtown's a risky gamble as the failed Castaldi's Restaurant at Tower City -- which opened with so much promise, demonstrates... 

 

Maybe when we achieve more of a critical mass, when downtown truly becomes the 'in spot' in Greater Cleveland, once agian (and not just on weekend nights), we can and should be more critical and demanding of brand new spots.  We're slowly getting there, to be sure.  But now, though, I just don't feel we're at that point.

 

I disagree.  When you have bad staff it affects the bottom line.  You cannot have a fabulous or strong menu and weak staff and support.

 

Cleveland has always had good restaurants and as stated before, there are plenty of "foodies" here in Cleveland.  They wont settle for "so so".  Same thing goes for retail stores here in Cleveland - no mention of names of a particular store in the WHD.

I am agreeing that the online foodie critics have given a hand up to those that deserve it, and called out the showboaters with less substance. This discerning mass has caused places to raise the bar for everyone and that is a good thing. I travel a lot and we have some pretty amazing places here in Cleveland. I know this is due in part to major talent here, but I wonder how much of that would be developed if we were satisfied with the ordinary. Lets not say fall into the trap of "this is Cleveland and we should be happy to have this". It should be THIS is Cleveland the new champ on the culinary map-come ready to play!

Also, don't forget how poorly run Ponte Vechio was initially.  Let's give them some time, but not a free pass.

Back to 2020's web site: the writing is unforgivably lousy, but in its defense, it's not the only place that has ripped off content from another site; On Tremont Tap house's myspace page (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=5025848), the condescending definition of a "gastropub" is lifted verbatim from wikipedia.  When I first read it a few weeks back, they hadn't even bothered deleting the "(need cite)" notes after some of the info.

I probably had my worst DINING experience ever at Zocalo's. Nothing could be worse than their service. It was something like the experience many people had at 20/20 but a lot worse, like 20 times worse.

 

However, to keep this on topic, I have not been to 20/20 yet, but I am curious to know if this place is run by the people who own the coffee shop as well? Noticing a lot of 20/20 talk, but how's the coffee place going? Are the drinks good? Do they offer soymilk as an alternative? Believe it or not, that's a serious question I'm asking, because some coffee shops in Cleveland don't yet offer that, sadly!

I don't want to get off topic either so i am posting this and then leaving it alone... but i also had a putrid experience with the food and service at zocalo's.... but gave it another shot a couple months ago, and was pleasantly surprised.  food was decent and the service was vastly improved.

I found the coffee at Mocha Fusion (the cafe at Stonebridge Square) to be quite good.

I found the coffee at Mocha Fusion (the cafe at Stonebridge Square) to be quite good.

 

Really??

Why do you sound surprised?

Why do you sound surprised?

 

ahhh..... me + coffee = hello!

 

It gives me another place to sneak away too.  Although, as you well know, I should be hanging up my coffee beans.  OT...I went to a caffeine "addiction seminar" this past weekend. sad...so sad.

like I mentioned, the pizza was awesome. It may have helped that the wolfgang puck trainer guy made it -hopefully the cooks learned well.

I found the coffee at Mocha Fusion (the cafe at Stonebridge Square) to be quite good.

 

I also liked the coffee, although I wouldn't call myself a coffee connoisseur.  The breakfast sandwich was what appeared to be a Jimmy Dean microwave sandwich, which I actually like (depsite it being horrible for you) but I'd just assume pay $1 at McDonalds for it (not $3.65).  Although I can't sit on a couch and watch Sportscenter while eating and enjoying my coffee, so I guess it's give and take.

 

I think the main concerns for me are:

 

1. Service to this point has been pretty bad.  I have no problem giving a free pass on that for 60 days though.

2. The place is not a restaurant, plain and simple.  There is no hostess, there are no dining tables for 4, there is no divide between "dining area" and "lounge area". 

3. Drinks are concert venue in price.

 

Given #2, it won't survive as a restaurant.  Given #3, it won't survive as a place to come hang out, watch a game, relax with friends, etc.  Here is what the place is:  An upscale jazz lounge that will do well if they keep having good acts.  Here is what the place is not:  An upscale restaurant or neighborhood bar.

 

Unfortunately, they are currently trying to be an upscale restaurant and neighborhood bar.  They are not that.  They could be that, but more than just the service issues need to change.  2 and 3 are fairly easy to correct, just need some larger, square tables or rectangular pub style tables that they could push togther for dining and pull apart for lounge.  Add a hostess and maybe some fake ficus trees (re: removable) for a natural divide and boom, dining area.  Obviously, lower drink prices is simple.

 

There's a ton of potential - food is good, ambiance is good, location is good - just need to shape the identity and improve the service issues.  It's like a hit TV show when it first gets started - good concept, need to work on character development and build off that.

 

 

2020 update. Things could only get better, and they have. We went after work Friday (I would guess about 6ish?) There was a jazz band playing and the place was buzzing. I decided to test the happy hour question since everyone gets a different answer. We were told 10% off all drinks. This is hardly a deal sense they are marked up at 25% plus over the competition. No matter, there was a jazz band!

 

Service: I think management has responded to some of the feedback. There was a hostess greeting at the door. We went to the bar. It did seem some tables were set up for people to eat. Our drink order was taken right away, and I observed the bartenders to be on top of all the bar customers needs. I had less handle on what was going on at the tables, but I did not see anyone flagging people down or anything. When I made a wrong turn to go to the restroom a staff actually walked me over to the right area. They did forget to discount the check for happy hour when we were ready to leave, but fixed it promptly.

 

Food: We ordered a pizza and it was out in 10 minutes, hot and tasty. It is very thin crust and I thought the toppings were great. I did not think the price was out of line with the competetors in this category. I had a micro draft of unknown origin -it was pretty good, but at $6 it is stadium priced. On the way out we checked out Mocha Fusion, the coffee shop part of the operation. The layout-nice blond wood booths was nice and I could see working or meeting there very easily. Pricewise it was like a Starbucks. We did pick up a couple of cupcakes to go. I think I heard they had a pastry chef and this was going to be a speciality item. Maybe I am wrong. One of the cupcakes was very stale and the other tasted like it had been picked up at Sams Club or something. For about $3 a pop, they need to have quality to match.

 

We agreed last night that given there was entertainment and the pizza and service was good, the prices could be considered more in line with what was being received.  Had the band not been there I would be raising an eyebrow. Still, this does not make a neighborhood joint. I get the feeling 2020 is wanting to me more of a destination/night out type of place. People are fickle and that will be hard to maintain.

 

I still think they should have a really good food/drink happy hour like some of the places in OC or Tremont.  They need to be consistent with what it will be and not arbitrarily say different things to different people. I know they could also get an afterwork crowd if they had some good specials and advertise. No one in an office wants to be in charge for organizing happy hour and finding the rules have changed once you get there.

So I am very impressed that some feedback is being heard. Lets hope things only get better.

 

Maybe some carry out/delivery pizza specials or something would be nice. Since Pizza and Calzone Co. closed we really have nothing in the flats.

 

 

Yeah 10% off isnt much of a happy hour, especially if the drinks are overpriced to begin with.  But I would imagine a nice Jazz band (and the extra organization)  made it more tolerable and worth hangin out for. 

 

I will check it out next time Im home! 

^Good to hear, Peabody.  I'm glad you have an open mind and are willing to give them another shot... btw, I'll agree, they do need to clean up that website.  Grammatal errors like they have really give a bad impression.  But hopefully, like the service, this will improve, too.