Freestone's City Grill

We went for lunch on a Friday. Place was not busy. Got seated immediately. Cool little restaurant downtown with interesting ambiance. Drinks are great! I recommend the compassion martini. Best part was the food. Fresh fresh fresh. And the waitstaff was so attentive. She was super friendly and careful about my food allergy.

C'mon man French Onion Soup and Syrian Nachos with the secret red sauce - I just know it's not ketchup with red pepper flakes but it's so good when you smear the red sauce on top and then put the layer of sour cream, all with the butter knife. I haven't ordered anything else in decades. I mean I'm sure everything else is good. Their drink menu is like a mad scientist got a hold of it - Spicy Sweet Margarita was niiiice.

Oh, well... that was an unpleasant experience. This is the first time I have dined at Freestone's in some time, probably around two years. For starters, the menu has been "revamped". In other words, it's been slashed and is now one page. Favorites like the fondu and New Orleans meatloaf are gone, pasta entrees no longer come with garlic bread, and overall, we found the food bland. However, my biggest issue was the service. Our waitress came across as though she couldn't be bothered with our order. First, I attempted to order fried pickles and was abruptly notifed they were out for the night. Turns out, there were three items out that night. This is a minor complaint, but in my experience, waitstaff usually give the customer a warning of items that are out of stock before coming to take your order. After taking our order, other staff brought the food and our designated waitress never returned to check on us. However, she had plenty of time to talk to the table immediately behind us (who were friends of her), despite this not being her table. Finally, after sitting for some time, and someone else clearing the table, she asked if we needed anything else or if we woud like the check. I asked for the check. She again turned to the table behind us and began chatting with them for an extended period. She then went outside for a cigarette with her friends from the table. I saw this with my own eyes (I was seated by the large front window and could see them at the entrance). After waiting... and waiting... and waiting... I finally asked the manager if he would give us our check, and to his credit, did so very quickly. When I told him which table I was at, other waitstaff seemed to imply it was no shock I was still waiting. After receiving my check, the waitress still didn't return, and in fact, a young woman who was running Bingo that night offered to take it for me. That was easily among the worst service I have ever experienced.