I recently had an absolutely awful meal at Cottonwood with the only positive being a nice view. It was such a let down to have an experience like this in such an iconic building.
Disappointments were as follows:
- Almost all of the meats, including...grilled ½ chicken, were listed at "MP" (market price). I've never seen this before except for items like lobster or daily specials.
- The bread, which there is an extra charge, was tasteless and hard.
- The starter of hummus was topped with cold vegetables, which had been grilled at some point, was served with cold, soggy pita bread.
- My drink finally came, after 20 minutes, and I was told the bartender was “away”.
- Next, the caesar salad was delivered. It had so much garlic I tasted it well into the next day and the lettuce had some unpleasant grit (assuming it wasn’t washed well).
- Finally, the steak arrived, which I ordered medium rare although I wasn’t asked my temperature preference. It was between well done and medium (only a couple of bites had any pink) and dry.
- One of the two steak sauces we ordered, each for an extra charge, was simply seasoned butter which was cold as they either forgot to melt it or couldn’t because of the plastic serving container like the ones at fast food restaurants.
- When half way done with the steak, the side of mashed potatoes arrived cold so I asked for them to be reheated. I never saw them again.
- When asked about desert, I shared my “delight” and asked the server for the check. He apologized and said he’d take a drink and the potatoes off the bill. Upon returning, neither item was deducted which I pointed out. He apologized again and said the manager told him they would be removed. After the second try, the two items were deducted.
I regularly dine at upscale restaurants in Truckee, as well as The Bay Area, and don’t resent paying for high quality food/service. As noted above, nothing about this experience was high quality but the prices were extraordinary. Vegan meatloaf (primarily black beans, potatoes and soy) for $35, fried chicken for $38, hummus and caesar salad (both described above) run $18 and $22. Again, most prices are not even listed on the menu which maybe was an initial sign I should have noticed and run.More