Nello Cucina - Costa Mesa
Sometimes, great service goes a long way at a restaurant, even if the food is just okay. Nello Cucina at South Coast Plaza made this kind of impression.
The grilled seafood platter I had was kind of meh. But as I ate the scallops, shrimp, salmon and swordfish, thinking the lemon butter sauce that sluiced everything was just a tad too tart, the team of servers who hovered over our party of ten made me feel like we were VIPs and had the restaurant to ourselves.
They anticipated our needs before we asked; they remembered what everyone ordered; and most importantly, they seemed genuinely happy to have us as guests on that Sunday afternoon--not one person had less than a smile.
Since ours was a birthday celebration, they not only offered to store the birthday cake we brought in their fridge until it was time, but also took it back to the kitchen, cut it into equal pieces, and served it on their own restaurant plates after the birthday girl blew out the candles.
But just look at how they did it: they actually took the time to decorate every single plate with their own strawberry sauce, which, in terms of what I already thought of their service, was the real icing on the cake.
Nello Cucina
South Coast Plaza
3333 Bear St.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 540-3365
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posted by elmomonster @ 10:35 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Totally agree. Looks like they went above and beyond for you guys. So you would go back even if the food was just ok. The opposite is true too. If the food was meh and the service was bad, then who would want to go back?
joanh,
Oh yeah! I'd totally go back, just for the service. Maybe it's years of eating out week-to-week that has jaded me on what's good and what's mediocre. Nello Cucina's food is actually still way better than a lot of places...like for example Romano's Macaroni Grill, which has slipped far over the years.
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