The Diva is back!!
October's dinner locale was selected by host Tamee: Modesto. Located in St. Louis' favorite Italian neighborhood, the Hill, Modesto is more modern than its neighboring stereotypical "Hill" restaurants (which I love too). It is in fact a Spanish restaurant most known for it's tapas menu.
We all met first in the bar area, and initially they didn't want to seat us at our table in the dining room until our entire party had arrived, which is always a little annoying. I understand the reason why restaurants do this, but I'd say if you have a party of 10 and are only missing 1 or 2 people, don't make everyone else wait just because of that. Be accommodating to people that are bringing you business. That's all I have to say about that, so restaurants take note! Moving on, our waitress in the bar area was Dana, and she was very nice and kept up well getting every one's orders correct and keeping track in lieu of people coming and going from our group. In the bar they were featuring happy hour, which offered tapa samples for I think 50 cents and $1 - a neat way to try a bunch out to see what you like. They also had specials on Sangria, and my red Sangria was great. A lot of us got Sangria and I think all enjoyed it.
When we moved onto dinner in the main room, we were given a new waitress Laura, who was also very nice and kept account of orders, etc. with accuracy. GDC diners rated the service at Modesto with mostly 4 and 5 spoons, on a scale of 1-5.
For dinner, the hubby and I shared some plates: the Arroz Con Pollo entree - a rice-based dish with chicken, bacon and roasted peppers; Pinchos Morunos - lamb skewers with yogurt and piquillo-caper relish; and Datiles Rellenos - bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with Cabrales cheese. The lamb skewers were the other half's choice and not really up my alley so I'm not fit to comment on those. The entree was pretty good but my favorite was the dates - delish! I don't think I'd trouble myself to re-order the entree or skewers again, but would definitely stick with the dates and then try out some other menu items, as there is a lot to choose from. GDR's had mixed reactions to the food. One diner said "Drink and dishes recommended by the server were NOT good." I'm not sure what drink was suggested, but I've already stated that the Sangria special was a hit. And some other diners seemed to like some of the special food items. Overall, Modesto got mostly 4 spoons on food.
In addition, Modesto got mostly 5 spoons for atmosphere. "Very nice decor, and we were well accommodated," said one diner, and I'd agree with that.
The Overall score for Modesto was two 3-spoons, four 4-spoons and two 5-spoons.
Personally, I give Modesto 4 spoons. I don't know if I'd select it myself as a first choice among dinner options, but if something brought me back there, I'd look forward to trying out more of its many dishes.
What do you think of Modesto?
Please rate & review below!
NOTE: To comment, click on red "comments" text below this blog box.
Dana was our waitress at happy hour and was really efficient. I don't know how she kept up with orders as we had folks coming and going from our table. I came early for happy hour and had great appetizers for $1.00 or less. This was a really great way to sample the menu. I had a red wine sangria for happy hour which was delicious. I ordered the dinner specials, I liked the beet salad most of all, the potatoe fritters were not my favorite because of spices on the fritters. The beef was tender and delicious. No complaints about ambience or decor. Bathrooms were clean and close to our dinner table. This was my first time to Modesto, I will definitely visit again.
ReplyDeleteServers in both the bar & for dinner were very good and nice. Liked my food in general. Not super amazing out of this world, but good non-the-less. My fav was the bacon-wrapped dates...yum! Very nice decor, and we were well accomodated. Liked it!
ReplyDeleteOur server in the bar was nice but she disappeared for some time. Our server at the table was very pleasant and I believe got everyone's order correct. There was initially an issue about not seating us without the entire party present, that is always a turn off at a restaurant of Modesto's caliber. My steak was not seasoned well and the sherry sauce that I was looking forward to was not very flavorful at all. My spiced apple sangria was the bright spot of my experience. Our table overlooked a space that was not decorated, not sure if that was storage space or what. Otherwise, the restaurant was decorated fine. I appreciate the fact that it has its own free parking lot.
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