09/16/09

Horrible Service, Good food

by ccdmd

We were there for restaurant week, and the food was surprisingly good. The service was mediocre throughout the meal (took 30 minutes to get our drinks); 20 minutes between courses. At the end of the meal, 2 people were signing their credit card slips, and we were told that another party was waiting and we needed to leave. We had our coats on, we were making out way out, we were not going to wait around and be rude. But because we were asked to leave we deducted from our tip, and we will not be going back.

• Pros: pleasant atmosphere
• Cons: rude service

07/23/09

Absolutely never going back!

by ShoppingDiva84

Ok so basically my review doesn't pertain to their dinner and lunch because I've had both many times and it has been great. My review is in regards to the people who run "sips" on Wednesday evenings. Last night I was completely outraged by the arrogance and non professionalism that their staff displayed. The situation is this. My friends and I were sitting at a table getting drinks when an appetizer of sliders were brought to our table. None of us ordered them but they were brought to our table and sat there for about 10-15 mins and no one had claimed them. At that point, two people who I was with ate the 2 lonely sliders that had no been claimed. With that, the waitress ran over and asks where the sliders went and states that those were not ours and we need to pay for them in a really bitchy tone(ok its a sips menu so these sliders were only 5 dollars, is it really necessary to make such a big deal?) We all agree ok sure we'll pay for the sliders eventhough it was your mistake and the couple you brought them for skipped out on their check and didn't pay for them. She then within a few minutes brings us out a check just for the sliders alone and for the next 20 mins comes back to our table numerous times trying to get the money for the 5 dollar stupid sliders!!!!!!! This waitress mind you is being completely rude and ignorant to us (she is some ugly brunette girl who is pretty overweight, just to clarify so you know who I'm talking about if you go there, beware) and with that I decide to go up to the bar and try and speak with someone to try and rationalize the situation. At that point, this young girl who is probably not even 21, dressed in some cheap H&M suit walks over and says that the 3 people who work for her say that I am lying and that we had stolen other peoples food and that we need to pay for it. I'm sorry but anyone who has worked in the food buisness knows that when a customer complains, you do something to rectify it, not send out some unintelligent child to turn away more guests. I am so disgusted with this restaurant, I will never step foot in there again. Just a warning!

• Pros: ambiance
• Cons: extremely poor management and very non professional staff

02/27/09

A Night to Remember

by bern1509

Atmosphere like no other. ambiance and architecture is like nothing else in philly. Embrace the professional care from its staff and you will enjoy every minute. Food was excellent but I do think it is a dining event for something special not typical grab dinner and run!!! Loved the bar and fireplace and the outside veranda would be amazing in the spring! I want to go back for the happy hour and savour their excellent martini's.

01/30/09

Pretense without substance...

by whitness

I dined here tonight and found the ambiance beautiful, the design of the restaurant is wonderful with the exception of the oversized strand of bad pearls hanging from the middle of the dining room. While I found the pearl's slightly offensive, the view of the city was enough to offset it until I ordered the "Pomegranate Martini" which came served on the rocks. When asked why this was not a martini as advertised the answer, "We're out of martini glasses" was not nearly as insulting as the lack of apology for the situation. Beyond that, the staff's unbelievable air of arrogance was not backed up by any quality of service leaving me feeling disappointed. I was considering returning for Valentine's day but am now torn. The design of the place is impressive, and the food quite elegant and delicious (the pork chop was quite good, the mustard sauce tantalizing but the swaths of what looked like cheeze whiz on the side of the plate could have done without) however, the servers? For the birds, or at least the one I had...

12/01/08

Great valentine's day

by BrendaM856

My boyfriend took me here valentine's day of this year... This review is long awaited. It was like I was in a movie, the place is so gorgeous. You have to go just to see the beauty of the restaurant. The food is excellent, service as well. The only complaint is that servings are small & price is expensive. but you have to go just to see the place!!! it would be the best place to take a girl you wanted to impress-- I am still impressed. it is in a league of its own!

• Pros: Beautiful restuarant/ tasty food!
• Cons: Price/Portions

11/21/08

Waste of time and money

by ajc1019

I would never ever return to this restaurant. It is a place filled with snobby and vapid staff with nothing tasty or memorable to back up their attitude. I went to dinner here for my 30th birthday with my husband and was blown away by the lack of professionalism. We had a reservation but had to wait over 20 minutes for our table. When we were taken from the bar to our table, we carried our own drinks. Our server seemed annoyed that he was working and that we were dining. Our first appetizer came out with ham on it, which wasn't on the menu and I don't eat ham. We ordered 12 oysters as well. They were put on our table and never explained. I have never gotten oysters where the server did not tell me which was which - let alone at an expensive restaurant supposedly known for it's raw bar! The dinner entree, which was a seafood claypot for two, offered one shrimp each with some other seafood. This was hardly worth the price and was basically enough for one person. We were ignored most of the night and we weren't sure if it was because we were the youngest in the stuffy crowd; either way, we were paying for our meal and should be treated like the other patrons. We got a free glass of wine for the "ham" mistake. We ordered a cheese plate for dessert. Not one cheese was explained or labeled. When we asked about this, they seemed annoyed and bothered. I would not recommend this for anything, not appetizers, drinks, or dinner. In fact, I just came from lunch there - one that was planned for my birthday before I went to dinner there. I thought I would give it a 2nd chance. This time was worse service and treatment. If the owners of XIX want to come CLOSE to being what they pretend to be, they better do some serious regrouping and some new hiring. I know a lot of people and I plan to tell everyone about these two awful experiences. Whatever you do, do not go here for a special occasion and expect anything above mediocrity. They should be embarrassed.

• Pros: pretty room
• Cons: snotty and poor service

06/12/08

Best Happy hour deal around

by dumoyer

My friends and I kind of stumbled onto XIX while escaping the oppressive heat during my recent visit to downtown Philly (I now live in Oregon, but once called Philly home). We decided to have a drink and were delighted to discover the amazing happy hour menu where a selected group of drinks are half-price. The champagne sangria was a new one for me and one I would like to re-create at home as was the Cuban cocktail with fresh blackberries (forget the name of the liquor in it). There are little plate food items of reasonable price on the bar menu but we opted instead for the prix fix menu of one entree and unlimited salad and desserts. Service was great (although one of our waitresses had no idea how to discuss wine choices, it was her first night) and ambience unbeatable. The salad selection was more than adequate; the entree, small but tasty (2 of us got soft shell crab in a kind of tempura batter, one got flatiron steak) and the dessert offerings were too tempting to pass up, espcially the key lime parfait. We were there on a Monday so place wasn't crowded. A terrific memory of my trip. I'll want to return next time

• Pros: ambience, cocktails, service
• Cons: can't think of any

05/21/08

WORST restaurant in Philly

by sarahrose4

I came here with some friends, and after a so-so meal I threw up all night from a food borne illness, as did many of the people who went with me. Not only was the food disappointing, and the prices too high, but I was throwing up for 3 days afterwards, and was out of work all week. After I finally went to the doctor, I was told that I had norovirus - and since my friends who went there and also became violently sick didn't choose the same dishes as me, I think that getting sick was either from someone in the kitchen with dirty hands, or dishes that were not properly cleaned - yuck! Someone complained after we all became sick, and the management did not apologize and ironically offered him some $50 lunch coupons - kinda like the person who gets slapped really hard and says ' thank you sir, may i have another', but fortunately she declined the offer and said she wasn't stupid enough to go back for another round. Anyway, unless you want to have an expensive yet disappointing meal in a tacky and dirty environment, I would strongly suggest visiting another restaurant.

• Pros: none
• Cons: Getting very sick and extremely poor service.

04/23/08

terrible service, not worth the price

by cbwphilly

I picked Nineteen for my birthday lunch this year and I was very disappointed. The restaurant was almost empty yet our clueless server was almost no where to be found the whole time we were there. The menu was OK - although there were several dishes of the day that our server had no idea about - and the food was decent, but it didn't make up for the poor service. At one point our waiter didn't come over to our table for over 20 minutes and that was right after we received our entrees. He took so long with everything that we dicided not to order dessert because we knew we'd be there for another hour! I finally got his attention long enough to ask for the check - only to be given the wrong check. Overall, my experience was awful and certainly not what I was looking for on my birthday! I wouldn't go back.

• Pros: parking validation
• Cons: poor service

01/29/08

Great Restaraunt Week Choice

by winendine25

I decided to try XIX for restaurant week, which I'm always hesitant to do because of the quality of the service. Well.. I was suprisingly impressed with the food, the service, and the ambiance at XIX. The main dining room was beatiful, the bar looked intimate and the atmosphere was relaxed. We were seated right away by the balcony.

I ordered the cauliflower soup which was tasty and slightly warmer than room temperature (i would have perferred it hotter) and my bf ordered delicious octopus. Our entrees (monk fish and bass) were big and very good as well. The desert choices are sparse but the chocolate was very tasty. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive. Overall, a good experience.

• Pros: Food, Service
• Cons: None