Here goes nothing: restaurant #1 Vidalias. So I had some out of town guests that I was entertaining last weekend (actually it was more like my girlfriend was doing the entertaining and I was the entertainment due to the fact I started drinking at the rodeo at 1PM). We recently had a friend recommend to us that opentable.com was a great way to make dinner reservations during high traffic nights during the Fort Worth Stockshow and Rodeo. I have grown up loving southern cuisine and southern cocktails which my Grandfather regularly drank at any family event. The smell of bourbon and mint takes me back to days of my childhood when my grandfather would teach me the perfect way to muddle a mint leaf during a hot summer day before I could even reach the counter. I am pretty sure this is illegal now.
I figured while having some southern cuisine, we could also enjoy some uniquely satisfying cocktails. Eating and drinking two things commonly associated with a southern meal. When I scrolled down on the opentable.com web page I ran into Vidalias which described itself as "specializing in Southern food".
Vidalias located in the Renaissance Worthington Hotel was for sure a home run, as I used the world wide web to determine the availability of our reservation of four. I knew this restaurant would be fantastic because the Worthington had been the hotel of elegance for the Fort Worth traveler (before the Omni Hotel). I remember my first experience at the Worthington, eating a fantastic brunch that still to this day I could not forget. All I could think was homerun.
As soon as I walked in the door I knew we had trouble, you see I had never heard of Vidalias before. Like I have mentioned before, I am no food expert and rarely venture on into uncharted territory. I usually rely on recommendations of friends and family. I reassured myself that with the shift in names from the Worthington to Renaissance (or whatever the hell happened) that this restaurant must have been a new addition. We walked in and were seated immediately in a restaurant that had the ambiance of an upscale Luby's or Denny's. Just a bunch of booths and tables, nothing authentic or southern about the layout, lighting similar to that of a cafeteria. There was in fact, a nice view of the kitchen, but the kitchen only had one chef back there.
Here's where things begin to go south, my group is now sitting down waiting to order a couple of drinks, when a waiter who looks like she belongs on the cleaning staff takes our drink order 15 minutes after we are seated. Like I mentioned before, I had started drinking early on, so I was REALLY thirsty, not to mention the overflow from Chuck E. Cheese was screaming at the top of their lungs next to me. Another lady appears, 15 minutes after the maid turned waitress attempted to take our drink orders. Now this little treat of a waiter (with a bluetooth headset it) says she will now be helping us. I guess our first waitress needed to get back to fluffing pillows. So bluetooth waiter appears and she looks a little too official, maybe she is the front desk manager, I think to myself. What the hell, who cares, I needed a damn drink. Now please remember, Vallidias is an upscale restaurant, average entree item is 25 bucks. We ask here to see her "drink menu" as it as advertised online with emphasis on "speciality cocktails". She says," oh we only have one specialty cocktail". If I was nervous before, I was shitting my pants now.
While I placed my drink order (Johnny Walker Black w a splash) everyone else was so disappointed they picked Coors Light, Pinot Grigio except for one member of our party. She chose The Woodford, Vidalias speciality cocktail. I forgot to add this, "bluetooth manager" at a supposed " 4 star restaurant" decided that she would thoroughly ID all of us. Which all of us were over the age of 21, I felt like with the detail she inspected us, I was waiting in line on a Thursday night at The Aardvark on Berry Street when I was 19. When her Woodford came out I actually looked at it with high hopes. Pecan crusted rim, with just a tad bit of red hint to a strong full whiskey. But the taste was all wrong, the portions were all fouled up. I enjoy a strong drink but a drink that prides itself in a full fruit flavor and then tastes like my bourbon on the rocks is a poorly made drink. To describe the taste, it was like a very messily made whiskey old fashion, but not made with muddled cherries, but with cranberry concentrate from a store bought jug of Ocean Spray. Not to mention the bartenders seemed to be playing the same game the waiters are playing, whoever is around is the bartender, no need for just one person behind the bar, rotating bartenders.
We get our cocktails but to my surprise, oh hell, its another waiter. This one is just perfect, she is wearing the IHOP attire (khakis, short sleeve button down, name tag, and a tie to top it all off). Her hair looks like Dolly Parton and I am pretty sure she had some small forest animals living in it. Not to mention two tables over all the kids are done eating dinner and jumping up and down out of their chairs, while the parents appear to slam a bottle of wine. I don't know blame the parents, hell, if I had unruly shitty kids like that I would be drinking too. At this point I'm aggravated, actually no I'm pissed. I rarely will make a comment to a poor innocent waitress, but this crime I could not let go unanswered. Worse phrases ran through my head but since I was in the presence of guests who don't really know how crude I truly am, I gave them a censored version, I said, "well sweetheart, it really looks like we are playing musical waitress here tonight". Her response made me want to pick up my shit and leave. Here we go, " Well honey I'm sorry, we got busy tonight and I am the only waiter here". Wait no really, on a Saturday night, during the Fort Worth Restaurant Industries biggest week, just one Dolly Parton, that looks like she would probably do better in a truck stop in Abilene or a greeter at Wal-Mart in Jacksboro, TX.
I figured I was already in hell, so I might as well play in the fire, we order one of my favorite dishes; grits for an appetizer. The Dolly Parton brings out the grits which look half way decent. One bite in, I know their game. See with grits its all about the texture, and with instant grits there is no texture. But in my college days, to make grits seem homemade you load them with cheese and jalapenos. The fantastic cheddar taste complimented the jalapenos with distracts the tongue. They tasted acceptable especially with the ham and premade shrimp.
The table that should have been located in the center of Chuck E. Cheese with the loud obnoxious children is now about to burst at the seams. For every scotch I drink, the children have about 2 Mountain Dews, Dolly Parton is obviously not in the business of childcare, she is letting them slam them down like a college student drinking at Mardi Gras. When Dolly strolls back around to check on us I immediately beg for another scotch and ask her to please take our order. My girlfriend and I decide to split the special, which had a nice black box around it on the menu, while our two friends went with a salad and the trout.
The special was a Pecan Crusted Chicken complete with Collared Greens(one of my favorite southern dishes) and wild rice. I can understand the rice and chicken but the rice, chicken and collared greens was kind of an odd combo. Oh well, the food came out quick, nice and hot. To our surprise the cook said that the chicken he split for us looked to small so he just gave us an additional piece of chicken; nice gesture. When I order something "crusted" I do not expect a layer of batter thicker than Massey's Fried Chicken on 8th, I expect a light crusting. The "crusting" made up half of the meal, but the chicken was quite tender. Overall the chicken was not terrible, but not 30 dollars good. The collared greens were overcooked and it was obvious there was nothing fresh about them, I grew up on collared greens and I know what fresh Sunday collared greens taste like. This sadly, was not the flavor, I could tell they had obviously been hanging around all day in serving tray, Luby's style. The wild rice, was fine, rice is something pretty difficult to screw up. I was finishing up what I ate of my meal and I looked over to see my buddy playing with his food. His trout had a slimy layer of skin on top of it, which should have been pulled off way before that fish even hit the pan. He said the trout, "tasted way too fishy to consume". He took two bites and he was done. The salad was fine but its pretty hard to mess up a salad. My meal was around 85 dollars including tax, tip, two scotches, "the special" and the Woodford.
3 category breakdown
Food/Drink-
The good:
- Drinks came out with relative speed even though we had 3 different waiters. My drink was strong and to the point.
- The food came out with relative speed as well.
- Chicken was tender.
- The grits trick (excess cheese and jalapeno) to cover up the fact that they might not have been fresh or homemade is a good tool to use when your in a hurry.
The bad:
- The trout was not prepared properly.
- Crust was too thick on the Pecan Crusted Chicken basically overpowered any decent taste in the chicken. Crust was also bland.
- Collared Greens were bland, tasted old, and almost mashed together.
- Menu was more "American" than Southern, just because you have Chicken Fried Steak does not mean you deserve the title Authentic Southern Cuisine. Try the Screen Door in Dallas.
- Lack of diversity of drink, every restaurant needs at least 5 signature drinks. The Woodford or a bourbon and cranberry juice does not count. Especially in the 25+ dollar range.
- The meal wasn't bad but it wasn't great, if I wanted a mediocre meal I would go to Chili's with my girlfriends little brother, for a lot less of the cost. I think they even take Frog Buck's.
- Nothing really authentic about the menu, just your generic staples.
Service
- Rotating servers =bad
- 15 minute wait to receive a drink=bad
- 45 minutes to receive a menu=bad
- Everyone was a bartender night=bad
Overall=bad
I feel like I've bitched enough about this one.
The good:
- The hostess actually knew what was going on
Style
The bad:
- Terrible ambiance of the restaurant, felt like I was in chain restaurant in the Minneapolis Airport.
- For a Saturday night the place should have been packed.
- I am sorry, but do not replace a waiter with someone who was a lunchlady at Paschal High School (Dolly Parton)
- No music, loud children
- This is the Worthington... lets get a better restaurant in here, don't lie down and let the Omni give it to you.
- The bar was overall the weakest part of the restaurant. TGI Friday's has more going on.
The good:
- Nothing, I would have rather sat at a Hooter's in Baton Rouge,LA.
Overall:
Vidalias,
You charge far too much, for a half-ass meal. You are located on prime real estate in the beautiful Worthington Hotel in Downtown Fort Worth. Please do not claim to be Southern Cuisine when all you do is over "crust" menu items. You have no excuse to be this bad.
Verdict: 4/10
Enjoy yourselves,
-J
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