Great location, food, service, and ambiance! Happy to return to Sitti after a number of years to find the same solid dining experience!
Delightful recipes and decent cocktails, our lunch visit wasnât overly loud but steadily busy and upbeat. None of us are really fans of QR code menus, every place uses a different website layout and it is often a hassle switching between categories as you peruse all the choices, and this was no exception. Given the choice weâd take a simple black and white list on plain paper over something digital any day. Other than that admittedly minor annoyance we enjoyed our lunch and will come back for dinner next time we are in town.
I feel that the service is really what made this a very mediocre dining experience. It took about 20-30 minutes before our server came to our table to get our drink and appetizer orders. Then another 25-30 minutes before our drinks AND appetizers came out at the same time. Our server eventually decided to get our entree orders. At first I thought it was because it was busy. However she never offered us refills on our drinks and just looked at our empty glasses of drinks and water after topping off the table next to us with water. We gave her a chance but she just looked at us a few minutes later and smirked without offering us more water or drinks. Fortunately she set the water pitcher down on the service table behind us and we just got up and filled our own glasses. I used to work as a server and believe in tipping at least 20% but we gave her about 11%. Honestly she deserved less. The Kibbee Mikli and Kafta Kabob were both very dry. This could be because they sat under the heat lamp for too long.
Sitti was our (mostly my wife's) favorite restaurant for many years. The last two visits, it is definitely losing its edge, which is such a shame. This last visit will probably be our last for awhile. I'm guessing the issues are likely due to new staff in the kitchen. The good: The ambience and service are great and what we'd normally expect. The not so good: Either the recipe or the style of making the complimentary pitta has changed (not for the better). Over-done, not light and puffy. These were usually SOO good and a great way to whet the appetite when you arrive. Let's talk about seasoning, which is really the rest of the review. Our second to last visit, we ordered a few apps and they were under-seasoned. Particularly the brussel sprouts, to the point we sent them back. I took it as a one-off. This visit, we experienced the same issues, all around. My wife's salmon was under-seasoned, the cauliflower app was soggy (advertised as fried cauliflower) and under-seasoned. Lastly, I opted for the lamb chops. The most expensive item on the menu, at $45. I love lamb, I love lamb chops. I ordered them medium rare. The presentation was ok, on a bed of polenta and broccolini, but the seasoning.....where was it? So bland and sadly, the lamb chops were rare or even raw in parts. I can't figure out what has gone wrong with how they season their dishes, but it's not good. It used to be just packed full of flavor, but no longer.
lovely food, cocktails, & service
Birthday dinner for sister-in-law.
Service was attentive, but not intrusive. Everybodyâs food was excellent. A little noisy, but our table was by the window, so that helped a bit.
Fantastic Food Service was ok Ambience ok All made up fir by incredible food. Fantastic value
High quality food and a nice location (fabulous patio). Not particularly pretentious. Fine dining quality food in a more casual atmosphere. Nice cocktails too.
The food at Sitti was awesome. But the service was not good. After we had been seated for a bit, someone came by to drop off water glasses. He just dropped them on the table and walked away so we distributed them. Totally fine. We assumed he was simply responsible for the water. But then came back and like it was an option said ââ¦do you want to order something?â So we ordered appetizers, one of which didnât come until we had our entrees and had reminded him again. We had to flag him down to ask if we could order drinks. One of the entrees didnât come with the rest, when we reminded him it was clear that that plate hadnât been ordered until the reminder. So we all finished our food before that plate was delivered to the table. I donât usually write reviews but this was such an odd dining experience. It was clear the waiter was checked out and didnât want to be there or hadnât had any training whatsoever. Maybe sitti needs to pay their servers better or train them? Not sure. But Iâm not sure I would suggest another person dine there given the experience.