Rustik -- CLOSED

11/22/08

Big let down

by shell0225 at Citysearch

Based on the appearance of this place and reading the menu beforehand, I had high expectations for the food. However, my nice dinner out was a big disappointment. We ordered three appetizers and a pizza to try out several things at once. The crab cakes were delicious and the best thing we ate. The sliders tasted fine, but weren't anything special. The chips and dips plate, which featured tortilla and plantain chips with guacamole, hummus and onion dip was throughly disappointing. The tortilla chips were greasy and the plantain chips were so hard we could barely chew them. The guac and hummus were pretty good, but the onion dip was basically sour cream. The arugula pizza was mediocre at best and appeared to have canned mushrooms on it instead of fresh ones. I think I could have made better pizza at home.

The service was OK, though by the time we were done, we waited probably more than 5 minutes before anyone came over to clear our dishes and wrap up the remains of the pizza. We had finished our water before we were done eating and no one came back to refill them until we were waiting to pay. The decor is impecable and definitely a big part of the appeal, but the repetitive techno music becomes irritating after the first 10 minutes.

Although this isn't the worst dining experience I have ever had, it is certainly one of the most disappointing. There are so many other good restaurants in the area that I don't think we'll be going back to Rustik again.

• Pros: Beautiful atmosphere, good location
• Cons: Disappointing food, mediocre service