Little Nest

[Jojosan]

I've been a member of egullet for a number of years, and rarely post. Today I went for brunch at Little Nest with some friends and their wee daughter and was moved to send in my comments.

I was really excited about trying Little Nest, the concept is really great. Unfortunately, our experience was so bad I don't think any of us will be going back.

First of all, I was disappointed by the fact that there's no table service. Frankly, for the price of the food, there should be. Also, it seems that restaurants without table service do so to save on staff costs. There were 7 people working at the restaurant this morning, with about 3 tables eating. The staff spent most of their time standing around talking behind the counter.

We ordered our breakfasts and each dish came out with at least 5 minutes in between. This included getting the "soldiers" for soft boiled eggs about 8 minutes before actually getting the eggs, so the toast was pretty cold by the time the eggs arrived. Add to that the 5 more minutes before the next person received their breakfast, and 5 more after that and you'll get the picture. Oh wait - I forgot about the additional 3 minutes to get cutlery after the food arrived. This was extra frustrating given the number of staff standing around behind the counter. The food was pretty tasty and while I could complain about some of the details, I won't bother. Portions were on the small side and my husband had to get something to eat on the way home after breakfast. My friend's husband actually ordered two entrees because he was concerned the portions might be small.

Our friend's daughter liked the play area and hanging out with the other kids. Though I find it ironic that this restaurant says it's kid friendly but has the front door wide open. In the time we were there we saw three different kids make a bee-line out the door and run down the sidewalk - some of them did it over and over. If it's supposed to be kid friendly they should have some kind of a dutch door, screen door or baby gate if they want to keep the door open for fresh air.

Overall a great concept but poor execution.

Edited June 24, 2007 by Jojosan (log)

[SBonner]

It is a great idea but table service should be included. Get our future diner's into the habit of communicating with a server and learning correct table manners.

SB

Edited June 27, 2007 by SBonner (log)

["T"]

After I read your comments I thought I would go myself with my wife and son. He was there with his oma and opa last week and they all had a good experience. I found everone to be very receptive and the food to be quite tasty and well priced. I see what you mean about the open door but at the end of the day parents do need to be responsible for their own children.

Give them another try. We need more places like this on the Drive. Hell, we need a lot more places on this Drive.