Blackbird: User Reviews
"Rack of Lamb"??? Are you kidding me? it was 2 small chops for $36. The service from the host staff and our waitress was pretty solid and I have little to no complaints there. Why is it cool to have seating that is stuffy and so cramped? No real effort put into the place for ambiance. white walls with no art is not exactly appealing. Portions are wildly small and inappropriate for any price.
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My boyfriend and I had the tasting menu with wine pairings. The entire experience was extremely disappointing with some parts of the meal almost inedible along with poor service. The first course was comically tiny. The second was difficult to eat because it was so rubbery and over-salted. The shortrib was served with a passionfruit puree that was so sour and bitter it actually made you pucker. It completely ruined the dish. The last two courses were desserts, of which my boyfriend's favorite part was the VANILLA ice cream. Compounding our disappointment was the poor service. Our first 3 courses were so rushed we didn't receive the wine pairings for them until we had finished, so we just had 3 glasses lined up with no food. Given Blackbird's reputation, I expected a certain level of service. If you are asking people to spend $500 for dinner, I would have expected much better.
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Arrived for a mid-evening dinner reservation and was seated promptly. Excellent attention from the host both upon entering and leaving the restaraunt. The waiter was always available and timely with bringing out our courses. Distances between tables are a little tight, but the rest of the experience makes up for it. Food-excellent. Interesting combinations of ingredients. I still remember (and crave) their ginger cake and goat's milk ice cream dessert from back in the winter of '07.
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A group of 4, two very accomplished chefs and two foodies, went to celebrate and enjoy a fabulous evening as Blackbird has been rated so well. We were very dissappointed with our entress. $36 for 3 oz of duck breast that didn't have a lot of excitement. $37 for "rack" of lamb? It was one lamb chop. I have no problem paying a lot of money for great food but this was far from great. The chefs in my group were very disaapointed and I will choose to spend my money elsewhere in the future.
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I went to Blackbird last night with 3 friends. On a scale of 1 to 10, we would have given the dinner a 3. It was very noisy. We each were given 2 pieces of bread and then never asked if we wanted more. The wait for both our entrees and appetizers was extremely long -- this for a table of friends who haven't seen each other in a while and had plenty to catch up on. My first bite of scallop has pieces of shell in it. My salad had sand in it. The food felt very forced -- odd combinations just for the sake of having them -- not because they worked well together.
I've never loved Blackbird but last night reinforced why I don't try to get there more often. At $250.00 for 4, I can find plenty of restaurants that are more enjoyable.
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My husband and I had 8:30pm reservations on Saturday night which we made online. We were seated immediately. Although the space is small and seating tight, it wasn't too tight. It was loud but we didn't mind. The food was AMAZING. We had the suckling pig appetizer to start with a Corte de Rhone wine by the glass which was exceptional. For main dishes we had the Walleye and the Stergeon fish--both were prepared in the most unique way--all the flavors were interesting and exploded in your mouth. For dessert we had a goat cheese tart which again was unique with bold flavors that went perfectly together. Total tab with tip including 4 glasses of wine, $180. Worth every penny!
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My friends and I were excited to dine at Blackbird , but we were totally disappointed with the service, food and overall experience. It was Sat. night and it's expected that it would be busy, but Why take the reservation, if you can't hold the reservation (remember Seinfeld?!). We waited almost an house standing at the bar...no seats were even alvailable- terrible start. Our server, while nice & pretty, seemed uninterested in our whole dining experience. Dinner took forever to arrive, mine was partially cold and gnocchi was dried out. CA Sturgeon was dirty tasting, even though it's a freswater fish, it should not taste dirty. Plus, to add to the disapppointment, it was my birthday and staff didn't even acknowledge it even after my husband told the server. Thanks a lot for nothing! Lessson learned!!!
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Overall a good dining experience. We arrived on time and were told our table would be ready in around 15 minutes. The place was packed and tables staying a little longer than expected is understandable. 45 minutes later we were finally seated, which I think is a bit too long considering we had a set reservation time. That being said, the service once we were seated was very professional and the wait staff was knowledgeable about the menu. The food was excellent - from appetizers to desert - it was perfectly done, displayed, and seasoned. The dining room is not very big, so with a full house, it is quite loud. All-in-all a very good dining experience once we were seated.
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I knew I was going to blackbird for dinner with my guy so I looked up the reviews on metromix. They were mixed but after reading them I was sure that I would have terrible service. I don’t know how that could happen. The service was stellar. We were seated immediately, our water was always full, we always had fresh cutlery, and the waiter was fun and around if we needed him.
The food was to die for. Most of the ingredients I had never heard of-even the types of fish on the menu but I’m glad I didn’t let that deter me. I ordered the crepes and I have never had anything better.
The only gripe I have about the place is the seating. Once in the seat I was comfortable but it is embarrassing that the table needs to be moved to get up to go to the bathroom and to leave. I wish they would allow more space between the tables and not have the tables set up so I had to look directly at the bar all night.
All around, this place is a gem!
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I consistently have the best dining experience at Blackbird. From service and ambiance to food and wine, everything is splendid.
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Review Summary
The following scores represent the average rating submitted by 39 users:
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