Bad Service - Over Priced - Bland Food at this popular Oak Brook Restaurant

There’s an old saying that you should always give something or someone a second chance. I did just that with a restaurant where I had a bad experience three years ago. Let’s see how that experience turned out, visiting somewhere that has had three years to improve. That leads me to my next review location: True Food Kitchen in Oak Brook.

frontPhoto byyelp

When I dined here three years ago, I thought the staff lacked proper service. I found the food pretentious, and the overall flavor was missing. Many of the dishes, which were supposed to be organic, tasted awful.

Lately, I've been on a Mediterranean food kick, and I noticed that they had added several new items to their menu. Their overall ratings on Google and Yelp seemed to be fairly high, so I convinced my wife to give them another shot on a beautiful summer day to enjoy their patio.

PatioPhoto byyelp

We noticed the restaurant wasn’t very busy when we first walked in. The patio was fairly full, but most of the staff looked extremely young. Our server met us—though I wouldn’t say we were "greeted" because she didn’t greet us. She looked bored, unenthused, and aggravated that she had customers—just my wife and me.

We always order the same drinks wherever we go: Arnold Palmers and a glass of water. After she walked away, we were able to look around and enjoy the patio, which I thought was extremely nice—a definite plus and a good addition to the restaurant. I started a conversation with my wife and noticed that quite some time had passed since we ordered our drinks. It had been over 15 minutes. I’d like to emphasize that the restaurant was not busy.

Arnold PalmerPhoto bycfk

Around the time I realized how long we’d been waiting, our server finally came and dropped off our Arnold Palmers, but no water. She asked if we were ready to order. I told her we were. I chose a poke bowl, and my wife did the same but with chicken. I then asked, “Can we please get some water?” She told us she would bring them.

The waters never came. I noticed a table next to us that had arrived before we did. She was also taking care of this table, but she hadn’t spoken to them in what must have been close to 25 to 30 minutes. It was appalling. I could see that the table was visibly agitated.

$30 dollar small poke bowlPhoto bycfk

While we continued waiting for anything to arrive at our table, a family arrived with a dog. I’m sorry, but I don’t think a dog—service animal or not—has any place in a restaurant, especially sniffing around food. The tables were so close together, and the dog was right by my foot.

As if this were a Monty Python skit, the waitresses suddenly sprang into action with newfound energy to bring the dog a bowl of water and food. I couldn’t help but laugh. Patrons were waiting to be served or even greeted, but the staff was tripping over each other to provide better service to the dog than to humans.

Wifes BowlPhoto bycfk

Our food finally arrived at the table, but not from our waitress—it was delivered by another food runner. He asked if there was anything else he could get for us. I asked for water and a refill of our Arnold Palmers. He said he would get our server.

My dish was completely laughable. We’re talking about a poke bowl that cost around $30, and the portion was 80% spinach leaves with hardly any rice and barely any tuna. I could’ve grabbed the entire amount and fit it in my hand—that’s how small it was.

My wife’s dish didn’t look much better, though she had a bit more food. There was nothing special about the flavors. Everything was bland. I’ve had much better poke bowls at Poke Bros, where I would spend less than a third of what I spent here.

insidePhoto bycfk

Our drinks never came. Tables with patrons sat with no service. I couldn’t stay silent any longer.

I saw who looked to be a manager, and I was right—it was a young woman. I told her this experience had been awful. I explained that we still hadn’t received water and that we were sitting there sucking on ice cubes. I showed her the size of my meal and told her it was ridiculous for the price. I then asked if they were short-staffed or extremely busy. She looked at me matter-of-factly and said, “No, we’re not busy, and no, we are not short-staffed.”

“So what’s the excuse for the horrible service?” I asked. I then pointed to the table next to us, which hadn’t been served the entire time we had been sitting there. She admitted there was no excuse and asked if this was our first time dining there. I replied, “No, actually, this is the second time. The first time was awful, and this time was even worse.” She laughed and said, “Oh, so we’re doing really great.” She apologized and offered us dessert on the house. I declined and said we just wanted to leave. She took our check and returned, saying she felt bad about our experience and had comped our Arnold Palmers. Wow—thank you so much for saving me five dollars after an awful experience.

This was the first time I have ever done this, but I left no tip for our server. I’m not going to keep rewarding servers for horrendous service, especially when there’s no excuse. I was a bartender for many years. I was also a restaurant manager and server. My sister is still a server, and my mother was a waitress. Believe me, I am very sympathetic to the service industry—it’s not easy—but there’s no excuse for awful service for multiple tables and failing to meet the most basic needs of patrons.

My original review of this restaurant stands. The food is obnoxious and flavorless, the prices are exorbitant, and the service is awful.

I give it a rating of 2 out of 10. The only reason it received a 2 is because of the very nice patio.

My final thought is this: maybe if you were a dog, you’d get better treatment than the humans.