Last weekend Mel and I went up to Traverse City to celebrate her birthday. It was a special occasion because in addition to her birthday, it was the first time since our son was born in April that we were able to go out just the two of us. We started the trip by taking a tour at Founders to see the production facility. After that we drove up to Traverse City to take a tour of Grand Traverse Distillery. We also were going to take a winery tour, but the weather was kind of lousy to walk around a vineyard. After our tour, we headed downtown. A friend of mine from TC suggested we eat at Georgina's (as well as a few others), so we took her advice.
I have to say that the experience did not start off well. We arrived at 3:40, which is a little early for dinner but not unheard of. We were asked if we had a reservation. We didn't because we decided on the restaurant on the drive up to Traverse City. The hostess seemed to have a bit of an attitude which was a put off. She said that since we didn't have a reservation we could not be seated until 4. This seemed odd as there was only one table with anyone eating at it as well as a few people at the bar. It wasn't like it was busy, and judging by the reservation book, it wasn't going to be busy until around 6. After I said that it looked like we would be eating elsewhere, she said we could sit at the bar if we wanted. As we walked over to grab something to drink, she says "You still can't order any food!" At this point the only thing really keeping me there was the fact that my friend said the food was very good. Otherwise I would have walked out and gone to another establishment. She was the worst front of house I have experienced in memory. A little before 4 I went up to the front to request a table, at which point a new hostess at arrived and we were promptly seated.
Once seated, our server came over with menus. She made up for some of the negatives from earlier by being a very good server.
We started with the "Mini sombrero." These were tostones topped with pork, beans, and cheese. On top of that was some Pico, green onion, and sour cream. It was served with a hot salsa, that looked like it had habeneros, in a separate cup. The pork was well seasoned. As were the beans. The pico added some needed acid from the tomato to cut through the heaviness of the pork, cheese, beans, and fried tortilla. The cheese brought some saltiness to it as well. It came as four little bites and was a great starter in size and taste.
Mel ordered the Crema con queso tacos. These tacos are loaded with juicy, tender, flavorful pork. It was topped with a mound of salty Latin American style cheese and some crema and green onion. On the side was a mound of white rice, a crock of beans with crema, the hot habanero salsa, and a sweet thing (not sure what it was). It was a treat for the taste buds. The real star was the pork, which they advertise as Nicaraguan pork. It isn't a special breed of pork, but rather the way that it is cooked. Everything else serves as a vehicle to compliment the flavors of the pork. While not what I would call a "traditional" taco, it was very good none the less.
I was told I needed to get the Pad Thai. It was my friend's favorite. So that is what I did. It starts with rice vermicelli noodles. They were cooked perfectly. Then there were the vegetables. They added carrot, celery, and onion. It was topped with peanuts. The sauce contained some ginger, but it was hard to discern what else was in it. It was tasty though. There was the option of chicken or shrimp for the protein. I went with the shrimp. They were ok. The shrimp was cook fairly well. A little over for my taste but not rubbery. They were kind of bland, Definitely not like getting wild shrimp flown fresh in every day. Now, don't get me wrong, this dish was very good. But I don't know if I would call this Pad Thai. Pad Thai traditionally has a flatter, broad rice noodle that looks like linguine or fettuccine. It also has a more pronounced fish sauce and tamarind flavor, not to mention chili paste. In my opinion, this dish is more akin to a Filipino stir fried rice vermicelli that traditionally uses carrots and celery and onion. However, nomenclature aside, this is a good dish that I would order again from here.
So, was the hassle at the beginning worth it. Yes, but just by a little. Maybe she was having a bad day, or new. But it shows why the front of house is so important. We were ready to leave, but decided to stay. We were treated with good food which made up for the service the hostess provided. And our server did a good job to show that not everyone there was like that. So would I go back. Yeah, I think I would but it wouldn't be a must return on my next visit. Like I said, the food was really good. I could see something like this on Wealthy in East Town. But I think I would try a few places before returning, just to see what the rest of Traverse City has to offer. In the end, I do give this a recommendation to try.
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