If supercilious is your style, a visit to Greensboro’s Revival Grill is sure to please you. If taste and comfort are what you hunger for, better luck awaits inside the Boston Market across the street.
Revival Grill, first opened in April of 1993, bills itself as a “non pretentious home away from home.” Experienced as both a fine diner and dinner party hostess, not once have I found myself asking potential dinner guests if they have reservations, especially when my dining room is virtually empty. Unless I post a dress requirement, a consultation is never needed to determine if I should serve the casually dressed.
In short, guests in my home do not need to negotiate with three empty-barreled hostesses, an arrogant waiter, his faithful “assistant,” and a remarkably tasteless chicken to find that high style does not begin with a high dollar tab.
With a reputation for being one of Greensboro’s most “inspired,” the atmosphere at Revival Grill is the one thing that almost matches its advertising propaganda.
Glass-paneled windows do give front room patrons a glimpse of artful design, and flat metal statuaries, in the shape of restaurant-style characters, line up to create delicate shadows in the moonlight. Admittedly charming, this element did not close the gap between the “cozy, intimate casual, but elegant lifestyle with stunning architectural treatments and superb interior decor” that the restaurant claimed it was.
Napkin-rolled silverware paired with a fumbling server hardly justify menus void of prices, even if the “priceless” items appear on a menu supplement. It may be customary to serve menus without listed prices to the ladies, but our entire party was kept in the dark. For four experienced diners, there is but one rule for getting away with this type of pretentiousness: you must first have something to be pretentious about.
Our meal choices were limited, though our eyes grazed entree choices like “Grilled Ahi Tuna with Balsamic Glaze, Cracked Pepper and Sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms in Lemon Zest and Butter with Braise Escarole.” Vegetarians must choose between a salad, a mix of restaurant side items such as Mixed Steamed Vegetable Medley, Reggiano Creamed Spinach, or Steamed Asparagus with Citrus Hollandaise, and starvation.
Minutes passed after the waiter’s assistant alerted the “master” waiter that we were still present in the restaurant. It is fair to note that when asked to speed up the process, the “assistant” waiter clarified that he was no more than a glorified water boy. Unfortunately for our small party of four, a larger group had taken an interest in the restaurant’s wine list. As soon as he peeled his lips off their collective derrieres, our waiter swaggered over to take our order.
Perhaps weak from hunger and wait, the party settled for meals that seemed the least likely to be affected by the stale air of the ridiculous: one steak, a Chicken Marsala, grouper sandwich, and one “Sage and Lemon Boneless Half Chicken on Grilled Tomato and Polenta Cake with Lemon pepper infused Stock Reduction and Caper Garnish:” low priced for this menu at $16.
Disappointing, at best. Entrees range in price from fifteen to thirty dollars, but diners should not set their expectations accordingly. For the two of us that ordered entree selections, small spinach salads topped with white vinaigrette dressing did add a certain zing, but that is where the promised “culinary awakening” ended.
As we piled leftovers in a “Dachshund” box, the waiter paused by our table just long enough to verbally deliver part of the dessert menu. The website lists eight, our waiter offered two, all with a price of $5.00
Overall, “no” became Saturday night’s running theme. No crowd waiting to be seated, no manners at the front desk, no idea what we had gotten in to. No steak sauce for the sirloin; no fire in the gills; not even a dash of salt for the Marsala. No comfort, no flavor, and not one in a party of four willing to sit through coffee or dessert.