Horrible Lunch at Clary's
My wife and I just made our first visit to Clary's. To say the least, it will be our last.

To start with, the Caesar salad was one of the worst I have ever had. A very thin and acidic dressing accompanied the limp lettuce.

The server was rather inexperienced and awkward. We waited for a long time for our wine to arrive. When it did arrive the server apologized for the delay and said that the bartender had difficulty locating a corkscrew.

Next my steak was overcooked. The frites accompaniment to the steak (and were are not talking the classic French pomme frites) appeared to have been cooked ahead of time and them re-fried. This resulted in six (yes, just six) French fries with a mushy texture and almost unidentifiable taste. All this for the wallet-draining price of $26.00 (That is the lunch price. You will pay more at dinner).

The real shocker was my wife's Parmesan chicken which was overcooked to the point that the Parmesan crust was almost black. We sent the chicken back. When the dish returned from the kitchen, it had no crust on the bottom and the chicken was dry. It appears that the kitchen removed the burnt Parmesan crust from the chicken breast, then put a layer of crust only on the top of the chicken and put it under the broiler.

It is clear that James Clary is trying to live on his past reputation. He was present in the restaurant at the time. Clearly he has lost his passion for good food. To serve this kind of food is truly a sin. Clary's Restaurant is a reincarnation of his past fine dining restaurant (which he sold and which lasted less than a year under new ownership). Clary's is located in the former space of James Clary's failed restaurant called Fish.

Given the poor quality of the food we experienced, I predict the new Clary's Restaurant will go the way of Fish and die a timely death.    [27 Sep 2007 18:39:48]

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     ­Anonymous   

Excellent!
Went to the new Clary's a few days ago with a friend and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. We shared an appetizer, entree, and dessert.

The crabcake appetizer was fantastic! It was a significant serving (it's labeled as a "giant sauteed crabcake") and tasted great. The entree selected was the Chilean seabass served over pomme frites (very thin shoestring fried potatos). Very good!

For dessert, we shared the Blueberry "Gooeybutter" Cake which ended the meal quite nicely. The server expedited requests promptly, the prices are reasonable considering the portions and quality, and the atmosphere is cozy with high-back booths, low-level lighting, and jazzy music. (If anything, there were times the music was a little too loud, but overall, we had a great time.)    [24 Oct 2007 18:15:27]

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Recommended Dishes: Chilean Seabass, Sauteed Crabcakes

     ­Dave   

Anonymous??
Every restaurant I do, there is an "anonymous" review on the internet complaining about how horrible their experience was. The "review" will be copied and pasted on several websites (which should make you wonder). They are always filled with factual errors such as the one above complaing about the steak at lunch. That dish is not served at lunch. ::sighs:: Unfortunately, having been in business for over 18 years, you are bound to have made a few people unhappy with you. The guy that writes these reviews was a guest at another restaurant I owned and tried to scam on the old "I broke my tooth two weeks ago on a crouton at your restaurant" trick. When I refused to pay him, he promised revenge. This is how he gets it. Fabricates "reviews" on the net. Cool. Wish I had that much time. I truly pity any human whose heart is so mangled by bitterness and anger that they spend their days plotting their enemies demise!

I am at the new restaurant every night. As anyone (like Dave) who has dined here will tell, I have not lost my passion for food. If anything, I am re-invigorated with my new location. Business is booming and the response to the new restaurant both by the media and the general public has been tremendous. Having said that, remember, I am human. My staff are human. By definition, we make mistakes. I can promise you this; if you EVER are unhappy with ANYTHING in my restaurant, I will make it right. Period. That has been my policy since day one and will be until I get out of this crazy business!

To Dave and our other awesome customers and supporters, thank you! I can never truly express how much appreciation I feel for your business. I take it very personally when one chooses to dine at my restaurant. I KNOW you have a thousand other places you could go.

To "anonymous" and his ilk, get a life!    [31 Oct 2007 18:23:43]

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Recommended Dishes: The cannelloni is my new favorite dish

     ­James Clary   james at eatatclarys dot com

Could (Should?) be better....
I recently tried Clary's for the first time after they "reopened" from the old location. I have to admit I expected a better experience for the price. My primary complaints are, first, when you take your wife out for dinner and end up spending $100+ you shouldn't have to beg your server for attention to get basics covered, like having to ask each time we needed our tea glasses refilled or to get our check. This is a pet peave of mine - When you are paying for service it's reasonable to expect it. Secondly, I'm not a fan of their philosophy for table layout. When they squeeze 2-tops in the corners around larger tables they guarantee a noisy, and therefore diminished, experience for those unfortunate enough to get crammed into those spots next to the larger parties.    [26 Jun 2008 11:21:16]

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     ­Jeff Barnhouse