mixed review

I think I've said before about how very much I want to like restaurants I go to. Having had several years of front and back of the house experience, I'm inclined to be sympathetic to waitstaff and kitchen staff both. I just want them all to do their best and succeed.

Hearty is making it tough for me.

I went there back in May with David for brunch on a Sunday and was, sorry to say, underwhelmed. The menu promised great things, but when I can barely saw through a waffle with a butter knife, there's an issue. And yes, bad me, I didn't tell them so.

Same for last night. Some issues, but at no point did I tell them. So with that in mind, let me strive for fairness...

The company was great! We've got a small group of teammates with whom we dine monthly, and it's proven to be a great way to try new places and catch up on the swim team gossip we miss out on. Amy, George, and Brian were terrific fun last night.

Huge portion of tasty fried chicken. Good stuff.

Tasty cocktails. I liked mine - it disappeared quickly - and the wine list proved not just to challenge us with new names, but also new places (NC, NY, IN, VA, and AZ wines among the unexpected things on the list). Also, the wines were a great price. Hearty is quite nicely priced all in all.

The tater tots with truffle oil. Did they make the tots from scratch? I don't care. They were piping hot and richly scented and oh so good.

But...

Everyone at the table was thrilled by the appearance of a pound of (I think) deep-fried bacon on the appetizer portion of the menu. Great! But really, what we got was a cone full of bacon, nothing more than that, and it wasn't that warm. I'm not such a bacon acolyte that I will mindlessly enthuse over that.

The sliders were a buck each and, frankly, worth only that much. They tasted fine, but unexceptional.

I had other small quibbles with the food - my collard greens, for one - but I did like the food far more this time. And really, with beverages and friends, it was a fun time. The real problem was the timing.

I wonder if Hearty needs more staff. I wonder if that might help reduce the gap between the appetizers and the entrees to comfortably under the 35 or more minutes we experienced last night. I wonder if that might have made a leisurely night less forcibly leisurely. None of us said anything, but I think we were all thinking it: this place needs to step things up.

I want Hearty to succeed - it's in an odd stretch of Broadway but very welcome in the neighbourhood. I will go back - the food was better, and while service lagged, it was friendly. Perhaps just for cocktails? We'll see, and hope for even better.