It is indeed unfortunate that I never got the chance to visit Fahrenheit restaurant in St. Charles, as I had heard both good things and bad about it and I would like to have judged it for myself.  But alas, it disappeared in a blink.  What followed in its place was another restaurant whose claim is that -- at least according to an ad I saw in a local newspaper -- "We are a value-driven steak and seafood concept in a casual setting..."  I'm really not certain what the phrase "value-driven" means in this context, but I do know that our visit to T-Bones was not unlike most Chicago Cubs' seasons: just shy of a major disappointment.

It was Lauren's birthday and I thought that perhaps a nice dinner at a nice local venue would be a nice idea.  The evening didn't start out that way, as my first note made relative to the evening: I was way overcharged for a top-shelf cocktail.  When I later queried our server about it, I was told that "it was a mistake".  Problem is... nothing was ever done about it -- never even got an apology. 

The music over the loudspeakers was of the sort that is played in the "hip" clothing stores frequented by teen-agers; you know the sort: real heavy base and almost hip-hop.  It's not so much the music that I dislike; it's the fact that I don't want to be accosted by it during my dinner.  The tables were pretty barren, except for a paper placemat, the silverware and salt and pepper shakers.  Perhaps that's what was meant by "value-driven".

The dining room itself was fairly austere and poor acoustics did not help matters; normal levels of conversation were difficult at best.  Oddly, there were only two other tables in the dining room; I'd hate to hear the cacophony on a busier night. 

A sort-of bright spot was the food quality, which was actually pretty good, although my steak was undercooked -- a pretty difficult task for a steak that was not very thick.  Our Oysters Rockefeller were served by Mexican/Hispanic busboys and not our server (who seemed to be in somewhat of a fog that evening); they removed the bucket for oyster shells along with bread plates before we were ever finished with the appetizer, and apparently neither understood nor spoke English. 

So when I look at the four categories that I use to rate a dining experience, T-Bones pretty much fell flat on its Butt-steak, missing the mark on three out of four categories: mediocre service and not-well-trained staff, too many distractions and unimaginative plate presentations.  I never got a glimpse of anyone remotely resembling management that evening either, and that never helps matters in my book -- especially in these tough economic times when so many better venues are fighting to stay in business.

Unfortunately, as is the case ninety-plus percent of the time, I'll only give you one chance to make a case for your restaurant.  T-Bones gets only bare bones on this occasion: Two-and-a-Half-Zins.       

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Ralph Pancetta
reviews@ralphpancetta.com