Regina McCormick
My family and I visited this restaurant for dinner recently. I have a gluten allergy, so I checked to make sure there were GF options online before visiting. I also asked the hostesses if there was a GF menu upon arriving, and they provided me with the special menu to start. One might ask... why would I go to OG, of all places, if I have a gluten allergy? Because... sometimes family wants to go somewhere different, and sometimes I just don't want to have to search for something specific - it's a lot of work. And I can handle some level of cross contamination. If there's a GF menu, I'll try it. So we went. After about a half an hour after getting home, I became really sick - my stomach started to turn and I was in the bathroom for hours. Gluten exposure or cross-contamination in small amounts isn't going to kill me. It might give me a few hives on my cheeks, but usually I can withstand a little exposure. But if I eat an entire meal, I'm going to be sick. It's not something I want to experience if I can avoid it, and it's certainly not something I want to pay for. I checked the receipt and it only says CYO pasta/rigatoni (not sure if it would indicate GF). My husband (who eats gluten) also tried the leftover pasta we brought home (which is still miraculously in tact) and thinks it could either be a mix of GF and regular pasta because it varied in consistency or it's just all regular pasta.) If OG is reading this, please check your GF pasta and the process by which your servers and cooks are handling it or don't offer it. I'd hate for this to happen to someone else.
Other notes: We waited forever for service, no bread or water while waiting. Server finally comes out, no apology - we just go ahead and order everything. I'm careful to point to my GF menu and order GF rigatoni. We also put in an order for mixed drinks (gin/tonic and Manhattan). And then we wait forever, and still no bread or water or mixed drinks, which serve to tie over customers while they wait for the entree - or maybe slower service. We're beginning to think the free bread has gone by the wayside with covid cutbacks. Meanwhile, we see other servers bustling about back and forth, attending to their customers. None of them ever check on us, which I find odd - most restaurants, especially if short-staffed, will have a number of folks check on us or delivering food. Eventually our server comes out, bringing just about everything at once, including bread - but no mixed drinks. Server never really checks in after food delivery, which is standard. I notice that my rigatoni is miraculously in-tact and not falling apart, as is pretty normal for GF pasta, and think - wow, OG really has found some impressive GF pasta. About halfway through the meal, the server - the one time she visits our table once we get our meal - let's us know the bar is just now making our drinks. No apology, no explanation, nothing - just at our table as briefly as possible. We have experienced A LOT of clunky service since covid - and we've learned to go out to eat just not in a hurry, enjoying each other's company, and basically expecting delays. But we've met so many really kind, attentive, friendly servers that make the experience enjoyable. We did not get that at all. This server seemed really inexperienced, or just not great with people. Close to the end of our meal, we finally got our drinks. Whatever she brought me was basically water and fruit. After we finished our meal, we waited and waited and waited. Finally pushed the "call server" button on the screen/game device on the table (that was obnoxiously blinking red the entire time), because I wanted the drink taken off the check. She took the drink off, and we paid the check and left. On a positive note, the restaurant and bathrooms were clean.