Bites

Awesome new bar and quick bites/grilled cheese spot!

Hi..our food was excellent..but..the board although very tasty..cheese was cold..meats were cold..should be warmer to gain access to the flavor. It was somewhat busy....and between people talking and the music..very hard to hear conversation..

The grill cheese sandwiches were really good so were the sskades.
BUT.... a glass of wine for 10 dollars merely 3 oz.? I am still bitter about that.

It is always hard to rate a new restaurant, and I usually give the establishment a while to find their groove. But our visit here was quite the stark contrast of some of the best sandwiches and soup I have had in a very long time, and one of the worst run food joints I have ever seen.

This is week #1 for Bites, so while totally unwhelmed with our dining experience, I will be back to see if the management has learned how to run a restaurant. Week #1 saw and opening, then shutting down for two days, then re-opening. The word was that they opened too soon, and found process problems that needed fixing. Well, they still have issues.

What I suppose is surprising, is that this is not a new concept, and I am led to believe that the ownership is the same as the Bites in Leesburg, of which, I have heard nothing but good things. Then again, there was the continuous delay of the opening, which we were led to believe would happen some 4 months before the restaurant opened.

Parking is a problem, but we knew that. I have no idea how the County gave Bites an occupancy permit, as there cannot be more than 10 dedicated parking spots. But, you can park back by the 7-11 dumpster if needed, but that might spoil your appitite, won't it?

When you enter, it looks like a sit down restaurant. They have a bar, so we sat there. Fully stocked, but no bartender. We asked for a menu, and the gentleman behind the counter (appeared to be a manager of some sort) was surprised, and returned us one menu for the two of us. Turns out, you order at the other end of the facility, and they give you a buzzer. A simple sign might have helped: OREDER HERE --->.

So, we ordered. Got the buzzer, lots of lunch activity. The dining area was a mess. Napkins on the floor, on tables, spilled drinks on the floor, and then there is this "Napkin machine." The kind you might find at Jack n the Box or some other fast food place with not as much service as, say, Wendy's or McDonalds. This napkin machine had town napkin pieces all over the floor. When someone finally came to clean-up after the lunch rush, they did not clean the mess on the floor.

Buzzer went off, great, got the food. Good presentation. But, then the soup came in a to-go cup. They type you would get at Safeway if you poured your own soup. Hmm. Silverware.... Aha, a machine next to the napkin machine that dispensed plastic spoons and knives and forks, one at a time, like somene was worried that a customer might take two and take them home.

Water? Not sure, I was pointed to a drinking fountain, but the cook brough me a plastic cup so I did not see the fountain. My wife had a sangria. It was good. Served at the bar, by one of the cooks.

I opened the potato soup. smelled good. tasted good, but a little bland. Hello! Hello! With a little broken spanish, I got the attention of one of the cooks that I needed some salt and pepper. I frist checked to see if they had little salt and pepper in the paper containers. Nope. Three types of sweetener and sugars. No salt. No pepper. The manager replied, after being hailed by the cook, "how can I help?" "salt and pepper, hmm. Let me look around and see what I can find." See what you can find? He returned with two paper containers, like you might put ketchup in at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries, but one had salt, and the other pepper. It was if nobody ever asked for salt and pepper before.

Now, the food. Wow, what delicious sandwiches. Rich cheese blends and I had ham and turkey. The bread had some nuts and cranberrries, and it was fantastic. The soup had a cheese and potato that you might find in Wisconsin. The food was fantastic.

Bites needs a do-over. shutdown, hire, train, start over. New restaurant should go overboard: Welcome, here is our menu, you order at the counter, and find a seat. Everything is made to order, but much is self service. hire staff to clean the place. Nothing sets a bad impression that a messy dining room.

Food - 5 stars
Service - 2 stars
Cleanliness - 1 star
Management and training - 1 star

I know this is a new place and as everywhere you go, you will find people trying to improve their performance into a more controlled situation. I have experience working in the culinary world and I can tell you that the worst time to evaluate a place is at its beginnings... In my experience going there, I can tell you that everything was delicious and I found a very kind performance from people who was training in there. I had the opportunity to talk with one of the managers and I saw the way he was explaining things to their new staff, people who were starting with them that week and, as expected, they are trying to understand everything from scratch.
The food was amazing, and to me, that is more than important. If you're selling good food, it means the soul of a restaurant, because the customer service is only shape and it's always improvable.
I saw the effort, the good will and their spirit beyond the fact of a busy weekend and people giving the best for surviving. 5 stars and my best wishes to you, guys!