Last night, September 17th, True Food Kitchen held their 2024 Fall Menu Tasting Event in Downtown Summerlin and we bought tickets to check it out.
This event was pay-in-advance situation with a mandatory 22% tip. So, all in it was a little over $50 per person.
Based on the menu they were offering, this seemed like it would be a decent deal.
Our Experience
The event started with a surprise glass of Cava and the tables were decorated with a fall-themed runner and other stuff, with each place setting showing the night’s menu.
We were in a small side dining room, and it got loud in there fast. The manager announced the Head Chef and let us all know that the two servers would be going around asking our preference for the alcohol or alcohol-free flights (the alcohol-free was to be their Refreshers).
The first starter that arrived was the Sourdough Focaccia, quickly followed by the Chinese Chicken Salad –
Both of these were tasty, though I would’ve preferred the bread arrive warm.
It’s worth noting that the bread did have whole cloves of roasted garlic in it. And the salad may be too spicy for some due to the generous use of ginger.
The Nashville hot chicken sliders arrived next, with a temperature level that can only be described as cold. I’m not sure they were meant to be served cold?
The heat level of these was what you’d expect from Nashville hot chicken. The pickles are sweet, not dill. And the temperature was cold, but again, I’m not sure if that was on purpose.
Next, the servers went around to all the diners who indicated they wanted the tequila flights (not the zero-proof Refreshers) and put down the flight sheets for each person.
Then there was lots of waiting. All in, I think we all spent more time waiting than dining. But people were happily chatting away at their tables.
Then, the mood was brought to an abrupt change when the two servers came out with the “flights” telling everyone there had been a “miscommunication” and it was only one flight per-table. And if there were any extras, then they would bring them around.
The mood and sound level in the room noticeably changed as a reflection of people’s feelings about this new development.
Tables of three got one extra “drink” during this initial distribution. And tables of four got two flights in total when they were initially coming out.
As a table of two, we got one flight from the initial distribution – and this image doesn’t accurately convey how tiny these were. That’s a tea light candle in the background, just to give you an idea of size. Not exactly as-advertised, never mind the lies about the miscommunication (remember the announcement from the manager at the start?).
Anyways, shout out to the guy who was alone and got a 3-drink flight all to himself and the tables with a single-drinker who got their own flight! Though I didn’t notice any of the non-alcoholic flights come out?
A little while later, they came back around and gave most tables a single extra “drink.” Tables of three or more got two extra.
Everyone was taking tiny sips while the delivery of the entrees took quite a while.
Many tables even ordered extra drinks (was this the plan all along?).
We opted to try the grilled tenderloin entree and the chicken parm entree.
Somehow we neglected to get a picture of the spaghetti squash noodles and tomato sauce that came with the chicken parm.
We both thought the chicken parm was a bit soggy. One of us enjoyed the grilled tenderloin meal, the other found the veggies to be too salty.
Next up was the dessert – a chocolate peanut butter tart bite.
The pieces seemed to be a fourth of a whole tart, so I imagine if you were to order this then you’d get the equivalent of double what you see pictured.
It was good, but very rich. Tasted like a high-end peanut butter cup.
After the dessert, the servers brought around a packaged chocolate chunk cookie for everyone.
Then, the manager announced that they have $10 free money cards for everyone.
Except she didn’t give them to everyone.
If she assumed you were a couple, then it was one-per couple (as she announced to a very annoyed table of 4). With the exception of the couple beside us who seemed to know everyone who works there – they got one each.
Was It Worth It?
Starting the dinner with a free glass of Cava really made it feel like this was going to be a great exeperience worth the money.
The lies about the ‘miscommunication’ with the margarita flights spoiled the entire night. A woman at a table near us had a sour look on her face the rest of the night and I could often hear her complaining.
And the mood in the room never recovered from this.
In reality, it seems that they didn’t have time to make all those margarita flights. Maybe they didn’t expect most people to actually want what they paid for?
It seems like this event was mismanaged. We spent a total of two hours there for this, with most of the time just waiting at the table.
The free take-home cookie was a nice gesture.
And when the manager announced the free $10 for everyone at the end, I thought this is the only way to make up for us paying for a margarita flight for each meal and only getting it with one of them.
But then they didn’t give the free $10 card to everyone.
Honestly, this sours me on even eating at True Food Kitchen again.
But if I were going to attend one of their new menu events in the future, I’d make sure to book a single ticket for everyone I was taking with me so we’d all get what we paid for….like the guy who was there alone.
At the end of the day, one of us didn’t get what we paid for. And we weren’t the only ones.