April 16TH 2004
Submitted by: Recon
The High Rock Steakhouse & Pub are located inside the Crown Plaza Hotel. The inside of the Crown Plaza Hotel is a very nice open ceiling space, with a waterfall facade in the center area sprouting from the top center of the building. The Restaurant and the Pub are situated on opposite sides of this space, and are entered separately.
Happy hour at the pub boasts $1.95 appetizers and your choice of three or four micro beers available for your consumption. Free appetizers are available, with a good choice of fresh fruit, and raw vegetables, and a hot entré of battered chicken nuggets.
A pool table litters one side of the pub, and since the Crown Plaza caters mostly to business travelers, most seating is four chairs and a table. I was told that on Fridays, most of the 'suits' are gone, and that the pub is not so badly inhabited by the executive types, but mostly by tourists, and is not nearly as crowded.
After getting a few plates of the free grub, we ordered four plates of the house appetizers. Pot Stickers, Beef Skewers, and two others I can't remember. They were all tasty, but surprisingly showed up at our table luke warm. Not being one to quibble over luke warm $1.95 appetizers, I decided to watch the (only) bartendress to try and figure out why the appetizers were not piping hot.
Since the Pub and the Restaurant are not co-located, it seems that the Bartender has to leave the Pub, march across to the Restaurant (The Restaurant wasn't seen bringing any dishes during our visit), and walk back across a tabled atrium with the ordered food. In addition to the long trip, the food is carried bare to the air on the serving plate, rather than being put in some type of covered dishware. I pointed out the room temperature of our food to the bartendress when we paid, and asked her about the procedure, and she seemed to think that each server invented their own in order to get the food to the table.
Because of the way our food arrived, and because of the table layout at the bar, I'd grade the High Rock Pub at about a 'C'. Since I survived long enough to write this report, I will make an attempt at revisiting this Hotel to see if things have improved. As for a meeting place? Not recommended at this time!