A little blue over Blue 5
Rebecca and I decided to have a date night this past Friday. Date nights are fun because we usually like to try something new that this wonderful city has to offer, especially something in the downtown area. This date night we decided on Blue 5. Upon first entering the restaurant, the ambiance is outstanding. We were seated at a booth in the back of the restaurant which provided for quite a bit of privacy, which we both enjoyed. We started the evening with drinks, and a couple of appetizers. The first appetizer really wasn’t designed to be, but our wonderful waitress accommodated our request to split the fairly large portioned Caesar salad. Next up we had the Beef Skewers, which were just out of this world. Very tender, just enough spice with a little kick, but not hot enough that you are reaching for your glass. Rebecca described them simply as “Oh my god” and I would have to agree. However, the main courses were somewhat of a disappointment. I had ordered the Ella Burger, which had piqued my interest due to it’s combination of mushroom and Gouda. I had ordered the burger done medium, and it came out pretty much well done. Strike One. Along with the burger I had ordered their sweet potato fries. While they were cut like fries, they were far from fries in the classic sense. A pile of mushy strings would be the best way to describe them. Srike Two. Rebecca ordered the Penne Cuervo, which is described as lime chicken with a combination of peppers and cream over penne pasta. It was truly a bland and boring dish, reminiscent more of something you’d order at a large chain like TGI Fridays, only at twice the cost. Strike Three. We had originally intended to stay for the entertainment that was performing that night, but after experiencing some truly lousy main courses at such high prices, we had enough of Blue 5 and continued date night elsewhere. It would take something fairly special I think for me to give them a second chance at this point, because as most folks know, first impressions are everything. In our case, Blue 5 left us shaking our heads wondering what all the excitement is about.
Robert Middleton Said,
February 19, 2008 @ 3:08 am
The wife and I, have twice encountered the same abysmal quality of fare, service, and “entertainment” at this establishment. I’m continually bewildered by both the positive commentary offered by others, and frankly, the fact that Blue Five has been able to remain open since September.
On our first visit, Michelle and I went alone. Having made reservations for 7:30pm, we arrived at a few minutes after seven in anticipation of pre-dinner cocktails at the bar. Upon entry to the building, we noticed a sparse clientelle consisting of four to six occupied tables and roughly six bar patrons. We stood in the entryway for nearly ten minutes prior to being acknowledged by anyone, made our reservation known to the hostess, and were then seated at the bar. Approximately ten minutes later, we were “greeted” by the bartender, who appeared to had just completed two hours on a stairmaster at The YMCA (unshaven, sweating profusely, wearing a filthy black sweatshirt and flip-flops !) We placed our drink order and were advised that Michelle’s first (and second) cocktails of choice weren’t available because the fundamental spirits were out of stock. Prior to receiving our drinks, the hostess approached and asked to escort us to our table. After some labor and confusion as to the bar tab (and finally receiving our drinks), we were seated at a table that looked as though someone had been cleaning fish on it. Our waitress appeared, with heavy, dark tattoos around both of her exposed biceps, and conveyed considerable annoyance at being asked to wipe the table for us. After ample time to consider our choices for dinner (over twenty minutes), and being advised that my first choice of entree was sold-out, we placed our order and began the nearly fifty minute wait for our meal. We weren’t even offered another cocktail while waiting; given the quality of the first two, we had no intention of ordering additional libations anyway. When our food finally arrived, it was barely room temperature, was presented as though it had been dropped and scooped up with the plate, and further - wasn’t even what we had ordered ! At this time, since our waitress had quickly scurried off, we asked the hostess if we might speak with a manager. She stated that she was a supervisor, and after several attempts to patronize us, sheepishly assured us that she would dispatch a manager to our table. We never met the manager, nor did we ever hear from the supervisor again. Needless to say, we weren’t remotely interested in dessert.
With regard to entertainment, the hype generated by the restaurant was that of the hip new blues/jazz club in town …
We found nothing of that to be true or appropriate. The house music was much too loud during dinner, and frankly, was generic and terrible - the live music was even worse. The featured act for the evening began their first set at around 9:15, and consisted of three gentlemen who appeared to be of the homeless persuasion, incessantly strumming, scratching on washboards, and caterwalling in tone-deaf abandon. By a quarter of ten, we’d had all that we could take, and elected to call it a night. When presented with the check, we were billed for two appetizers that we neither ordered nor received - another fiasco, and for us, the last straw.
On our second visit (can you believe it … ?), we had friends visiting from Baltimore who had seen an ad for Blue Five in City Magazine. Despite our best attempts to discourage them, they insisted, and we elected to give the place a second chance. For brevity’s sake, I’ll simply report that this experience was exponentially worse than the first, and that Blue Five is a mistake that we’ll not make again.
On the Market. » Metro! Hype and heartburn Said,
February 24, 2008 @ 12:10 am
[...] like when we sampled what Blue 5 had to offer, sadly, I just don’t get it. Save your money, put the suit back in the closet, and get into [...]
John Langan Said,
March 8, 2008 @ 8:18 pm
I, too, must sadly comment that the food and service has deteriorated from what was an awesome start. My sources tell me that the original chef (native of France) is no longer employed at Blue 5. And the original dining philosophy of creative food at affordable prices (entrees below $20) is long gone. I hope that the owners can turn things back around to its early success.
Zach Waldron Said,
March 20, 2008 @ 12:11 am
Seriously, don’t waste your time or money.
This place has completely fallen apart. My fiance and I first decided to check it out back in October of last year and frankly, our experience was a relatively good one. The service was decent overall, the food and drink good (they had a wonderful mussel soup, a tasty brie appetizer, a very nice fillet, and the best mojito that I’ve ever tasted …). The entertainment blew, but we attributed that to being back in Roanoke.
Last week, we had another opportunity to dine there with two other couples. It was a nightmare. Frankly, I would have preferred to have eaten at The Waffle House. Our waitress was a complete moron, the wait was unjustified,our food was sloppy and ill prepared, the prices ridiculous, we were charged for a bottle of wine that we never ordered, and my fiance had a total of three cosmos during the evening - none of which were made correctly, or for that matter, tasted remotely the same. It appears that the original chef and any other employees of merit are long gone, and that what once seemed like a cool concept has been reduced to a joke.
Sad, but unfortunately true.
Sam Said,
March 20, 2008 @ 11:23 pm
We dine out 2-3 nights a week and don’t mind paying for good food/service, neither of which we found at Blue 5. Service was scattered and amateurish and our waitress, who must’ve been working her first night, disappeared halfway through the meal, which was overlong owing to the fact that my first entree was not, as our waitress had promised, steak au poivre with a cracked black pepper crust (one of my favorites and so described on the menu but I asked anyway since I’d been disappointed in the past), but rather steak au poivre with brown sauce and a few green peppercorns (why bother, I’d specifically told her that was the version I didn’t much care for). The manager visited our table after I sent the dish back and said, politely enough, that the chef was from Paris, as though that justified not getting what I’d ordered (not to mention implying that I’d never had my preferred version prepared by a Frenchman). I don’t remember what I ordered instead except that it took a long time to arrive, and we seemed to go through two more waitresses before we finished and got a second check that didn’t charge for the first entree. Not the worst meal or service I’ve ever had in restaurant, but we’ve had no reason to return.
Elizabeth Said,
June 20, 2008 @ 4:33 pm
I wish that I had seen these reviews earlier in the week. My husband, myself, and two other couples had “dinner” there last night. The food was AWFUL, the service terrible, the music boring - even the drinks sucked ! How do you screw up a Greyhound ??? (the little blonde bartender had a really pissy attitude - and was a total bitch)
Unbelievably bad !!! …, I can’t imagine how they’ve managed to stay open. NEVER AGAIN !!!!!