Pele's Wood Fire - Park and King

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Critiquing online reviews is fine, cline.  Just be prepared for a response when you make personal comments about other people rather than the review itself.

Totally impossible.  Any critiqe of a critic's personal pov is essentially a personal comment.   I get it.  I've apologized both personally & publicly.  Moving on.  Nothing more to see here.

[ben says]

For such a glowing report and detailed mentioning of the ingredients/preparation, you ordered a medium well steak?  Sorry.  Incorrect.  Please come again and we'll serve you sirloin, because you apparently don't have a clue.

That just happens to be my girlfriend.  Believe me, she knows food and just so happens to write profesionally on the subject.

Maybe you should start the new year out by not calling out people online you have obviously never met in real life?

If that happened to be you and your girlfriend, which I believe it was, then what's with the curt "I don't work there, try calling them" response? All I was asking for was a MJ user response on what kind of show they're running right now.

[TPC]

A group of friends and I tried to go eat there Saturday night but their kitchen had just closed, it was 7p.m. BTW. The crew from Intuition was right in front of us and they got turned away as well and I was walking out the door I told a group walking up that they were closed as well. In all they turned about 15 people away in the short period of time I was there so there is definitely a lot of people who want to eat there. Hopefully they will have regular hours and a full menu soon.

well considering they didn't open to the public officially until Sunday, that might explain things.

Correction, it was Sunday night because I was talking to one of the intuition guys about the game. Either way there are a lot of people who want to try the place out.

I for one can't wait to have a pizza and a beer there.

[urbanlibertarian]

ben says, maybe I'm too cautious but I personally wouldn't consider taking a group of out-of-towners to a restaurant that just opened.  I would stick with a known quantity.

[fieldafm]

I left you a non-anonymous personal apology on your voicemail.

Tony, thank you I got your voicemail... I'll call you back when I leave work for lunch.

then what's with the curt "I don't work there, try calling them" response?

I wasn't being curt at all.  I was actually trying to be helpful by letting you know there was a limited menu, as this was a complaint I heard personally.  For all I know, they could be adding new items to the menu today.  Seeing as though I do not work at Pele's and are privy to the daily going ons, I simply suggested that perhaps the best way to see if your party would be accomodated appropriately (given the circumstances) would be to call and talk to them personally.  The first week for any restaurant always operates with some unique circumstances.


On an additional note... I was very impressed that Peles is not using styrofoam to go boxes.  Instead opting for more environmentally friendly cardboard boxes.  I can't even begin to count how much styrofoam we clean out of the river. 

[ben says]

ben says, maybe I'm too cautious but I personally wouldn't consider taking a group of out-of-towners to a restaurant that just opened.  I would stick with a known quantity.

Good idea. Maybe I'm a little too excited to try this place.

I left you a non-anonymous personal apology on your voicemail.

Tony, thank you I got your voicemail... I'll call you back when I leave work for lunch.

then what's with the curt "I don't work there, try calling them" response?

I wasn't being curt at all.  I was actually trying to be helpful by letting you know there was a limited menu, as this was a complaint I heard personally.  For all I know, they could be adding new items to the menu today.  Seeing as though I do not work at Pele's and are privy to the daily going ons, I simply suggested that perhaps the best way to see if your party would be accomodated appropriately (given the circumstances) would be to call and talk to them personally.  The first week for any restaurant always operates with some unique circumstances.

No harm, no foul.

[Dog Walker]

On an additional note... I was very impressed that Peles is not using styrofoam to go boxes.  Instead opting for more environmentally friendly cardboard boxes.  I can't even begin to count how much styrofoam we clean out of the river.

European Street uses them too.  Thoughtful, classy touch for them both.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I think that most restaurants are starting to go this route. 

They should thank all of the HotWoks for a clever, grease resistant to-go box.

[doglover]

We ate there last night. Our waitress said that they were open on New Years but only had pizza and wings, so yesterday was their first day with the "limited menu". The limited menu was not too limited, there are plenty of items that I would still like to try. We got the fire roasted veggie antipasto to start and it wasn't a "salad" like I expected but more roasted veggies that you dip in this incredible sauce, very good. My husband and I split the Margherita pizza which was a little pricey for the size. For me the high point was definitely the dessert, we got the white chocolate cheesecake with the chocolate-espresso pot de creme. It was extremely rich and there is no way I could eat it by myself. It is even more enjoyable with a glass of wine. The food tasted really good and the service was decent especially considering they just opened. (I think they had a lot of soft openings to help prepare them). The downpoint was the bill...one "salad", one pizza, one dessert, and beer and wine, around $70. Granted, it was all delicious and overall, we enjoyed it, but to me it's more of a fancy night out instead of "hey let's go get some pizza"...if you are looking for casual atmosphere pizza then Carmines is the place, but Pele's was still a good experience, we just won't eat there as much as I'd like because of the price.

[acme54321]

My husband and I split the Margherita pizza which was a little pricey for the size.

We got the same.  Split a margerita pizza and an order of wings.  The wings were awesome.  The pizza was also excellent but was priced a little high for what it was.

[tufsu1]

yes...the prices seem high....but, hey, you're getting fresh ingredients and an awesome decor....that costs $ folks

[ben says]

The reviews on Yelp and Urbanspoon are terrible. All of them mention the prices. While I take these reviews with a grain of salt, I hope Pele's isn't strategically out-pricing themselves just to recoup start-up costs. May hurt them in the long run.

[Captain Zissou]

yes...the prices seem high....but, hey, you're getting fresh ingredients and an awesome decor....that costs $ folks

You don't try to recoup your buildout costs within the first week. They aren't paying for the buildout all at once, so why should the customers.  I'll have to try the place before I really weigh in, but just because you put fancy lights on the building I should have to pay an arm and a leg.

[BridgeTroll]

With such a huge bar... any word on what "Happy Hour" might consist of?  As a frequenter of happy hours across the city... I sure would enjoy another option...

[tufsu1]

yes...the prices seem high....but, hey, you're getting fresh ingredients and an awesome decor....that costs $ folks

You don't try to recoup your buildout costs within the first week. They aren't paying for the buildout all at once, so why should the customers.  I'll have to try the place before I really weigh in, but just because you put fancy lights on the building I should have to pay an arm and a leg.

I agree...but if the upfront and operational costs are higher, it would seem to me that higher prices would cover that.

but hey, if people want cheap, Wal-marts have dining in them