SOLITA Las Olas

   Ok, so we decided to check out this new restaurant on the recommendation of some friends. The name SOLITA means "South of Little Italy". We actually saw it on our way to eat at another place (St. Tropez Bistro, review to come) and decided to give it a shot. We actually got "greeted" at the door by a very abrupt "What's up? You hungry?". lol. Red Flag...

   First off this guy had wore an untucked white shirt while all the other employees were wearing black, so we didn't even know he worked there and/or part owned the place. We got sat at a table for two, and he handed us two ridiculously heavy four page menus. Turns out (as he proudly demonstrated) one of the flaps had a built in flashlight which actually helped since it was pretty dark in there. Tacky, yet practical. The first thing we saw, was the two ladies at the next table were complaining about their food to the manager. He took both plates back to the kitchen, but they got up, threw down $40 bucks on the table and walked out. RED FLAG...

   Deciding to take one for the team, we stayed and ordered two glasses of wine, I had the Ravenwood Red Zinfandel ($10) and Evan went for the B. R. Cohn Cabernet ($12). We got our wine after about 7 min, and then another server brought out a basket of bread and said "I got butter, olive oil, balsamic... Whaddaya want?" R-E-D  F-L-A-G...
   After another 10 min we got our appetizer, a big bowl of "Wild Mushroom Risotto with  Truffle Escence" which was basically an $18 pile of gray mush. Totally overcooked, not a single mushroom in sight, and barely any mushroom flavor for that matter, and for some reason garnished with arugula (which totally overpowered the already bland dish). At least it was hot. lol. I'm glad we ate almost half of it because it took another 50 min (!!!) to get the entrees.

   During that long wait we got to suffer through a very clumsy attempt of DJ'ing, which included two songs getting cut off and jumping into the next, without even attempting to mix the two. And it was LOUD in there. We both bartend, so normally loud music is not a problem for us, but when the dining room is louder than the bar side, it's a bit off putting. And who the hell decided to turn on the disco lights on top of the diners???
   When we finally got the main course, the plates were HUGE! I had the Veal Sorrentino ($28), lightly breaded Veal topped with an excessive amount of fresh Mozzarella, roasted garlic and tomatoes, fried eggplant and parmesan, and Evan had the Double Thick Cut Pork Chop ($28). Both entrees were pretty good, but not worth the almost hour long wait. When I first ordered the Veal, our server said "As soon as I saw you I knew you were gonna get that. There's a touch of clairvoyance in my family". Did you also know it would take an hour to get it asshole?
   When we left, just being glad the whole experience was over, we noticed they had charged us for an $8 cocktail we didn't order on top of the $100 tab. Yet another little treat. All in all, the food was marginal at best, the ambiance was more suited to a nightclub than a dining destination, and we basically felt like we had just guest starred in an episode of the Jersey Shore. Kinda made me wanna punch a fat girl in the face :o) Definitely not worth repeating.