Boca Resto Lounge

This place is jumping. Went there last night with friends. They had a group there performing who did two sets. Wonderful! Several individuals were invited to the stage, some very good, some not so much. But all fun. At 9 they went to open mic. Even more fun. Lots of dancers too. Great music, great fun. Have I said this is a fun place?

The restaurant was short staffed with a packed house. Having said that, onion rings were burned to a crisp, the grilled chicken was cold and the fried calamari was overly deep fried. We waited 2 1/2 hours for our order to come while three in our party just left the restaurant after two hours. The orders for the rest of our party came at 20 minute intervals. Dirty dishes remained on our table for over an hour and forget about getting the water glasses refilled. The only reason we didn't walk out earlier was the entertainment, which was a singing group Joey and the Paragons, was excellent.

Boca Resto has some nice features, notably an outdoor patio and an attractive bar. The owners appear to be trying hard to make it a place people want to be. Unfortunately, though, it loses stars in my rating for several lapses. First, the salad dressings are bottled dressings rather than being made in-house, and they taste strongly of the preservative sodium benzoate. (I couldn't taste that chemical in the blue cheese dressing, however.) Second, on a previous visit the bar served us an oxidized wine. Oxidation comes from letting an opened bottle sit for a period of time (sometimes overnight is enough). Oxidized wine is unpleasant to drink and should be returned. Third, the waitstaff is not sufficiently educated on wines and mixed drinks, for example bringing my wife a glass of cranberry juice with a lime when she ordered a Cape Cod. These are nice folks running Boca Resto. They have live entertainment from time to time and the makings of a very good restaurant. I trust that with time their offering will bloom.

I ordered Salmon Skin Hand Roll, a standard Sushi offering, I got a hand roll w/o ell sauce not cucumber. I also ordered Tuna Tataki another standard, it sucked, thick tuna pieces small amt of Ponsue sauce, asked for a napkin none was given upon sitting down, I received One! The service was slow! My advice is that the Sushi Chef should pay attention toward his supposed skill instead of the soccer game over the back of the bar! No returning here!