I believed the hype and headed downtown for happy hour.

We were really let down--oh, so very bland! The "Truffles" were fancy hush puppies, prettily arranged, but we wondered if perhaps they used imitation truffle oil, because my truffle-mad man wouldn't touch them after the first bite. The texture was right, and they looked good, but they tasted so... boring. How do you manage that with truffles? Truffled ANYTHING is delicious! The aioli it came with was bland as well (IT IS SO EASY TO MAKE ZESTY DELICIOUS AIOLI COME ON PEOPLE). The two aiolis that came with our sweet potato fries were also bland and indistinguishable from each other; we used the ketchup instead. The pizza was lifeless; though the ingredients seemed quality the sauce was meh and the crust was meh and this resulted in an overall meh experience. The caesar salad? Despite the pretty little anchovy perched atop the lettuce, Pagliacci's is WAY better! Even the Castelvetrano olives--arguabley something you CAN'T mess up--tasted like they had lingered quite a while in a lukewarm water bath, sucking all the rich buttery oil right out of them.

While the food was pretty, and the price was pretty, and the dining room was probably considered pretty in 2005, there were only two things we actually wanted to continue to put into our mouths after the first bite: the roasted almonds, which were simple and salty, and the feta-stuffed piquillo peppers. I can make those at home with less hassle than it takes to schlep down to fourth and spring.

I think if I hadn't had such high expectations from all of the reviews here, I would've given our experience three stars. But going in expecting good food and receiving something that I would be disappointed to turn out of my own kitchen really made me sad. They have all the right tools--someone please, tell Sazerac how to use them.