Vespucci’s - Freight Kitchen and Tap, A Review
This will be a brief review of two restaurants within the trade area of my home in Marietta Georgia off Jamerson Road. The first is for the Canton Road Vespucci’s, which I have visited now four times with either my wife or wife and adult child. And the second review is for the Freight Kitchen and Tap in Downtown Woodstock and now within the old Train Depot (home to other previous restaurants).
We waited a fair amount of time before trying Vespucci’s as it went into a non-decrepit tiny strip mall built years ago that sat empty. Not familiar with the name, we had no idea what to expect on our first visit on a Saturday night about 6 weeks ago. Upon entering we were hearing a live piano player and was very surprised by the upscale feeling of the location interior ambiance. The place was only moderately crowded for a Saturday night - but, the food was excellent and service was friendly and timely - but on the verge of being a bit slow. But, with the atmosphere, not unpleasant of a wait.
Each of the following visits, including one about a week ago, all had very tasty food (except the change to fast foodlike seasoned fries was a disappointment). Recently we noted the coupons for Vespucci’s in our mailbox (mailer) and noted the restriction to Sun-Thurs and that it didn’t include their pizza. Then, we used the coupons on a Sunday, and didn’t order pizza, and — unfortunately, had a `problem’ (`those are for weekdays and at dinner not lunch’) - which when we pointed out that the coupon only said NOT valid on Fri-Sat, and said nothing about a time of day - the coupon however was honored.
NOT the kind of clarity in advertising that should be present on coupons to avoid this type of situation.
The last few visits to Vespucci’s has seen the speed of service slow down and the piano player on Saturday nights was NOT there recently at the same hour. Additionally, the number of diners in the restaurant, especially on a Sunday afternoon about 12:30 seemed especially light on our last visit. Vespucci’s would seem to be able to develop the entire Jamerson Road trade area to Trickum as a special evening meal, as Vespucci’s is literally the closest sitdown restaurant AND BAR to thousands of homes - but, an early closing cuts that potential to a minimum for a late night location. Overall, Vespucci’s is a bit costly in this fast casual era too as they are the traditional sit-down, tipping restaurant. ————- Overall grade, Solid B+
Our one visit to Freight Kitchen and Tap, also on a Sunday in the noon to 1PM hour recently, did NOT fare as well. Indeed, we were one of only THREE parties for most of our meal in the entire restaurant. It was also strange that the two other parties, both six tops, and who didn’t know each other - were sitting next to each other at one end of the restaurant (leaving 90% of the restaurant empty upon our entrance) - it was weird.
The food was not special and `tasted funny’ with the addition of beer to most offerings (even mac and cheese). Personally, I was NOT in tune with the `homemade pickles’ that were much more like cucumbers on my burger. And, FK&T may have an uphill battle for market share in the highly competitive downtown Woodstock restaurant offerings. Indeed, while the `train depot’ is a FUN thing, overall the place is `closed in’ in feeling compared to the competition, and the restaurant itself seems `separated’ from the more `bustling’ area within 200 feet of it’s harder to reach doors. Also, the interior seems to de-emphasize the `BAR’ in comparison to past incarnations of the restaurant.
One possibility would be to change this restaurant to a fast casual - immediately giving it an advantage to all the tipping competitors - and a fast casual with `gourmet food’ - could bring some customers and be a unique positioning to re-boot this location.
Overall Grade - C (at best)
