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News & ArtsTuesday, May 5, 2009
Chow Closed Already: The Lost Lady American Cantina
Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Tue, May 5, 2009 at 3:22 PM
The Lost Lady opened in the former Union Square Grill space downtown on March 18—that's less than two months ago—and it's already gone. (Dale Wamstad, the Texas restaurateur who was running the place, was the topic of a lengthy article in the Dallas Observer in 2000 that detailed his past lawsuits, "bitter business partners," and an altercation with his ex-wife at one of his restaurants in 1985 in which she shot him three times—more on that here).
The place met with critical crickets, and Stranger reader-reviews were split down the middle between terrible and weirdly glowing, indicating something weird was going on:
Damn Good!
I ate at the Lost Lady with my fiancée and had a great time! Food was awesome, drinks were poured perfectly and the staff were all so welcoming! We were given a Queso cheese dip with chips to start which was wonderful! Call it “Velveeta Dip” if you want Mr. Bullwolf but we cleaned the bowl! I ordered the Beef Tenderloin and it was one of those steaks that didn’t require a steak knife to cut into. In other words. . . AWSOME! I also ordered a Berry Bomb Margarita (I think that is what it was called) and it was a drink I will be ordering more often! Very yummy! My fiancée ordered the Salmon special which he said was very fresh and cooked perfectly! We will defiantly be back . . . with our friends.
Posted by Victoria
I miss USG!
Lost Lady will not make it longer than a couple of months unless they make some serious changes. The menu is terribly small. The food is mediocre. The sole highlight is that the service is good. This location caters to a business crowd, and I for one, will never take a client to this restaurant. It would be embarrassing.
Posted by Business Person
According to Nancy Leson on her blog at the Seattle Times, the staff at Wamstad's corporate office was told to tell the press, "He's just not good enough for Seattle."
2
uh, anything that is reviewable by the public; restaurants, stores, etc, is going to contain a certain number of reviews pseudonymously submitted by owners/employees...happens ALL the time.
Obversely, I also know that disgruntled employees will also post nasty reviews.
Obversely, I also know that disgruntled employees will also post nasty reviews.
3
Oh good, I'm glad to see the fine art of hating Dallas for being a craphole has come to Seattle.
GO BACK TO DALLAS.
GO BACK TO DALLAS.
4
@2
That just makes everything extra spicy! The Internet is here for drama. IRL drama is dreadful and entirely unnecessary.
That just makes everything extra spicy! The Internet is here for drama. IRL drama is dreadful and entirely unnecessary.
5
I would have gone, but I was afraid that the people sitting next to me would be licking out their Velveeta bowl and cutting their steak with their fingers. I guess I was right.
9
I think the subliteracy of the first review makes it seem that much more authentic. Although that last bit, "...with our friends," sounds more like a threat than a promise.
11
Geez, you'd think they would have budgeted enough capital to at least last six months. Woe is any business that banks of immediate profit upon opening to survive.
12
I had dinner there about a month ago. The food was decent, but we were literally the only ones in the place the entire time, and the lady who poured our water was a relative that was asked to fly in from Spokane on a few hours notice to help.
We were all making jokes that it wasn't long for this world. Little did we know.
We were all making jokes that it wasn't long for this world. Little did we know.
14
My girlfriend worked there. The place sucked to work for and the food wasn't very good. Still, she'd rather have a job.
15
Yes, I would rather have a job. Even though Dale never once used my name, called one of the other servers a bitch when he thought she was taking out the wrong salads (she wasn't,) told the hostess not to wear her glasses to work because she sparkled more without them, required us to wear heels despite the blatant L&I violations and lord knows what else, I would still rather have a job. Even a shitty job where my sexist boss tells me to go "make myself pretty and flirt with those customers!"
I'm not sorry to see it go. I am sorry to see myself and the rest of the girls (yes, entirely female staff) who I had grown fond of over the past two months suddenly kicked to the curb.
I'm not sorry to see it go. I am sorry to see myself and the rest of the girls (yes, entirely female staff) who I had grown fond of over the past two months suddenly kicked to the curb.
16
@11: True, and especially odd considering the owner has previously founded (and sold) two national chains. And @15: I am sorry for YOU and your former colleagues. Sounds all-around awful.
17
According to Nancy Leson on her blog at the Seattle Times, the staff at Wamstad's corporate office was told to tell the press, "He's just not good enough for Seattle."
Seattle, he's just not into you.
Seattle, he's just not into you.
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