Q: positive

A: Took my wife and two friends to Monarch for wife's birthday back in April and had a wonderful experience. We arrived too early and it kind of threw Christopher off a bit. Wasn't sure how long it would take to get there, but he took it in stride and greeted us warmly. Love the concept and the atmosphere here, completely relaxed vibe but still upscale enough and a perfect celebration spot. Food is good, but Christopher and the restaurant itself are the real stars here. When we visited there was no assistant and somehow Christopher was able to talk with all of his tables and still put out high quality plates. Makes dinner a more intimate experience, which is exactly what a birthday dinner with friends calls for. Wife and i had fish and our friends had lamb chops. Meats were prepared well and tasted good, but the times between plates, sipping wine and looking over the fire are the reason we will be back. If you have a few bottles of wine that you have been saving for a great meal/experience with friends, give Christopher a call and make plans to visit Cafe Monarch soon!

Q: negative

A: I live in the Peccole Ranch area and WAS frequenting this location. However, within the last month or so the service has gone completely downhill. It started with nobody manning the front of the store. So I will walk in and can SEE the employees in the back talking while I wait several minutes just to have someone finally greet me. Last week I was in a hurry on my way to work and ordered a chicken pesto wrap with their substitute chicken to go. When I got to work and bit into my sandwich I realized it was actual chicken and it made me sick. I couldn't return it as I was already at work. I never get as much as a smile from the employees, they're rude and always act as if I'm troubling them with my business. I was ordering there quite often before and using their rewards card. (You get it stamped so many times and they give you a free smoothie). I misplaced one and was told that I could start a new one and if I found the old one I could combine the stamps and still get my smoothie. Well, I found the old one and took them both in to redeem my smoothie since I had the required number of stamps. The girl behind the counter rolled her eyes and said "I don't even know if we can take it like this." Another girl came over with the same attitude and said "it's fine.. Just take it". While I received my free smoothie I also received the worst possible service. I will not be going back there ever again. I'll just take my business elsewhere.

Q: positive

A: A five star experience all the way. My gf found Sea Saw on Yelp during our annual July 4th trip to Scottsdale, and man do I have to thank her for that. I have to say this was one of the best dining experiences I have had. First thing to note is this is not a sushi bar; it is a Japanese restaurant which serves delicious and precisely prepared avaunt dishes by Nobu the chef. Our host, Arnold met us at the door and seated us at the requested bar area--we like to watch the food prep and we had just walked in--save the tables for the folks with reservations. The menu was neatly divided into cold and hot dishes and it was recommended that we order 4-6 plates as the servings are meant to be eaten family style. Now to the food. We had the Tako and Tomato; two sashimi plate specials--big eye tuna and I cannot remember the name of the white fish--the baked cod, the hamachi and then Nobu turned us onto the White Fish carpaccio and a uni and oyster concoction that was out of this world. All the flavors were fresh, and each dish was superb in taste and presentation. I wanted to cancel our reservations at Elements the next night so we could go back! Wine list--think back to your college binder full of notes from that damn upper division History class--yeah I am not kidding. I read through a bit of it, found it amusing and thorough, then asked for a Sancerre under $100--cut to the chase I always say. The restaurant is small so making reservations or dropping by early is a great idea. Do not miss this place--it is worth every cent.

Q: negative

A:
My friend celebrated her birthday here yesterday evening. We were the first three of about 15 people to show up. The server was really inconsistent and scatterbrained. As soon as we were seated, she asked us if we were ready to order drinks. After telling her we needed some time, she came back two minutes later to ask again. We asked for a HH menu and she came back several minutes later with one. Errrr.. OK, I guess the 3 of us can share... not that big of a deal I suppose. 10 minutes later, she came back and we ordered our drinks and appetizers. While waiting for our orders, more people started to trickle in. By the time she came back to our table, there were about 10+ people passing around 1 happy hour menu. Either that was the only copy in the whole restaurant or she didn't want us to order from it because as soon as someone set it down, she snatched it up and took off w/ it. WTH!? While everyone was laughing about it and asking "did that really just happen?!" our food arrived. My friend & I shared the pork belly cubano and chicken fingers. Both were OK, but they should have just named the pork belly cubano a ham cubano because the piece of pork belly was no larger than 2 fingers. A total disappointment because I was looking forward to the pork belly the most! As for our drinks, she was OK if we flagged her down to take our (alcoholic) drink orders, but she was really scatterbrained when it came to refilling our waters! I asked several times for a refill, but she would walk away after refilling other people's half full glasses and ignore my completely empty glass. She did this to a few other people too that asked for water. There were a few other servers that were helping her out w/ our table. When they brought out the orders, they would just drop off the plates wherever they felt like. Sometimes they would drop it off at one end of the table, sometimes in the middle, sometimes at the other end. Never once did they ask who it belonged to. When one dish was brought to my friend, she gave him a puzzled look and he started to walk away. She said "I guess I can figure out who this belongs to.." and he came back and said "well I guess I can do it if you don't want to..." WTF. Isn't it his JOB to?!? My friend said she had a very similar experience last time too. Needless to say, I won't be back. Such a shame since I work right across the street and my co-workers and I eat out almost everyday.