Solas

Reviews 3

ME

Melissa Wilder

Another disappointment in Raleigh food. We went to Solas for NYE. They had their special menu (5 courses) for $75 which included entry to their very hyped up party (with "entertainment") on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Let me first start with our server. Super sweet guy. Very personable and very clueless about the menu. Thats ok when you are ordering from Buffalo Wild Wings...NOT OK when you are about to drop a few hundred bucks on a meal and drinks. So we made our choices, kind of clueless about what was up with the menu. But it was NYE, we were in good company and so we just let it go. Our drinks came, Im a complete lightweight yet after my 2 martinis, I was absolutely fine. So I basically paid for mixer. Im not a big drinker, so....again, I let it slide. Bonus points for not needing a cab. Dinner starts. Course one, pretty good but not fantastic variety of little things. Course two, fairly lame salad. Course 3 was beef tartar. In the past, Ive had sliced beef. This was seasoned ground beef with a couple of leaves around it and some mustard. I ate it (didnt complain or anything) but was fairly disappointed. Course 4 was a crab and pasta dish that was pretty good. Course 5 was a Filet Mignon with an odd slimy fruit roll up melted on it. The meat was average, at best. The dessert sampler was ok. They had a sweet cake thing with BACON, which was actually really good and I was impressed with having bacon on a dessert and pulling it off the way they did. Pros: I ate it all (so, it wasnt bad); the waiter was super nice; and it took a long time which was good because I didnt want to feel rushed (we expected the meal to take 2+ hours, which was what we wanted) so we could stay for the party at midnight. Valet Parking was great! Cons: WAY over-priced for quality of food and the drinks were expensive ice and mixer. Server not knowledgeable about menu. Now, I want to clarify my restaurant review. We are not people who will shy away from a nice meal out for occasions. We are from Charleston, SC where a mediocre restaurant like this one, trying to pose as high end, wouldnt last for a day. So, when we go for a "nice" meal out, our expectations are pretty high. Now, on to the party. We thought there was an area with entertainment similar to Cirque Du Soleil (stilt walkers, etc), as advertised. What it was really upstairs were 3 million miserable people stuffed in 2 floors of purgatory. There were some hot chicks, with cirque du soleil-like masks dancing on the dance floor. Basically, everyone was just in-line....for something. In line to move. In line to get in, in line to leave. In line to get down the steps. In line to get up the steps. In line to get on the dance floor. In line to get off the dance floor. In line to get a drink (which was pretty much water). It was a total bust. So after all our line waiting, we waited in line to get out. Once we got out (and of course I hadnt had any alcohol despite spending $100 in drinks), we drove home. As far as pulling off an over-hyped NYE event that was pure profit with no quality, I give Solas an A++++ . Even if their non-special event menu is better, Id not go back to try it out. I just dont think this restaurant is capable of making the cut for our occasional "nice" meal out.

WH

Whitney Jamison

Solas made all of our dreams for our wedding come to life! I must say when someone first suggested Solas as a venue to me I was very skeptical. I had been to Solas several times for night-life and I could not imagine it as a wedding venue. We researched and visited venue after venue and were not finding what we were looking for. We did not want a traditional ballroom wedding. We wanted it to be a laid back and fun event, yet we also wanted it to be sophisticated. It was also important to us to have everything in-house in a venue. After meeting with Miriam, the event coordinator at Solas, several times we decided to put our trust in her. She and her staff did not disappoint!! They went above and beyond to make sure everything on our wedding day went perfectly! We loved the diversity that Solas offered. We used the rooftop for our ceremony location. It was absolutely perfect! One of the things that attracted us to Solas was that the rooftop could be closed in the event of rain. That is always such a concern with having an outdoor wedding. From there our guest were ushered to the patio on the first floor for a cocktail hour. The reception was held back on the rooftop. Miriams team transformed the space within the cocktail hour. We had a buffet for our guest and also offered a carving station. The food was great. The staff had a plate made for us and made sure we took a few minutes to sit down and eat. From there the dancing and party started. We had a sparkler exit out of the front door and left in a rickshaw with a "Just Married" sign attached. Everything went so smoothly and I know it was due to Miriam. She was event coordinator, staff director and wedding director all in one! To add our own touch to the venue we hung lighting over the dance floor. We also made pillows in our wedding colors to add color to the cabanas. The venue itself is so pretty with all the greenery that we did not have to do much in the way of decorating. That was a great plus for our budget! We asked all of our wedding guest to send us photos from their own wedding or just their favorite photos of themselves with the bride/groom and turned them into a slideshow that played on all the tvs during the reception. It was a big hit! Our guest loved seeing all the pictures! The only thing I would have changed about our wedding day was the heat! We choose a date in September hoping it would be a little cooler but instead it ended up being one of the hottest days of the year. You just never know in NC! If you are looking for a fun and unique venue we highly recommend choosing Solas!

A

A Private User

We booked VIP tickets to Solas in advance to bring in the new year (2011). Found parking a block away and found Solas to be the place with the longest line on the strip. Fortunately, we had our VIP tickets -- wrong! We stood right in front of the bouncer for 30 minutes to no avail; we said we have VIP tickets and he said, yeah, this is the VIP line (same line everyone was in). Every few minutes someone that knew one of the bouncers or a large group would literally shove their way through the entrance while we stood waiting. My wife asked the bouncer when we could go in and he completely ignored that we were standing right in front of him. I also asked -- 10 mins? 20 mins? before the new year? And his response was "I dont know man" as he tried to shrug me off. Through the other reviews and their website, we thought Solas was an upper scale club/restaurant, but we observed that we and many customers (all paid in full already) were not treated with basic human dignity youd expect from even the cashier at McDonalds (no offense, cashiers, I too once was!). After 30 minutes of waiting, these two VIPs decided it wasnt worth it and we resold our VIP tickets to some other poor souls in line (thats right, no refund was offered -- they wouldnt even make eye contact with us). If you are planning a special night you dont want ruined, you would be better off looking elsewhere. Fortunately, we had enough time to enjoy our new year elsewhere (home; with a bottle of wine and each other :) Oh, and dont think they made us wait b/c we are too old or unattractive (which is really demeaning btw) -- we are a typical nice, well-dressed, young couple. Solas has truly inconsiderate staff and it was an overall terrible experience even with supposed VIP tickets. Ridiculous.

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