capone's speakeasy

Capone's Speakeasy is a refurbished bank building in downtown Alameda. The investors have spent a great of time and money in re-doing the interior, and it opened in September of 2014. As a dining experience....they apparently ran out of money, building the building. There was no more money left to create a viable restaurant. It appears that the owners have been hoping that money coming in from patrons will keep the restaurant on its feet. (it won't).We decided to come in on a Saturday night...only about a third of the tables were occupied (a red flag) and we soon found out why. The bartender let us know that they did not have Midori or Drambuie in stock, they could not allow us to sample wine without buying the bottle first, and told us they had no butter for the dinner rolls...(In a kitchen? If you have whipping cream, you can make butter...) We made a couple of menu selections and we were told 'we're out'...My wife and I ordered the filet medallion with vegetables and lobster mashed potatoes...(the website showed carrots as the vegetable...) What we got was a 'skirt steak' (we asked) hidden under a mass of overcooked kale, and the mash potatoes were cold. Cooks make fajitas with skirt steak....the way it was sliced made for a hard chewing cut that certainly want what we ordered...we had calamari that looked as if it had gone directly from the freezer to frier to plate. The same was true for our order of garlicky french fries....slap-dashed together and sent out...The food was unevenly served and the bartender (serving also as our waiter and busser) was way over his head trying to multitask....For a better dining experience, try going down one block to the American Oak. The food is better, the drinks are cheaper in price, and the service is way better. The operating term at Capone's is...'we're out'... We agree,They're out of food...out of booze....and, after 3 months...out of time. We won't be back.

I'm going to get wordy. My apologies.I was intrigued by this setting and concept, so I kept an eye on the place during the restoration and re-purposing process. It took a ton of work. The building was originally a bank. The focal points are a couple of old vaults maybe thematically more consistent with "Bonnie & Clyde's" than "Capone's" though agreeably Capone's has much more cache. The main lounge is very long with a very high ceiling, and it's chock full of hard surfaces all of which make the acoustics ABSOLUTELY HORRIFFIC! The finish trim and detailing is incomplete, it's like they ran out of time, money or patience. They flat out neglected to cross the finish line at the end of the marathon.Regarding the food, drinks, and service; my wife, our eldest daughter and I had spent a special day at the warf, Neiman Marcus, and North Beach in San Francisco. At the warf we'd eaten at the Franciscan, and in the evening, after shopping for a graduation purse, we walked North Beach and ended up at the North Beach Restaurant, both perfect examples of fine dining and fine service. On the way home I recalled Capone's and mentioned it to my wife and daughter........At Capone's the staff gets a "B" for effort, but they are absolutely green and thus just can't meet the challenge. They also managed to call us "guys" twice. Twice. The fries w/aioli are not fresh cut and are over condimented. The Mojitos are watered down, the Lemon Drop tasted like lemon aid; and to top it off, they were the most expensive drinks we'd had all day. Really. I'd really like for Capone's to not just survive, I'd like it to flourish, but it needs a lot of fixable fixing. I hope they figure it out in time. We also love Alameda, but when it comes to fine dining and fine service, it's The Little City that Couldn't.