Posted by A. Reader, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2011 at 12:48 pm

Thanks for the review. Please review China Wok (2633 California Street) next time. And maybe revisit Sufi Coffee Shop since they have apparently taken down their signs since your last review.

Posted by Observer, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2011 at 2:01 pm

Another very odd review/hack job that slams the restaurant and much of the service and food ("scratch is not a well-oiled machine," "entrees are large, but... disappointing." "Shrimp ravioli ($23) were salty." "A huge pork chop ($26) was OK, but the best part was the bed of Brussels sprouts absorbing cider sauce with pecans and bacon." [As if someone is going to run down town to have brussel sprouts!?!], "The signature pizza ($11) was a mess.")

Again, it's funny how this paper reserves some of its harshest and biting criticisms for local privately-owned restaurants that employ people at rock-bottom wages and provide the city much needed tax revenue, but directs very little genuine detailed criticism for the city and school districts' policies, finances, and very generous public employee salaries and benefit packages which are draining the city of taxpayer dollars!

Welcome to Mountain View!

Posted by reader, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Mar 7, 2011 at 11:27 am

Agree with Observer, another odd and predictably negative restaurant review from the Voice.

Why in their right mind would a writer for the local newspaper trash a brand new restaurant, especially one located at this apparently cursed location?! Just say what was good about the place, and acknowledge that any new restaurant of course has a few rough spots to smooth out.

This article isn't even written very well, kind of rambling and incoherent, and then it just kind of ends, without an ending.

Your readers would appreciate better writing and reviews that are more supportive of local businesses.

Posted by A. Reader, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Mar 11, 2011 at 11:32 pm

I totally agree with Sheila Himmel. She is a very professional and knowledgeable restaurant critic with a unique writing style. Her review of Sufi Coffee Shop was particularly outstanding!

Posted by "a knowledgeable-sounding contributor", a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Mar 19, 2011 at 3:14 pm

FYI, some more serious and specific feedback about this review now appears on the same Chowhound discussion cited early in the review:

Web Link

After the Zolotars ceased tracking all downtown MV restaurants on an online index (source of the 2005 data that the review mentioned), I have done so, posting the list (now 100 or so) in various places including also Chowhound. Actually the steady growth of downtown MV restaurants has been underway for 20 years, following the big downtown remodeling project. They are the type of business that most often succeeded in replacing the old diverse population of small-town businesses that failed, as local history records, due to mall competition in the 1970s and 80s, leading to closed storefronts and eventually to the downtown remodeling/renewal. I have a separate list of the 25 or so restaurants that have closed during the same period.

Posted by eric, a resident of another community, on Mar 21, 2011 at 1:36 pm

What are you people talking about? The review is FAR too easy on the poor service at Scratch! You want a bogus positive review of a restaurant because they're LOCAL? Idiotic.

I went to Reposado (same ownership) weeks after it opened, and found the service to be just fine. Scratch has been open too long to brush off terrible service as opening night problems. If Scratch fails, its not the 'cursed location' but poor execution by an ownership group that knows better.

That said, I find this review poorly written. The paragraph about the "wine guy" (a phrase often used by food critics. Not.) for example makes litle sense.