Metro is very special to us. It is the restaurant where we ate just after Paul proposed. One thing I love about Metro is that it is in a building with its back to Lake Eola. You can't see the lake while dining, only the street, which can be entertaining enough. But, I love to park half way around the lake and walk to Metro to take in the beautiful sights of the fountain, swans, and owners walking their dogs.

I was nervous that Metro would be feeling the crunch of the economy. I don't think we have been to Metro this year because we no longer live downtown, but five exits or so up from the street leading to the lake and to the restaurant. But, I was happy to see that, if anything, the economy has not hurt the family-owned-and-operated restaurant. In fact, I think it was the busiest I had ever seen it. There wasn't even room for us to eat at the tables outside.

Sadly, this was our worst experience at Metro. But that doesn't mean I will not go back. After such a run of quality, I will allow these minor lapses. I'll give it another chance or two provided I still see the owner and our usual waitress running around behind the counter. There really seemed to be just one server running around to all 8 tables, most with 4-6 guests. This made service in general, pretty slow even though the girl worked very hard. Our salad came out with our entrees instead of almost as soon as we ordered it. After having a lunch-in-the-car of fruit and crackers between office, I was really hungry. Such a delay was previously unheard of! My pasta was cool, not still steaming as usual (which may be due to the AC blowing overhead, but it hadn't happened before, and I was at the usual table). The eggplant itself was green and the skin wouldn't cut with the knife. Most odd. This issue might also have been with the fact that I don't believe I have ever ordered the eggplant parm before. I suspect I'll stick to the straight ziti, calzone, or pizza in the future.