DINNER: Dragonfly (take two)

Dragonfly's Web site

I sit up at night concerned about empty restaurants. Dragonfly is the source of my latest dose of insomnia. The restaurants around it (Zocalo, Paesano's) are always packed, but Dragonfly rarely has more than a smattering of occupied tables. If it weren't for Leslie's recent review, we probably wouldn't have tried it again. It was about 7pm on a Thursday, and -- sure enough -- Dragonfly was deserted except for two other tables: a family with three little kids sitting outside and a dour-looking couple sitting inside. We sat outside, next to Zocalo's packed patio, where the sounds of the busy restaurant next door wafted over to punctuate the utter stillness of our near-empty patio. I guess this would be great place to bring kids, or perhaps a very mean dog, since there are rarely any other patrons for them to disturb/maul. Right away after sitting down, a negative: I am (ahem) a touch under six foot, but the tables were too high for the chairs, so we felt like little kids. We ordered a couple of their delicious (and strong) mojitos. Mine was mango, which was a tad sweeter than Bernadette's classic mojito. For food, we liked the Dragonfly roll (very good), the bbq albacore tuna (tasty, but unexpectedly spicy) and the short ribs (highly recommended). I personally didn't care for the the Thai Chicken noodles -- it was basically salty chicken nestled in saltier, bland noodles. We had two bites of that and left the rest. On balance, the food is fine, and the service is good, but I still feel strange eating in an almost empty restaurant. Dragonfly needs to distinguish itself. Fast.