Fail: Extraordinary Desserts, San Diego, CA

I really, REALLY wanted to love Extraordinary Desserts.  Why?

• The hype about this place all over San Diego County is phenomenal;
• 1,991 people on Yelp give it an average rating of four stars;
• Come on, LOOK at that picture.  How can you not love this place?
• My friends and I reached this destination hot and hopeful for refreshment, so the business didn't have far to go to reach goal;
• Did you see the picture?

Actually, I snapped lots of pictures like that...until I came to the realization that the place was not air conditioned or poorly air-conditioned.  There was a crowd at the door.  There were empty tables.  And then my biggest realization:  this restaurant was doing what restaurants do if they are a tourist destination or if they have high ratings on the social network:  they "teach" the customer how to settle for less in portions of their experience.

Restaurants are probably the biggest proponent of this experience short-fall, although I have seen other businesses do it as well.  Businesses who do it usually don't last long unless they are restaurants--which only last marginally longer.  The customer is supposed to feel grateful to be in the presence of cakes that look like they were designed by sculptors and shortbread cookies that are bigger than one's hand.  The customer is supposed to be part of a tradition, and not perpetuating the tradition themselves by bringing their experience to the location.  (I've seen this as well in Las Vegas, where the customer is supposed to be grateful for the chance to dine at Bobby Flay's restaurant or have an ice cream sundae that three people who are starving couldn't finish.)  

On the other hand...Is the experience supposed to be absolutely flawless?  Shouldn't we expect some level of inconvenience with a popular place to visit?

Maybe on one level.  But Extraordinary Desserts inconvenienced me on the following levels:

• Chaotic, over-heated waiting area for seating;
• Desserts that, while huge and dressed up, didn't really have a depth or subtlety of flavors beyond sugar and flour (or, in the case of ice cream, sugar and cream);
• Two different servers, and the second one was far less invested in the table than the first;
• No air circulation beyond opening up a back door.

I guess I can say that I ate there, wearing the experience like a badge.  But I can't say that I would be eager to repeat the experience until Extraordinary Desserts works out the kinks in their system...if they want to.