The food is the standout piece to Esca. I thoroughly enjoyed the squid ink pasta, marinated sardines and fish stew (the crudo tasting was a little bland though). The service was good, with water and wine glasses being refilled and new utensils being laid out in a timely manner. \r
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The main drawback is the actual space itself. When you walk in, you are liable to think you walked in through the wrong entrance. It feels like a back entrance as you immediately face a large table where servers are cracking pepper and preparing plates. The hostess stand is tucked a little bit to the right and the two hostesses on Wednesday night were inattentive to the point where I thought they might just be waiting for a table too and didn't work at the restaurant at all. \r
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The bar at Esca seats maybe five stools and the servers rush between the seated patrons and those standing by the wall to get from the kitchen to get to the main dining room, shouting out
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