Table 118? Not so much.

Table 118, Lake City, S.C.

I often post photos of delicious meals I've enjoyed but rarely make a fuss about meals that weren't such a hit. Readers often try restaurants I've recommended so I consider not talking about them enough. I simply haven't given publicity to places where the food or service has been disappointing.

I am willing to make an exception for Table 118 except for one little snag. I can't even get inside and I already have a bad taste in my mouth. 

After the great success of Artfields art festival in Lake City earlier this year I was eager to promote the entire project. I told everyone I knew about the festival. I loved the idea of reviving an entire little town around an art festival. I heard raves about Table 118 described as a high end restaurant in the little town and I was determined to come back to support it.

I've tried. Believe me. The first time I tried to go back it was for dinner. I checked the web site for dates and hours, called to be sure, left a couple messages asking for a reservation (got no response) and finally went ahead to made plans to head all the way there from Charleston since the answering machine message said they were open for dinner. Late that very afternoon after numerous calls I finally got someone to answer the phone who said they weren't going to be open for dinner. Huh? I was really annoyed. I told her that their web site said they were, their answering machine said they were and no one had returned my calls. She didn't know anything about that.

The second time was my fault. No pre-planning. Caught them as they were closing. No harm done.

Third time looked like a charm. A friend was up for a road trip - why not give Lake City another chance? Two morning phone calls confirmed they were open until 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Zoom, zoom, zoom. We pulled up at 1:30 p.m. to a spot directly across from the restaurant to find it closed. What the heck? A woman came to the door and said they had decided to close early for renovations that day. We said we had called twice that morning before we made the drive to make sure. She said she didn't know anything about that.

Never mind Table 118. I headed around the corner for some good old BBQ and friendly company.