[dewilson58]

Over priced for average food.

[theorem painter]

Three of us went there tonight for dinner arriving at 6:000 PM. After being told it was an hour wait, we grabbed seats at the high top table in the bar. The waitress was a little slow taking drink orders. No problem. I am very forgiving when it comes to wait staff. What I am not forgiving is when my glass of wine comes 15 minutes after everyone else's drinks. I ordered Chicken Marco Polo and my husband had Veal Parm. Very good except we were 3/4 done with our meal before the third person in our party got their meal. No apologies from our waitress when she finally brought the 3rd meal. I guess all I can say is that I have been there. Will I return? No way! There are too many other good restaurants around to give this another shot. The couple we shared the high top table with said that this was the 2nd time there. The first time they sat at a table for over an hour before they ever saw their waitress. The second time the husband asked for grated cheese for his soup and it was cold before the waitress finally brought it to the table. Both the manager and owner were there and neither made any attempt to ask customers if they were happy. They probably knew what the answer would be.

[msfooter]

Four of us went for early dinner the other evening. Nice venue outside. Food is not particularly good - lobster ravioli tasted fishy and the sauce was congealed and cold, rigatoni alla vodka sauce congealed and cold, tortielloni carbonara was okay and 4th dish was a salad and was fine. Female server called everyone "darling" in a very loud voice. Will try this establishment again and hope the food improves and wait staff is more professional. Yes, management is aware. Jimmie

[travelguy]

last saturday evening, fabulous dinner, outstanding service, great waiter.....Mark. dinners were probably the best we have had in TV. they do need a bit more organization when it comes to taking names and being put on a waiting list for tables. quite a few parties were taken out of turn, and we wondered why we were overlooked. but, the dinner more than made up for any inconvenience.

[skyc6]

Originally Posted by foodcritic

Had lunch yesterday at Ricciardi's and found it to be rather disappointing. My first observation is that it is very noisy with sounds reverberating all over the place. Caesar Salad was served with a highly excessive amount of dressing. It tasted extremely bitter and lemony. Three quarters of it was left in the bowl. No comment from server when I advised how bad it was. Menu indicated all entrees were served with Garlic Bread. We were served a couple of rolls and a couple of Bread Knots which we were later told were Garlic Knots. None of us were able to detect even the slightest taste of Garlic.

My entrée, Veal Parm proved to be the same yucky Veal Cubed Steak served at most Italian/American Restaurants. It is not Veal Cutlet but rather scraps from a lean cut of leg and processed by machine that tenderizes. If the menu doesn't specify "Veal Cutlet Parm", rest assured you'll get the stuff described above. Didn't much care for the sauce either. From my perspective it had a bitter taste which I didn't care for. In a word, this dining experience was, mediocre!

I agree--for a "garlic knot" there was no garlic! I have had really good Italian food. It doesn't have to be expensive to be good. This just wasn't and the server was so busy and she just couldn't keep up. We had to remind her 3 times to bring something. Room for improvement.

[sewdancer]

“Do not bother”
Pending review
This was the fourth time I have visited this restaurant. I was hoping for better food. The atmosphere was good when they were not crowded, but the noise level escalated when full. But that is not my main complaint. The food is terrible. Yes, you can eat it, but bland, bland, bland! Even the plain pasta was bland, and overcooked. This is not an Italian restaurant!

The prices are high. Yes, the dinners come with soup or salad. But my salad had four bite sized leaves of lettuce and two slices of cherry tomatoes. SALAD???

When the waiter asked if I wanted a box for my uneaten dinner, I said it was tasteless, the management offered 1/2 off, which was unacceptable.

I can overlook slow service, but not bad food.

I will not be back.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by sewdancer

“Do not bother”
Pending review
This was the fourth time I have visited this restaurant. I was hoping for better food. The atmosphere was good when they were not crowded, but the noise level escalated when full. But that is not my main complaint. The food is terrible. Yes, you can eat it, but bland, bland, bland! Even the plain pasta was bland, and overcooked. This is not an Italian restaurant!

The prices are high. Yes, the dinners come with soup or salad. But my salad had four bite sized leaves of lettuce and two slices of cherry tomatoes. SALAD???

When the waiter asked if I wanted a box for my uneaten dinner, I said it was tasteless, the management offered 1/2 off, which was unacceptable.

I can overlook slow service, but not bad service.

I will not be back.

Can't say you didn't try.
Did it twice and that was enough.
Just been sitting back and waiting for more positive reviews.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waitng.

[gerryann]

Just guessing here....but

I think the restaurant quality, service, etc will NEVER change because there are so many people here, I can only assume they are VERY busy every night. If they are so busy and still have a long wait, they must assume they have a quality product and will continue business the same as always. I don't like the place either, but I don't foresee them changing a thing as long as they are busy.

[rubicon]

This can be a complex topic because one has to account for taste preferences and food selections. Veal like chicken is often pounded to thin it out.
The type breeding determines taste and adjustments to cooking (Grass fed, Heritage Bred Pasture Bred vis a vis mass commercial breeding.

The complaint concerning responding to crowds has validity but based on the majority response it does not seem to affect the quality of Giovanni's. Perhaps that is the reason he maintain his present location because he knows his limitations and won't sacriface quality for quantity

And indeed a good restaurant can miss sometime. I am not enamored with any of the restaurants within The Villages but believed that Lopez held up best....until the other day. My wife had stuffed sole and I had stuffed chicken breast ...both were just awful and a surprise to us because we liked Lopez.
Perhaps instead of Lopez upgrading Havana is downgrading Lopez

Finally what bothers me the most is to have a very long wait and then finding out price does not equate with product or service.

So far Evergreen has held up

[GoToGuide]

Smells good from out side. We ate at Scooples in the same section today and it was all very very good. Glad to see more choices opening up in that section.

[SALYBOW]

We went last night, We ordered Veal Parmigiana. It was excellent. The salad is a bit sparse but it was good. The garlic knots were great. Definitely going back.