Luigino's....Never Again!
 

Mrs. Bosox wanted to take me out for a nice dinner.It was up to me to pick the restaurant & since we haven't been I said let's try Luigino's.What a mistake. First off we had a 6 p.m. reservation we arrived early & were seated ten minutes early which was nice.Within 5 minutes of being seated we ordered an appetizer & drinks which were served promptly.From there it went downhill fast.Ten minutes after we finished our bruschetta ,which was very good, we had to wave our waiter over to take our entree order.The Mrs. ordered lasagna with a salad I ordered veal parm with a cup of soup.We waited and waited watching our server go in & out of the kitchen many times when finally he came over about 15 minutes later apologizing that our food hadn't come out that there was a mix up in the kitchen & would we like another salad & some more bread.Another? More? We never had any bread ,my wifes salad & my soup were never served.Finally the salad & soup came & the waiter had to ask what our entree order was again because of the mix up.At 7:05 an hour & 15 minutes after we were seated our food came out only it wasn't veal parm it was chicken.While waiting for our food I had asked to speak with the manager.I was told he was very busy & would be over as soon as he could.When the food was wrong we got up & headed for the door.The hostess asked us what the problem was & I told her all of the above at which point she didn't even apologize so we left hungry.The only good thing is i ended up with ice cream at Kilwins for my dinner! Needless to say we won't be going back to Luiginos! The manager never came over!

My chin is hanging.

I'd like to add that I've never walked out of a restaurant in this manner before.It take a lot for me to become this upset & would have if I could have settled this with the manager if afforded the opportunity!

bosoxfan: Being of Italian decent, I keep reminding my wife who loves veal parmesan that parmesan is an assualt on veal. You can't tell the difference between veal or chicken parmesan because of the parmesan. Order veal scaloppine Be fair to the veal and have a nice Italian white with it,

Ciao

Agree, a nice veal piccata, scaloppine or marsala with fresh mushrooms beat out parmesan any day of the week if you are a real lover of veal dishes.

I'm telling you Jackz how can you cover up veal that way. As a kid we have veal three times a week . My mother was a wonderful cook...her baking so so

I agree 1000000%. Covering veal with breading tomato sauce and cheese is just wrong

Sorry you had such an unhappy dining experience....and on your birthday.

:agree:

On the Chew the other day Mario said if the special was veal, and under $15 don't get it cause it was chicken which some place do as a daily thing, because the sause covers it up..Sorry about your birthday

Never heard anything good about Luigiano's. Not even once.

I'm confused! How did a post about bad service at a restaurant turn into an attack on the way I like my veal? Winston covering veal with tomato sauce & cheese is wrong? Marsala & scalloppine are better than parmesean ! The topper is I can't tell the difference between chicken & veal? Really! Thanks for your opinions! Too bad they have nothing to do with my post!!

I went to Luigino's last night also with my wife. The Veal Chop ($26) was good but pricey. The restaurant was filled because of the Spanish Springs celebration. It was very noisy in the restaurant and not conducive to conversation at all.

The restaurant needed more servers as the wait for service and for food and drinks was too long.

Would I go back? I had such obnoxious and "in your face" attitude from our waiter concerning two overcharges on the check that I will not go back.

:agree:

We were with two other couples last night talking about this restaurant. They both had terrible experiences there. We actually went for the Easter buffet and it was great. WE have since eaten there though and it was opposite - terrible. No matter what they say, stick with your veal parm. yummy we do like it at Little Joey's Maybe give them a try!!

Bosoxfan : You are taking this all to personally. But I should have remembered what my father told me and that was argue politics, argue religion but stay the heck away from cooking discussions because that will get you in real trouble. Recall that I mentioned my wife loved veal parmesan, always orders it, always tell her underneath all of that could be veal, chicken or eggplant.

Kidding aside if I did overstep my boundary, I apologize. It was all meant to be light hearted but apparently you take your veal parm seriously.

No offense intended. Hope you find a venue where you can enjoy your Parm with good service.

I don't want to hijack this tread but I have anecdotal info to add about restaurant substitutions for veal cutlets. A friend of the family who owns an Italian restaurant, says it's common practice (including his own) to substitute pork for veal cutlets. When the pork cutlets are pounded thin and breaded, very rarely can you tell the difference. Personally I believe it's wrong to deceive the customer this way, even if you can't tell the difference. If the restaurant can't afford to serve veal cutlets at a profit, then they shouldn't offer them on the menu. As for our family friend, justifying bad behavior because others also do it doesn't make it right!

Disappointing Luigino's Update
 

We ate, correction, planned to eat at Luigino's a while back - shortly after they opened. The dining room was virtually empty, so we expected prompt attentive service from this new Villages eatery, hoping to build a good reputation. We (two of us) were seated straight away, given menus, asked for drink orders and our waitress scurried off...not to get our drinks, but to a table across the room to socialize with friends? Not thinking much of this, we spent some minutes looking around, taking in the ambience of the room and noting the abundance of personnel "working". It appeared "managers" were working out details of the new enterprise? Anyway, several more minutes passed and our waitress was still schmoozing with her non-eating, non-ordering friends. We were getting concerned over the real readiness of Luigino's for customers. Finally a few minutes later our drinks were delivered. We told the waitress we were ready to order, she said OK, and she'd be right back to take our order, then hurried back to her friends table for more jovial gabbing. We watched for a couple minutes in disbelief, shook our heads in unison, got up and left...walking by at least 6 restaurant employees standing by the door. We have never got up and walked out of a restaurant before. Our return plans to Luigino's are on hold, pending big improvements

Well Luigianos is off our list

Have not yet gone there and am disinclined to go now that I have heard people who I respect give negative reviews.

For what it's worth, we went twice in Feb. and March, and were happy with the meals, service, and value both times. :shrug:

When it goes under, please don't start a thread about how much rent the developer charges and that's why it closed.

Thanks in advance.

We checked Talk of TV before making reservations at Luigino's tonight. Most of the posts were too old to be relevant, so we decided to go. The food was very good. The serivce could be better. One statement I will stand by on the food is this, if you think Olive Garden serves good Italian food, Luigino's is not for you you. They cater much more more to the northeast palate. I have spoken to the owner of Red Sauce and he admitted he caters more to the midwest and southern customers. His business decision can't be questioned because of his success. However, being from NJ and having one good Italian restaraunt after another to pick from, I will tell you that Luigino's appeals to me much more than Red Sauce. Of course, I wouldn't even consider Olive Garden for Italian food, but my neighbors from Michigan think it's great. Just a matter of what you have gotten used to. Of course, my grandmother made the best macaroni and gravy. That's right, it was not pasta and sauce, but macaroni and gravy to us Italians from the northeast.

Buona salute,
Cheech

Just to spice up the non subject up even more...IS there anyplace to get a "melt in ur mouth veal Marsala, Picatta, or scallopini? Please share
Yum yum

It's called the TOTV Morph. Threads start with one topic and morph into something totally unrelated. Then someone reports the offenders to the Topicop :police: and they all get sent to the Principal's office. :duck:

The closet place I have found is Antonio's in Maitland ( a suburb or Orlando). It will take you a little over an hour to get there, but it is worth the trip.

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:

A new thread without the "never again" tag would get you more response. Rather than bringing up a 7 month old list of complaints.:ho:

:boom:Well morph this - DON'T EAT BABY COWS!!!

Yeah......Let them grow up and have a nice burger!:mmmm:

Don't eat baby cows? What is the difference between eating the baby cow, the young steer, a young pig, or a 6 week old chicken? That is what they are raised for and make up most of our food.

When I was giving lectures at the National Zoo in Wash. DC about farm animals, some people would comment that the best thing to be would be a dairy cow. Probably that is the worst for a quality of life for the cow.

I agree
:clap2:

To add my $0.02, we went on Christmas Day and the food was cold, there was no flavor in anything and the service was non-existent. We won't go back.

Locally?? After trying just about everyone, for gooooooooooooood Veal, I've found that Carabbba's comes close to tender veal, and they pan fry it in olive oil. I ask for veal parmesian (even though its not on menu) and its very good. (Once in a while I got a chewy piece) Tried Vic Embers one time, but it wasn't that good, even though the rest of their food is fantastic. I think the best area to try is an upscale restaurant in Orlando area. I ordered center cut, (from the leg) veal on Amazon @ 27.00 for 6 oz, and it was awful. (Never again)

Luigino's
 

We have been to Luigino's 3 times. I usually give a place that many times before I give them a review. NEVER again! Service stunk, and the manager was an idiot who could care less about us. I can't understand how they are still in business. I give them 6 more months before people wise up.

Luigino's Restaurant in Spanish Springs
 

Our party of 8 had reservations on Saturday evening. The restaurant was only half full, yet the service was horrible, and none of us would return after our disastrous evening which was almost 3 hours long. After getting our drink orders 30 minutes after seating, we were ready to order; the waiter said he would be right back. 15 minutes later he returned with water, served to half the table, then started shouting across the restaurant to another server, put the tray down, and returned to finish 15 minutes later. Twice we said we were ready to order and he said he would be back. One of our guests went to talk with the Manger and he walked away; she approached him again and he said he would take care of it. He offered a round of drinks to 5 of us, and left. Our waiter returned to take orders and commented, "I guess I'm not fast enough. I'll take the orders, but someone else will finish." After 2 1/2 hours, we were finally served our food (by the same waiter). One guest resorted to pizza as they had run out of veal; it was served burned - but after waiting over 21/2 hours for food, he opted not to wait for another to be baked. The bread was hard, stale, and cold; we asked for fresh bread and it was served hard, stale, and warm. Only one guest enjoyed his meal. This was a first-time visit for 6 at the table and all agreed that the food, service, and attitudes of the staff and manager rated the restaurant a D-.

Another word of support, Bosoxfan.

He was "taking it personally"? How was he supposed to take it?

Luigino's does have a terrific outdoor bar. It is open from 11am until closing at 10 or 12pm. The drinks are very simply priced like $2.50 for a big draft beer or $3 for a large wine.

The bartenders know how to make customers feel important. Mike is excellent as is Emmie.

Enjoy the sliders of chicken parm, italian sausage & peppers, or meatball for only $6 for two large ones.