[philmonaco]

Went Sunday Night the food was good, prices reasonable but the wait staff was totally inattentive. The restaurant was not at all busy and the staff probably outnumbered the patrons. Yet we waited 30 minutes from the time we finished our appetizer until we received our entree'.
I called today and spoke with Scott, who claimed to be a manager. I complimented the food but told him the wait staff needed better training.
Scott said he has 35 years of experience and did need any input from me.
I wasn't complaining but attempting to give him some insight from the customers perspective. This idiot was so rude and arrogant it is no mystery why the service in this place stinks.
Scott, you sir are no manager and your restaurant suffers you involvement.
It explains all the negative comments in this message board!

[njbchbum]

wasn't there a less than stellar manager at cody's named scott? hmmmmmmm

[graciegirl]

Wow.

[philmonaco]

If you look through the Talk of the Villages you will see I have been posting many times. Not sure what prompted you inquiry. My intent is shock the owners of this establishment to discover why their restaurant is failing.
I have lived in the Villages for several years. I am currently in my third home here.
I have not worked in the industry directly, however I have invested in two restaurant ventures, one independent, one chain. Both failed, not due to service or quality of product, but for site selections.
If you take the time to read through the reviews of Lugiano's , you will discover I am not alone in my criticism.
Furthermore, I publish my name. I do not hide behine a "nome de plume".
Therefore, I put a my name on the line, I frankly don't understand where you are coming from, perhaps you and Scott have a thing?

[angiefox10]

Originally Posted by philmonaco

If you look through the Talk of the Villages you will see I have been posting many times. Not sure what prompted you inquiry. My intent is shock the owners of this establishment to discover why their restaurant is failing.
I have lived in the Villages for several years. I am currently in my third home here.
I have not worked in the industry directly, however I have invested in two restaurant ventures, one independent, one chain. Both failed, not due to service or quality of product, but for site selections.
If you take the time to read through the reviews of Lugiano's , you will discover I am not alone in my criticism.
Furthermore, I publish my name. I do not hide behine a "nome de plume".
Therefore, I put a my name on the line, I frankly don't understand where you are coming from, perhaps you and Scott have a thing?

It was meant as a joke. Not on you, but on some of the postings of late. The poster of that comment has a great sense of humor and I assure you she was being funny.

Th admin removed the post and all the posts relating to it.

You are correct.. the service is really bad! I ate there once with friends and anything that could go wrong did. After seeing all the postings, I won't go back until the reviews change.

I'm sorry you took offense. Accept my apologies for being a part of it.

[MSAMSA]

We ate at Lugino's last evening with friends. The restaurant was extremely crowded. The service and food were both excellent. Everyone enjoyed their meals and we weren't rushed even though they had a full house.

[Bobcuse]

Originally Posted by philmonaco

Went Sunday Night the food was good, prices reasonable but the wait staff was totally inattentive. The restaurant was not at all busy and the staff probably outnumbered the patrons. Yet we waited 30 minutes from the time we finished our appetizer until we received our entree'.
I called today and spoke with Scott, who claimed to be a manager. I complimented the food but told him the wait staff needed better training.
Scott said he has 35 years of experience and did need any input from me.
I wasn't complaining but attempting to give him some insight from the customers perspective. This idiot was so rude and arrogant it is no mystery why the service in this place stinks.
Scott, you sir are no manager and your restaurant suffers you involvement.
It explains all the negative comments in this message board!

We waited to try Luigino's until they had hopefully resolved all of the normal issues restaurants experience when opening a new location. The initial startup reviews were a warning sign. So, last night we went there before 4:30 just to order a simple pizza and enjoy ourselves before the crowd arrived. The service was okay but we waited almost 30 minutes for a simple pizza with pepperoni/mushrooms and there were only two other couples in the restaurant. When the pizza arrived, it was so overcooked the bottom crust was pure black, and therefore it was crunchy and the taste was overwhelmingly a burnt taste. Not wanting to wait another 30 minutes, we did not request a replacement. Scott stopped by asking how everything was and we told him the pizza was burnt. His response was "we'll take care of that". He then told the pizza guy at the counter, "their pizza was burnt" and kept going. We were not looking for anything free, and that's exactly what we received....nothing. Scott told us to have a nice evening as we departed for the first and last time from Luigino's.

[buggyone]

I am kind of curious about what you wanted from the manager. You stated you did not ask for a replacement pizza from the server because yours was burned on the bottom. You mentioned the burned bottom to the manager and he told the pizza cook the bottom crust was burned - probably to caution him not burn anymore pizzas. You said you were not looking for anything free and you did not get a free pizza.

You did not say in your posting that you did not eat the pizza because it was burned on the bottom crust. If you had said to the manager or the server, "This pizza is burned black on the bottom and I cannot eat it because of the burned taste.", I am sure it would have been replaced with one that was cooked to your liking. However, if you had eaten most of the pizza when the manager came over, he is not going to comp your meal at that time.

[tpop1]

Originally Posted by philmonaco

.
I called today and spoke with Scott, who claimed to be a manager. I complimented the food but told him the wait staff needed better training.
Scott said he has 35 years of experience and did need any input from me.

IMHO This is the primary reason for restaurant issues in TV...
absentee owners with help like this.
It permeates all aspects of any establishment; food, service, cleanliness, etc.

They open and close in succession!

[Bobcuse]

Originally Posted by buggyone

I am kind of curious about what you wanted from the manager. You stated you did not ask for a replacement pizza from the server because yours was burned on the bottom. You mentioned the burned bottom to the manager and he told the pizza cook the bottom crust was burned - probably to caution him not burn anymore pizzas. You said you were not looking for anything free and you did not get a free pizza.

You did not say in your posting that you did not eat the pizza because it was burned on the bottom crust. If you had said to the manager or the server, "This pizza is burned black on the bottom and I cannot eat it because of the burned taste.", I am sure it would have been replaced with one that was cooked to your liking. However, if you had eaten most of the pizza when the manager came over, he is not going to comp your meal at that time.

I think you missed the point I was trying to make (but apparently didn't). Forget my comment about not getting anything free (which, as I said, we didn't want). We tried this Italian restaurant for the first time and the food delivery was very slow, especially for a pizza when there were no customers in the place, and the pizza was badly burnt after it finally arrived. The manager was informed and offered no apology nor did he attempt in any way to encourage the customer to give them another chance. We all get a bad meal here and there, but almost without exception, the manager apologizes and asks if he/she can do anything to make up for the error. My post is only intended to inform the readers of our experience, which does seem to be similar to the majority of all posts about this establishment unfortunately. We have lived here for 10 years and recall many fond memories of eating regularly at this location when it was Augustines. This place is a joke compared to Augustines.

[Aloha]

It seems as if some people are trying this place just to see if it is really as bad as some of the reviews here.

Well, I have heard enough. From the number of complaints, this should be a RED Flag that this restaurant has some serious problems that need to addressed. Perhaps the improvements will be made, but maybe not. I guess time will tell.

[pauld315]

From what I have read on this place from before and now, the situation will not get better until they replace most of the staff. Unfortunate, but it will probably not be around in another year anyway the way it is going otherwise.

[hedoman]

It's a shame that they aren't "IT" as that location could really become the "upscale" locale. I don't think even McDonalds or Burger King could get passing reviews here. But it is fair to say that these posts (and other threads) are actual experiences from real people.....

We have been lucky for the past 4 months that we have lived as FROGS as we have not experienced some of the horrors posted here

[gongoozler]

Those who have had a problem with this restaurant should contact the home office in Orlando . . . I'm sure they are not aware about these service issues.

[billds567]

Went reluctanly, with a gift certificate, last week. We had two dishes that were very good and one mediocre. Eugene, our waiter was very good. You never know !