[NYGUY]

Like last weekend, we were in the area again, and again stopped for lunch. Decided to try the pizza this time. The sauce was very good but the pizza itself was too doughy. We will stick with other menu choices in the future but definitely will be back again!!

[beachx4me]

Had a late lunch there recently, service was great, food was great too. Can't wait to go back!!

[Villager Joyce]

Ate there Monday evening. Food was delicious. Waitresses were so overwhelmed it was incredible. The space is entirely too small.

[ltckochde]

Two couples-7:15 reservations last Fri. Large group 12+ seated*6:30. We were seated as the large group was ordering. *Overall, very slow service. Took forever to get drinks - the groups waitress noticed us and said she'd pick us up and took our drink order. So, she was taking ours and the group's orders together. We ordered 2 shank specials, veal parm, and lasagna. Lots of problems with the big group. Two walked out mid-service. Three NEVER got their orders. Heard two men tell the waitress to cancel their orders. Many of the others asked to have their food packed up to go. Meanwhile our table - after some time waitress said-out of shank-we reordered. Strangely, a while later the waitress brought over two shank orders (those cancelled from the big group?), the parm and the lasagna. My wife couldn't eat the shank - cold, dry, hard. The lasagna looked like a cheesy/tomato paste about *3/4" thick (poor quality especially given the $14 cost). My parm side had the wrong, and very cold pasta. Brought the waitress over, she scraped my pasta side off my plate promising to replace-(never replaced). She apologized, *said she was brought in from one of the other locations, *they were having trouble holding wait staff, and one other waitress that night walked out mid-service, so they were shorthanded. We were there about 2+ hours, the large group about 3 hours. A big guy came out of the kitchen and told the big group he'll take 20% off the bill. We asked for the same discount when we got our bill-which, of course, was not correct-wrong food, wrong drinks. In total frustration, *the waitress just gave us a dollar figure-we accepted and tipped well, given poor food quality and wait staff being shorthanded was not her fault. Epilogue-as we exited, five people were standing outside. A man with a white apron asked about our evening-I reiterated our experience and said we'll never be back. The lady next to him said- "he's the owner". I said I wish him well, but he has to get a handle or he won't make it.

[MikeV]

We had lunch there today and we loved it. We feel it is much better than most other Italian restaurants around here. I am 100% Italian and my wife is half Italian so we know a little about Italian food.

[Futurevillager2013]

Went there Sunday night and had a 6:00 reservation. There were three hostesses who were so confused they were giving away each other's tables. There were alot of angry folks there including us who waited over an hour to be seated. When finally seated it took over an hour for our food to arrive. The food was not great. The bread was good but I've had better Italian food in Ricciardi's in Brownwood and I am 100% italian. My friend ordered Veal Milanese and it was too breaded veal cutlets with no sauce. We all were disappointed. There were also many around us who were complaining about the long wait and poor service. Perhaps lunch time is better but they shouldn't be taking reservations if they are not going to honor them. We got there at 5:50 and finished dinner at 8:45 and will not be returning anytime soon.

[RedChariot]

Originally Posted by Futurevillager2013

Went there Sunday night and had a 6:00 reservation. There were three hostesses who were so confused they were giving away each other's tables. There were alot of angry folks there including us who waited over an hour to be seated. When finally seated it took over an hour for our food to arrive. The food was not great. The bread was good but I've had better Italian food in Ricciardi's in Brownwood and I am 100% italian. My friend ordered Veal Milanese and it was too breaded veal cutlets with no sauce. We all were disappointed. There were also many around us who were complaining about the long wait and poor service. Perhaps lunch time is better but they shouldn't be taking reservations if they are not going to honor them. We got there at 5:50 and finished dinner at 8:45 and will not be returning anytime soon.

Similar situation for us this last Saturday night. Had a reservation for 8 people for 6:30. Seated at about 8 pm. Another large group was seated for an hour and had gotten to bread but no water/ drinks. Waiter disappeared. Another table felt sorry for them and offered to share their pizza. There was a loud confrontation in the waiting area. Disgruntled people waiting forever. The 3 hostesses had no clue on how go handle this onslaught. On 2 occasions a tray of glasses crashed and broke on the floor. Another large group again waiting a long time were having difficulty standing so long because there were no seats left in waiting area. I honestly have never seen such a disorganized restaurant. Food just ok. Not worth the ride. Can you imagine this place in January when the season is in full swing?

[CFrance]

Do you think they are overbooking, or is the kitchen slow? It seems very strange for this to be going on for so long. Perhaps they should stop taking reservations until they figure out their timing and get the staff better trained.

[RedChariot]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Do you think they are overbooking, or is the kitchen slow? It seems very strange for this to be going on for so long. Perhaps they should stop taking reservations until they figure out their timing and get the staff better trained.

Anyone hates to see a business struggle like this one. Owner has other restaurants? How are the other ones doing. Surely the owner knows this is happening. His experience should allow for knowledgeable intervention. If the total chaos I experienced and observed on Saturday continues, this restaurant might not do so well. I wish them success. The area really needs fine dining. I realize that's a pipe dream.

[Indydealmaker]

Originally Posted by RedChariot

Anyone hates to see a business struggle like this one. Owner has other restaurants? How are the other ones doing. Surely the owner knows this is happening. His experience should allow for knowledgeable intervention. If the total chaos I experienced and observed on Saturday continues, this restaurant might not do so well. I wish them success. The area really needs fine dining. I realize that's a pipe dream.

It is possible that the relatively large number of restaurants in this area have sucked the job pool dry. What you could be seeing is newly trained employees that are just not up to the job.

[JSR22]

Originally Posted by Purple rain

Tried this place yesterday to see what all the hype was about. Got a seat quickly but there was absolutely no room in between our table, the table behind us and the table next to us. We could feel the breath of the people around us due to the extremely tight space! Wonder how they get away with this?

The bread came out quickly. It was good but very cold.

Then we waited forever for the salad, which was extremely small. Low and behold there was a piece of plastic in mine. I immediately told the waiter who took it from me and put it in his pocket but did not tell management anything about it.

Well, things happen so we waited for the food to arrive in anticipation of a good meal. Nope! That was not the case. My husband ordered the rigatoni with smoked salmon and it was absolutely horrible that he could not eat it. I had the chicken parmesan. The chicken was ok but the tomato sauce was from a can. I am Italian and know when sauce is cooked from scratch. Our grandson had the cheese pizza and it was the soggiest pizza we had ever seen!

Management came by our table when were almost finished eating to ask how we liked our meal. I had to be honest and told him of everything to include the piece of plastic in my salad. He offered us a free dessert but we don't eat dessert. We took the check, paid it and left NEVER to return again.

Don't waste your time!! This was such a disappointment and not real Italian homemade food!

I agree with your opinion of the tomato sauce. My friend thought it tasted like Campbell's tomato soup. The service was awful. Tried to speak to the manager but we were pretty much ignored. Will never go back.