[CBarkley]

I don't know if all the bad press is filtered out, but 5 of us went there on Sunday Nov 20th before seeing a show at Church on the Square. We made a 4:00pm reservation and by 5:50pm we were entirely disgusted and trying to get our bill. First off we ordered drinks and an appetizer which although rather slow, we finally did get our wine and mozzarella sticks. Then a good hour later our entrees showed up. Two of us that ordered the crab and Lobster Ravioli...four rubbery, uncooked, cold naked pasta discs with barely a tablespoon of bland sauce in the middle were the first to call foul. These where not editable, and the waitress and manager were very good at disappearing. Once we finally got one it was so late there was nothing they could have fixed to serve as replacement. So we went without dinner that night. When finally getting the manager to see what was served to us, he said he only hears compliments and never complaints (selective listening skills?) while looking at us like we had some nerve to not eat what was placed before us. I could go on about the other dishes and the lousy service plus this rude manager, but I just want fellow Villagers to know that this place was really let down. I say, "Next!" for the next future incoming restaurant to replace this failure.

[raynan]

I've heard nothing but complaints from our neighbors and friends regarding this new restaurant. My hairdresser says everyone is complaining about it and it will not last at this rate. Service, food and prices are in every complaint. Ladies room doors that do not close, ladders in dining area etc. We were at the Tast of Class and instead of showcasing their Italian food they served Indian food. DUH?!!? and noone at our table liked that either. We will try it for lunch for a first person assessment as the prices are less for lunch but I'm not holding out much hope. I will repost my own opinion after trying.

[rubicon]

Well so much for upscale dinning. I am saddened both for this establisment and village residents/customers because we need some good eating places

Its one of the reasons I prefer to cook at home.

[memason]

I've resisted posting anything about Luigino's, since eating there, soon after they opened. There is another thread on the forum, where comments are very good, so I felt that perhaps I was too critical.

However, our experience was almost exactly as yours, including the cold pasta and disappearing servers. We did send the pasta back [eventually], but the replacement was burnt and hard around the edges; basically inedible. We were a party of 4 and the other dishes were mediocre, but none were hot on arrival.

Service, even getting drinks was painfully slow... For example, after ordering a drink, it took more than 15 minutes for the drink to get to the table.

We did speak to a manager, who was nice, but had every excuse imaginable for our poor experience....new servers, new kitchen staff, new kitchen, new software to send tickets to the kitchen (really!) and on and on. Her parting comment was to come back and give them another try...

Not sure we'll ever go back...

[CBarkley]

Thanks for the report...so they are not as good as they "say"!

[Taj44]

Originally Posted by memason

I've resisted posting anything about Luigino's, since eating there, soon after they opened. There is another thread on the forum, where comments are very good, so I felt that perhaps I was too critical.

However, our experience was almost exactly as yours, including the cold pasta and disappearing servers. We did send the pasta back [eventually], but the replacement was burnt and hard around the edges; basically inedible. We were a party of 4 and the other dishes were mediocre, but none were hot on arrival.

Service, even getting drinks was painfully slow... For example, after ordering a drink, it took more than 15 minutes for the drink to get to the table.

We did speak to a manager, who was nice, but had every excuse imaginable for our poor experience....new servers, new kitchen staff, new kitchen, new software to send tickets to the kitchen (really!) and on and on. Her parting comment was to come back and give them another try...

Not sure we'll ever go back...

I hate to say it, but we had a similar experience. I declined to post about it, since the restaurant was new, and we came with a large group, and of course many on TOTV were raving about how good the restaurant is. I ordered the chicken marsala, and it just wasn't very good. My pasta was a little overcooked, and the marsala sauce just tasted kind of watery, not rich and thick. Service was very slow - it took us over an hour before we even got our drink order served. I didn't find the atmosphere all that great either - very loud and noisy, poor acoustics. Hopefully they'll get things straightened around.

[CBarkley]

We were at the Taste of Class too...that "food" they served was really bad wasn't it! I didn't realize it was the same place now that you mention it.

[PennBF]

We also tried the restaurant and the first time we visited the food was good and the sauce was very good. As a result a few days later we ordered some pasta to go. The serving was very small and what was stupid for a restaurant to do was to provide very little sauce as though they were saving it. Sadly we will never order to go again and may go back for another try but only inside?

[Whalen]

Our experience was also underwhelming, to say the least.
Just the 2 of us went for dinner earlier this month and found the best thing about dinner was the bread,
however there was no bread dish.
As to the food; the lasagna was bland and served luke warm, it contained sausage that had no taste,
veal parm ditto..cheese barely melted. Pasta was home made but was so overcooked it was mushy.

The following is what I had to say in another thread about the ambience:

"As to the new upscale restaurant in SS, the only thing upscale was the menu.
The acoustics were that of a high school cafeteria and the furnishings were early sports bar.
Actually spoke to one of the owner's reps and he told us the furniture was slated to go into
a Sam Snead Sports Bar that never materialized, hence the half back booths.

Really do not like condemning a restaurant after the first try so we might go there for lunch.

[Tweety Bird]

After reading all this, I will stick to Bone Fish and Olive Garden. Who needs this?

[Hancle704]

Seems like some folks think that "fine dining" only relates to higher prices. This has been proven to not be the case with several that tried this at Spanish Springs Town Square. Add this one to the list of failures.

[Bill32]

I guess we got lucky. We went opening day and got very good meals. Went Wed. and had the penne sausage and peppers that was very good! We know it will have growing pains but it's disappointing to hear all of these bad experiences. I like to patronize the Private restaurants but when I think about it I almost always get a good meal at one of the many corporate places we have in TV.

[The Villager II]

The food my be cooked Italian style. That is very different than fast food pasta. When in a fine Italian restaurant, pasta is cooked firm not soggy and very little sauce is used. Unlike American style where you would have one cup of pasta to every three cups of sauce. Just a thought.

[Doodlegirl]

Three of us enjoyed our meals...one turkey dinner, 2 cheese lasagne's. We
kind of felt they were getting a bad rap here and wanted to step up to say
we thought the food was great, service wonderful, and yummy all around.

[getdul981]

We've been a couple of times and both times, we were very satisfied with the food. the second time we were there, the server got my wife's order wrong, but it was just a misunderstanding and she corrected it right away. The first time was for dinner and the second was for lunch. The menu for lunch is totally different from dinner. We'll probably go back, but we really like Giovano's better, but it's much smaller and harder to get in.