D
Doug
New York City3 reviews
Dined on February 16, 2025
- Overall 2
- Food 2
- Service 1
- Ambience 3
Italian food is about simplicity and freshness yet there is a certain care and love that needs to go into the process. Perhaps when this was not a “mini chain” things were more cared for and regulated. First, as many have noted, the service was to be desired. The restaurant was rather full and the staff consisted of a hostess, a bartender/waiter and one waitress who were tasked to tend to all the tables. Our order was taken and eventually, after a significant wait, our food was served. That was the extent that anyone checked up on us. It was a fairly pricey establishment and one would expect a little more focus service wise. I had to go out of my way to flag down the bartender/ waiter just to get a check.
Ok food. There were seven of us so there plenty of opportunities to show their craft. Sadly everything fell significantly short. The bruschetta was on toast points with just diced tomatoes and basil. Taste was ok but nothing flavorful enough for me to notice. Was hopeful for things to come. The Caesar salads were lacking flavor and were dry and under dressed. Croutons lacked any flavor as well 3/10. The burger was somewhat cold and dried out. A reheat perhaps but over cooked, dry and a little cold. The Raviolis were soggy and completely drenched in butter and lacked much flavor. The red sauce dishes were acceptable but the sauce had no body. Not much better than a Raos or other higher end jarred sauce. Meatballs were not tough but not tender either and had a canned spaghetti and meatballs aftertaste thing going on. Off putting enough that I did not want to continue eating them. Eggplant parm was soggy, chewy and lacking any crisp at all. A blanket of cheese over the whole thing did not improve things. Edible but not enjoyable. Overall, portions were quite small. Left feeling a little hungry after dropping close to 300 on the meal. No care was put into this food. Just churned out with little to no care. One can tell there are some good ingredients there but…
