Chianti Café & Restaurant — Restaurant in Calgary

First of all, I was shocked at how disorganized the service was. We sat outside, and initially we were seated by 1 server, then a teenage server followed not long after who brought us some bread and asked if we would like some oil and vinegar with it. When asked what kind of oil it was, he said “I’m not sure.” I had to say “probably olive oil”, to which he agreed. Then our main server came out to check on us and get us drinks. By the time we were brought oil and vinegar, we still did not have utensils, but minutes later our main server brought them. We had different people bringing us our 2 appetizers (Caesar salad and calamari), and a different person bring us our mains. I never had the meaning of having 1 server so lost at a ‘service’ as was the case with this. We saw other tables get offered chili peppers and Parmesan cheese, but that was not the case for us. The calamari was like rubber, and the bread was falling right off. The Caesar salad tasted like it had store bought/boxed croutons. The portion sizes of the mains (a Sicilian pasta and Napoletana spaghetti) were abysmal. I had to poke around with my fork to find the small bits of dry/dehydrated sausage in the Sicilian. Given the bland taste and that the sauce tasted like it was days old/leftovers reheated from the fridge, maybe under the circumstances it wasn’t a bad thing that portions were small, since our stomachs were churning. The server was nowhere to be seen for a prolonged period of time (most of our time there honestly) and it took talking to 3 different staff inside the restaurant until we could final settle up our bill and get out. What blew my mind was that the place had a decent turnout of customers. Yet it’s like they have too many staff working the evening shift that they all maybe feel the need to share tables amongst each other just to keep...

Very disappointed with our outing to Chianti Cafe on MacLeod Trail SE. It was quite busy, and we waited more than 15 minutes before we were even greeted by anyone! We were seated in the bar, which was ok. However, trying to flag a server down to take our order was frustrating. I ordered water which did not arrive, and neither did our buns or breadsticks (other tables had bread baskets delivered as soon as they sat down). We ordered meals straight off of the regular menu, not the lunch specials. Major, major disappointment. My meal was supposed to be linguini salute. What arrived at my table was a plate of spaghetti that was stuck together in clumps, sitting in a puddle of olive oil, with very little black bean sauce. The grilled chicken breast which was supposed to be served with it was hidden underneath the spaghetti-I'm sure to hide it's appearance. The chicken itself with so dry that I really wish I had my water to wash it down with. The end of the chicken breasts were dark brown and very very hard. This was the worst plate of pasta that I have ever had - bar none. Needless to say, I did not eat it, leaving more than half on my plate. My 89 year-old mother ordered penne Primavera. She said that there was very little flavour to the sauce, the carrots were hard, crunchy, & uncooked hard. She wanted a refill on her cup of coffee and even though I was waving at the waiter to stop, nobody came to the table. I literally picked up the coffee cup and wandered the restaurant looking for a waiter to refill it. Finally more than 5 minutes later "Ken" said he would bring Mom a refill on her coffee, which he did... More than 5 minutes later. However he was most expeditious in bringing our bill, together along with the debit machine. Sorry to say we won't be returning, nor do I recommend the Fettuccine Salute. Ciao...

I use to go more frequently before. I will be honestly I came to the reviews first to see if the way I have been feeling about my most recent previous experiences have been shared or not, I was surprised by peoples reviews and photos. People are sharing photos of plates that are full and amazing looking. The past 2 times I have been disappointed…

I ordered the Lasagna the time before last. It use to come in the entire tray, in my opinion a “full” serving of lasagna. I was quite disappointed that it is now presented as a small square of pasta, sauce and cheese, served in the same tray so I have a literal comparison from what the dish use to be… The price was still the same. I left still very hungry.

I went again last night with my significant other. I tried a different dish in hopes it would satisfy my need for pasta this time but was also disappointed…

I got the Chicken Parmesan. There was a “large” but thinned piece of chicken breaded with ham and cheese on top. I will be honestly, it tasted weird and off. I half thought I was gonna be sick the next day…The amount of spaghetti was so small. I had to slow myself down in order to essentially one bite the amount of pasta..

Other things about my last visit: Was greeted right away in a friendly manner. Was seated right away but the table location was cramped (a foot away from the table that were both tucked into a corner) and felt like I couldn’t have any kind of proper conversation during dinner. They forgot to bring us the “complimentary bread” we were sitting there until our appetizer came out and I had to ask for it, they questioned if we had actually already...