Cafe Amore — Restaurant in St. Catharines

A fair 3-star review, based on the food (5-star), and the service (1-star). My wife & I were travelling back from the U.S. and we were passing by St. Catharines, on our way home Saturday evening (March 2, 2019). We both decided to stop in St. Catharines to have dinner, and we didn't want to visit the usual chain restaurants. Café Amore was listed on the GPS, and that's where we went for dinner. This was our first, and perhaps our last, visit to Café Amore. First impression walking through the door was good - the place was packed, atmosphere was nice, and the hostess was friendly. All good signs on a Saturday night. We did not have to wait very long to be seated. However, once seated, it was about 15 or 20 minutes before a server came to our table. She apologized for the wait, and did not introduce herself. I witnessed her passing by prior to this - perhaps she could have at least taken a drink order one of the times she passed by. At any rate, apology accepted - Saturday nights are usually busy at decent establishments, and we weren't in a hurry. Sadly, after taking our order, this would be the last we would see our server until it came time to pay the bill. The server did not introduce herself, and did not stop by once to ask about our meals or if we would like more to drink. Absolutely rude & ignorant. Apparently we weren't too important, as we witnessed our server tending to a much larger table and waiting on them hand & foot. I suppose she felt the tip would be more worth her while from the other table. Despite the non-existent service, the food was excellent. I ordered Chicken Parmesan, and my wife had the Meatball Pasta. The meals were hot, and prepared perfectly. I opted for the vegetables instead of the pasta that normally is served with chicken parmesan. Both meals were served hot, and were very tasty. My chicken parmesan was among the best I've ever had. It's been a very, very long time that I've received service that was so poor. I still cannot fully understand how it is that the food can be so good, and the service so poor. It's been a long time (roughly 25 years) that I have had an experience that can compare to this one. I was so annoyed with the experience that I filled out Café Amore's comment sheet and put it in the box. Perhaps they treat locals better? I only learned of the server's name once I was at home, and able to examine the bill more carefully. Her name was "Brenda." I would highly recommend that you request a different server if Brenda comes to your table. The cost of our meals was very reasonable - under $50, including tax. Neither of us ordered alcoholic beverages. Overall, a very unfortunate experience - food as good as I experienced should never be paired with abysmal service. Customers should be valued & appreciated -...

This was our second time dining at Cafe Amore with a larger party. The service was slow and inefficient. We had 2 servers looking after us, and they still missed taking drink orders for 2 of the people in our party. Drinks arrived at all different times with a good 20 mins between them. A draft beer that was ordered came to the table flat with no head and didn’t taste the way it was supposed to.Someone from our party order a large bottle of sparkling water and had to ask for glasses to pour the water in. Unused wine glasses were left all over the tables as well. Once the drinks were all served, we had to track down the servers to take our appetizer order and dinner order. The whole process seemed very chaotic and unorganized . The appetizer dishes were still all over the table when the mains were starting to come out. The mains finally arrived but at all different times, I had ordered the Veal Parm Plate, the veal had an excessive amounts of sauce on it and I notice that the outside of the veal was very overcooked while the inside remained very red. Once I brought it to the attention of the server, the manager unapologetically came out to tell me that it is supposed to be that way because of the cut of the veal and if I wanted my food returned to me….to which I replied no thank you. There were other issues with other orders as well, for example a draft beer came flat and it was the wrong one, a steak was undercooked and the portion of sole was very small. Once the check arrived the server gave me a $10 gift certificate to compensate for my meal to use the next time I came. The dish was close to $30. I am sorry to say that this will be my last time at this establishment between the service and the food quality, for me it was very...

Best Italian Food in Niagara . BAR NONE on a good day 100 percent . But I think my wife and friends have been going here to long as eventually your not going to be happy as follows . So we got a table for 4 friday night...will just get into the negatives for now...Ceasar salad 50 percent of it was going brown we couldn't believe it. The sauce on the veal parm....we just don't know why it's so bad ..its not like any type of authentic sauce its more like a canned sauce ..taste anyway. Bruchsetta was horrible...do this simple you don't have to have it all covered in greens all greasy and hard bread not warm only cold its just something so simple if you just do the basics for it ..sent back it was not good. After we stacked up all the dishes on table the owner came by didn't even say a word its like he was taking plates from a empty table..Back in the day he use to say how was everything ..appreciate you coming...Even owners can get complacent and he sure has become that way over the last couple years...Anyway it's good to experience other restaurants as well like Lina Linguines a mile away we visited last week was a bit of fresh air from Cafe Amore. Great food real Italian ...more expensive yes..wait staff not overly the best compared to Amores ..but I believe its still worth the change from time to time. Anyway Cafe Amore best wait staff anywhere ..they are the best ..they are lucky they have those people because at least the service is above par. I think the owner should sell or give to his son to inject a little pizzaz into the place and spend more time recognizing his valued customers that make him a TON LOAD of cash . Just sayin ....I do believe Cafe Amore is slightly over rated in reviews for what people give...