Palio Ann Arbor — Restaurant in Ann Arbor

I’ve never reviewed a restaurant before, much less have given a bad review. This restaurant was formerly the favorite of my sister, who travels to Ann Arbor often and suggested it for a family dinner when we traveled to meet her in the area. She made reservations prior to our trip for our party of 10 and our parents were looking forward to treating the family to a nice meal where we could socialize. When we first arrived, the waitstaff was very nice even though they placed us in a very small room with no AC and two other very loud parties. My family was hoping this would be a good place to have a fun experience and a good place to catch up with each other after we had been apart for several months. However, it was so loud in the room that it was a struggle to hear the person next to you. Because of this, we asked our waitress if we could move if any other tables were available. They consented and placed us by ourselves at a large table near the kitchens. After that the whole experience went very much downhill. We couldn’t help but feel like they were punishing us for asking for accommodations simply so we could hear each other talk. We had ordered drinks and were waiting for them at our previous table and the waitstaff said they would make sure we would get them, and they filled our small glasses of water. However, we worried that they had forgotten about us because we didn’t receive any drinks other than those for approximately an hour since we first ordered them. Finally, our drinks arrived, and we got some appetizers and bread, but it was almost another hour before we saw our waitress again. During this time, no one offered refills for our drinks or offered us anything else to eat even though we had at this point been waiting about two hours. After having ordered, we were starving and thirsty and when we walked up to talk to our waitress, they said our food would be out soon. It was not. Three people in our party were children and even us adults were starving and restless. After about another hour, we finally received our food, but my youngest nephew’s pizza was not ready. He was starving and we felt so guilty for eating in front of him so we gave him a little of our food when he said he would just take this pizza to go when it still hadn’t arrived. By the time we finished eating, his pizza was still not ready, and the waitress offered him a dessert. He declined because he, like the rest of us, was tired of waiting and was past the point of actually being hungry. Two of my sisters tried to talk to the waitstaff and the manager on several occasions during our three hours at this restaurant and found them to be less than accommodating. They gave the impression that they were “sorry that we felt upset” not that they were actually sorry. Having read through other reviews, I was sad to hear that another reviewer felt like she was being treated like a “Karen” when she made a complaint, but that describes well how both the waitress and the manager responded to our complaints. They finally offered to give us a very small discount, which felt insignificant given all we went through, but our family was ready to get out of the place and were afraid that they would treat us even worse if we made a bigger fuss. I understand that waitstaff and cooks have a lot on their plate, and even if they were giving us the opportunity to socialize by letting us have a longer dinner, but the waitstaff was so negligent, not even coming to apologize for taking too long, or coming over at all to give us refills on our water or more bread as we waited for our three-hour long meal. If management or waitstaff actually showed true contrition for this awful experience, I would have felt better about it. However, they were not sorry at all that we had a bad experience, and we were just happy to finally leave this place and vow...

I made reservations ahead of time for my husband’s birthday. When we get there, we realize there is a huge event going on and the lot for Palio was closed. That was frustrating, as we were not notified. It was just the two of us and we were dining at opening. I suppose that was the first mistake. I’m not sure why any business would start with reservations at actual opening. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I am never late for reservations. I would rather be 5 minutes early than 5 minutes late. So I guess I would recommend they give a small opening window of like 15 minutes to avoid what happened to us. They sat us a few minutes early, but said they would not be able to take any food order. They were actually checking their watches for 5:00 on the dot before they would take any order. I don’t know, it was just a weird situation. Also, when we were sat, we were not asked if we had reservations, I let the person seating us know we did have reservations in case they needed to mark it off at the host stand. I had heard so many great things about them doing something special for birthdays & anniversaries, so I mentioned it in notes while making the reservation. Absolutely zero things were done, no acknowledgement at all, which was a let down for me, as I wanted his night to be special. We got put next to a window watching the event outside (super distracting). Our server was just unhappy the whole time. It was as if we were inconveniencing them. The wrong appetizer was brought initially, and then when the correct one was brought over, they just sat it down on the table a little hard and said “here’s that garlic bread for you.” And walked away. Not a single thing was said with a smile the entire evening. Honestly, it really felt like we were imposing and seemed like they were looking down on us. The food itself was absolutely incredible and probably some of the best I’ve had in this country. Appetizer of garlic bread was a little over cooked, however, though I think it may have been due to the mix up. Aside from that, it was all very impressive, seasoned well, cooked perfectly, and absolutely delicious. I had the fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken, (because that’s where I like to start with a new place), and my husband got the Spaghetti Arrabbiata with Sausage. We both got the Caesar salads. Croutons were perfect. Personally I think there was too much Parmesan cheese on top, but the dressing was good. We each got one of the desserts. No one told us how big they were and no one, again, did anything special for my husband’s birthday. Aside from them being quite large, they were still the best. That tiramisu is unparalleled. Absolute perfection. When the bill came, it took a while to get to us. There is a 3% fee added to account for rising costs… might just be nice to raise it all by 3% instead of a fine-print addition. We paid in cash.

I guess overall, the food has made us want to return, and since it was our first visit, we are giving a benefit of the doubt for the service & event. I’m sure it was a crazy day for them, it was right at opening, and I’m sure the server was doing a lot. It just was such a bummer for it to be a special night for us, for my husband, that it was overshadowed by everything else. We don’t live super close, so making the drive will certainly be a special trip, I just hope any future special trip is, well, special.

Edited to add: while reading other reviews I saw people were given fresh bread and olive oil. That never happened for us. I also recall other tables getting their food before us, while they were seated way after us. Honestly that’s just so...

After five years living here, this is our favorite restaurant in Ann Arbor. That is high praise, with some very stiff competition. We regularly choose Palio over every other restaurant in the city, even on birthdays when we can get the meal for half price and could try other, more expensive places. Palio is not your typical "lasagna, parmagiana, and ravioli" southern italian fare. Many reviewers here are disappointed because that is what they expect.

I am absolutely baffled at the negative reviews posted herein. Baffled.

Palio is a restaurant that serves food with a northern Italian, homemade feel. I know this because I've been to eat there with people who have actually lived in northern Italy (and agree with this review). Everything I have had here is fantastic. I especially recommend the dishes with polenta (see below). I have felt the service to be excellent every time I go. The bread is fantastic. The dishes are as good or better than any I have had at any Italian restaurant.

In looking through the outrageous one star reviews, it appears the problems are with service to large groups and with disagreements with the taste of the food.

Regarding service: I have never been there with a group over six, but each time our service has been good or excellent.

Regarding taste: I think the problem here is in the eye of the beholder. People expect certain things because most Italian restaurants have the same list of 'approved for the American palette' dishes. But Palio is different because it is MORE authentic. Case in point: polenta and panecotta. To be blunt, if you don't know what those things are, you probably shouldn't be writing reviews about (northern) Italian restaurants.

Multiple dishes feature polenta in different flavors....that may seem weird to some people but is in fact proof of the authenticity of the food. Imagine an American restaurant in Italy that served mashed potatoes, or Mexican restaurant that served refried beans. Now imagine Italians criticizing those restaurants because they don't serve food that they expect to see. That's what I see in these negative reviews. If you just want chicken parmigiana on spaghetti and tiramisu, you don't really need to come here (though I think you can get both). But if you want pork loin medallions on polenta with balsamic carmelized onions and broccoli, then panecotta for dessert (yet another very popular Italian dish that is completely neglected by most Italian restaurants), and open your mouth to an amazing new flavor, you really...