Acqua al 2 - Annapolis — Restaurant in Annapolis

I really wanted to like this place, but had a very poor experience and likely won't ever go back. I had heard many rave reviews upon their opening and I waited several months to try it out so that the restaurant could work out any kinks.

We sat at the bar, and while one bartender was generally attentive, the other wasn't doing anything and seemed to be hired solely because he knew the owners. He was on his phone the entire time and even when asking for water he simply walked away. The attentive bartender made up for it the best he could, but as a result the attentive bartender was stretched too thin, and service suffered.

Our appetizer course was good, and then after waiting for our main food for over an hour and a half, the bartender asked if we needed anything else. We responded that we were waiting for our entrees. He had another server come take our order as he was too busy making drinks, and she was visibly very annoyed, seemingly couldn't care any less about helping the over taxed bartender.

After waiting roughly 20 more minutes for our food, then only one meal came out as the server didn't hear the second entree ordered, so it was forgotten a second time. The bartender then said something like "oh I thought you wanted it staggered", which was not the case as we were extremely hungry and needed to finish for the night.

And since the meal that was brought out looked something akin of a college student trying to eat healthy (pic attached) that cost over $30, we decided to leave instead as it was nearing 10 pm.

No apology was offered, and we were charged for this broccoli pasta plate even though we didn't eat it since we wanted to eat our meals at the same time. Nobody cared at all, and the only offering from the bartender was a shrug.

And so I shrug to give this a better review after paying a lot for okay food with terrible service. We went to the nearby French restaurant and the meal was fantastic. I will most likely not be back...

We are from out of town and this was our first visit and we were really excited to eat here after reading all of the great reviews. I’ll start with the GOOD - The ambiance was wonderful as was the bus person. The truly MEDICORE - the service. After we were seated it took at least 5 minutes for us to be acknowledged. When we finally were, we ran a few ideas by our wait person of things we were considering, wanting her opinion. When she left and we made our final decisions, including wine…..and we waited some more. Suddenly, an exorbitantly overpriced arugula salad and an eggplant appetizer were set before us! WE HAD NOT ORDERED THESE…..we had ordered NOTHING at this point, including the overpriced wine. Not wanting to make a fuss we picked at them while WAITING to order our OVERPRICED wine and entrees and we were done by the time our wine showed up…..not at all what we wanted or expected. (To add insult to injury our server apparently felt the need to correct my husbands pronunciation of the wine and he’s been a sommelier for over 35 years) The BAD - We decided on the linguini with clams and when it came it was simply inedible. Not sure if the top fell off of the pepper shaker or what but that was all we could taste was PEPPER-it was awful and tainted our palettes for the rest of the meal. When we were finally able to get our waitpersons attention again, thankfully she took it away and we ordered something else which turned out fine…..not great, just fine. It was all just VERY disappointing especially given our expectations AND the prices. The actual highlight of the meal was the server assistant “Ouh”. (?) He was super attentive to everything and it was enjoyable watching him hustle about doing a great job throughout our waiting and wanting experience. We were aware that he could see the lack of service we were provided and he did his best to care for us in his...

This restaurant came highly recommended from a friend. We really wanted to love it. We went for Easter dinner and it was possibly the worst meals we’ve ever had. We would leave zero stars if we could. The food is mediocre for the price and to make it even worse the server was so inattentive—it was as if we were keeping her from something much more important. Interestingly enough she was much different with the next table, even giving someone a hug at that table. On to the food, the Caprese salad lacked flavor and there really isn’t much room to mess this up. The Insalata di Rucola e Pera was apparently tossed in a lemon vinaigrette but ours must have been missed. We also ordered another dish that our server forgot to bring and when asked said “oh, sorry”. Our server again for the win couldn’t be bothered to tell us the Parmigiana al Forno dish was super hot—would have been nice to know before I reached for it. My husband and I ordered the filet mignon, mine was overdone and his was cold and chewy which is interesting for that cut of meat that is supposed to be delicate and melt in your mouth. The rest of my family didn’t fare any better with over an overcooked and mushy Tagliatelle al Ragú Toscano. Looking at my family not enjoying their meal during Easter dinner in what is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Annapolis, I quickly realized the chef must have taken the night off to be with his family for Easter dinner. I’m sure they had a better meal.

To top this lovely night off—I paid via Apple Pay with the square from my check, tipped, double clicked for payment, waited for confirmation and as I stepped out of the restaurant our sever came running out screaming “Ma’am! You didn’t pay!” I was mortified. I had to go back in and physically pay with my card. If a business is going to offer Apple Pay they must ensure first, that it...