Taverna — Restaurant in Atlanta

So sad. I wanted to love this place, from the adorable decor to the great looking menu. But when you wait 15 minutes for someone just to give you water.... then another 15 minutes for someone to ask “has anyone been by to take your order” (no) and all the while you are watching the entire wait staff save one standing around in a group discussing food specials and not attending to the 4-5 seated tables..... Then we order a salad, an antipasto tray, and two entrees. Waited an appropriate amount of time but then all 3 courses arrived within 3-4 mInutes of each other. I’m not kidding. Our tiny two top has two salads with two bites taken when the giant antipasto platter arrives amongst our glasses and appetizer plates — ok we scoot everything around. And then our entrees appear 2 minutes later. We are both holding a salad plate for several minutes while the rest of our food is hanging off the table balancing off the edges, trying to eat. Finally someone came by and I told them to take my Salad even though I wasn’t not finished because I was tired of holding it while trying to eat my entree. Not to mention that when my partners entree arrived, he bit into it to find it LUKEWARM. Stuffed pasta so cooled the center was barely warm enough to offset the congealed chill of the rest of it. Sadly it took 13-15 minutes to get anyone’s attention to deal with it. They wHisked it off to bring us a new hot, fresh one right? Wrong. They apparently microwaved it for 2 minutes and brought it back. Still only a little bit over “warm” by no means hot. He said it didn’t taste freshly made at all. We waited 20 minutes for the dessert menu to arrive after our leftovers sat waiting for a box for nearly as long. Asked twice for an espresso. After finished with dessert and waiting for the check the espresso finally came. Took 20 minutes to get the check and finally had to take the card up to get it paid for so we could leave. In all that time no one once came to ask if we needed anything, if we wanted more water, or to take any of our dishes away. It took 2 hours to get what should have been a 45-50 minute dinner. And the majority was waiting to place orders or pay. Absolutely sad sad sad experience. To their favor, they comped the appetizer. Thank you - we barely got to touch it because it arrived with our salad and entrees. And our server apologized profusely; she was overworked because she seemed to be one of the few capable ones (a dozen standing around looking confused or congregating in the kitchen). The worst part is 3 other tables were experiencing the same type issues. The entire episode was the worst I’ve had in a long time and was made worse by the fact it wasn’t even 7 yet so I can’t imagine what chaos must reign when regular dinner rush is happening. And we had reservations so it’s not like we walked in to a full restaurant without notice. What an adorable place but unless they can get their act together, this is simply not worth the time, hassle, and expense (and it’s one of the lower cost options in the area). The pizza was very good and the antipasto tray one of the best around. Best Caesar and tiramisu I’ve had in awhile. It just simply wasn’t worth all the waiting. Kudos to the server who was doing 3 times her part to try and keep the place gong while a dozen others gawked around being useless. I really am shocked they’ve managed to get the high rating considering how bad our experience was (and we weren’t the only ones tonight who could leave a similar...

WORST RESTAURANT in Atlanta! If you are planning to visit The Shops of Buckhead, do yourself a favor and patronize one of the many other establishments. We chose this restaurant as we were looking for a family (kid) friendly restaurant after visiting the Christmas market. Upon arriving to the restaurant the front of house was chaotic and disorganized with clearly no system. Once seated, the mayhem ensued. Our waitress was friendly, however was clearly distracted as she was given tables all over the restaurant with no clear plan or management. Our appetizers and drinks took approximately 30 minutes to arrive to the table which was less than desirable. Upon receiving our appetizers, our waitress shared that we should go ahead and put in our entree orders as the kitchen was backed up.

It then took 45 additional minutes for our food to arrive. 45 minutes of waiting to receive COLD food. The plate was warm, however the food was ice cold. The waitress promptly fetched a manager, who was immature and sarcastic. He sharply said “Oh, the plate is hot but the entree is cold. Interesting” as if I were making it up. He then asked to take the plates to the kitchen for review. Once returning, he shared that the chef agreed the food was not quality and would need to be recooked, however it would be an additional hour to receive food. After sharing that I would not prefer to wait, he sarcastically asked what I wanted. After sharing I’d just like the food to be removed, he only took off 2 of the cold dishes plus 1 app off of the check. After promising to remove the app off the check, it was still added to my check and required additional follow up. He then returned to the table with my check was was completely unapologetic and cold.

This restaurant is located in a prime location, so it’s sad the space is occupied by one of the most disappointing dining experiences I’ve had.

Again, do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. Olive Garden or Maggianos would be a better “Italian” option than this...

Tonight, May 17, 2024, I had a terrible experience at Taverna Buckhead, a place I had previously dined on a few occasions when visiting Atlanta. We had made a reservation for the semi-private room, along with another dinner table in the main dining area, for my nephew's high school graduation, but when we arrived, the manager, Anthony Pecorino, told us that the room was unavailable (though it was visibly clear and unoccupied) and that we would have to sit in the main dining area. We were extremely disappointed, as we had specifically requested the semi-private room a week in advance; in fact the manager provided email confirmation after I placed my credit card on hold for $750 minimum charge. The manager was incredibly rude, dismissive and unapologetic, and we ended up leaving and taking our business elsewhere. Luckily, we found another restaurant just a few doors down that was able to accommodate us at the last minute. We were happy to spend over $1,300, as the food and drinks were phenomenal, the service was impeccable, the vibe was as if I was home in NYC, and overall it was a night and day difference from our initial experience. I would never recommend Taverna Buckhead to anyone, as the manager's lack of professionalism and disregard for our reservation was inexcusable. However, I will definitely be going back to the second restaurant (I will be making a separate post about our awesome experience at ths establishment) and telling all of my colleagues and friends about the amazing experience we had there. It just goes to show that a good manager can make all the difference in the world when it comes to customer...