Angeline by Michael Symon — Restaurant in Atlantic City

I had planned a weekend getaway at the Borgata and made a reservation at Angeline... I have been wanting to try Michael Symon's new restaurant. I did not know that it was restaurant week at the time I made the reservation so when we arrived about 10 minutes before our reservation time of 6:45pm and were seated right away I was impressed. Approx 10 to 15 min later a couple sat to our left; ordered apps and then another couple sat to our right. We ordered salads that both tasted delicious. It is from this point the night took a turn for the worse. Our waiter asked if we would like another round of drinks - we declined and continued to converse with my date. We then noticed that both tables to the left and right of us, who were seated AFTER US had been served their entrée. We waited about 15 minutes to see if ours would be out shortly, so when it didn't, I was able to flag down the waitress from the table next to ours. She found our waiter who very candidly said that he was waiting for me to finish my salad........clearly I had finished my salad 1/2 hour before he came back to the table.......At this point in time it was 8:00 (1 hour and 15 minutes after our reservation time..... I quickly responded that he was not waiting on me and that he needed to take responsibility for his oversight. He left for a about 5-6 minutes, then returned to the table stating that he forgot to "press the button" to order our entrees. After he walked away the couple at the table to the left comment to me that "1st he tried to blame you then admitted he forgot" She even acknowledged that I had been finished my salad for quite some time. We waited another 20 minutes. By this time the other 2 couples are almost wrapping up their dinner and we were just receiving ours. My date had informed the waiter that would like to speak with the manager. After we partially finished the entrée (we asked to take the other half to go because we had a 9:00 show to attend). The waiter then offered for us to choose any dessert from the menu. I quickly stated that we chose our dessert when we placed the initial order and that it was included with the restaurant week menu. I then asked for the manager again...... this was unacceptable.... He brought us the desserts we had previously ordered then stated that he would remove the 2 and only drinks from bill. At this point in time it was close to 9:00 and the show was going to start, I didn't want to wait for him to figure out what he should have done or needed to do so we just charged it back to the room. I have never had a waiter try to blame a customer for his lack of ordering an entrée and then to not comply with a request to speak with a manager. It should not have taken over 2 hours to eat a meal in Angeline. Michael Symon - the food was amazing but the experience was not up to par and unacceptable. Shame on your waiter for not taking responsibility for...

Highly disappointment and left wishing they never closed Fornelletto.

While most of this review will be negative, I will say our waiter was very friendly, the tableware was nice and the free after dinner sea salt/caramel chocolate was delicious.

Now... Trying not to be bias due to the hype that surrounded this place prior to opening, I can honestly say if you told me my entire meal was from Olive Garden, I would not have bee surprised. First things first, the menu is not very exciting from the get go. I usually expect to see one or two things that are unique to a specific restaurant, but those items were no where to be found. In addition, I was unhappy to hear there were no specials. Second, the bread basket was lack luster.... in fact is was down right bad. I get they are trying to be traditional, but cutting up a stale cold piece of Italian bread and throwing it in a basket is just unappealing.... maybe their whole idea was to be nostalgic and bring us Italians back to our child hoods with our fathers ripping up a fresh loaf of Italian bread and having us dip it in the delicious pot of sauce mom had been working on all weekend.... Only problem with this, is that EVERY meal lacked sauce. I know some of the other reviews mentioned their meals being dry, but dry is an understatement as our meals were downright arid. We started with the Arincini Rice Balls and Baked Clams..... Well that's what we initially ordered, but the waiter gave us a look and repeated "oh the baked clams.. i would recommend the friend shrimp instead"... So, who are we to argue with the man... Fried Shrimp it is. the Arincini balls were small, but not bad... No different than something you would get at a local pizza joint. The friend shrimp were bland and left us wondering how the baked clams would have been.

For our entrees we got the Sage and Brown Butter Ravioli, the Lobster Fra Diavlo and the Chicken Parm. We also got a side of Polenta and Roasted Potatoes. As mentioned earlier, all of the entrees lacked sauce and honestly lacked flavor. The Lobster was over cooked, the pasta it was with was over cooked and the dish had little to no heat. The chicken parm was tasty, but again... it was small and no better or worse than if i ordered it at a diner or chain establishment. The ravioli was soggy and tasted more like lemon zest than sage to me... The roasted potatoes were left mostly untouched...flavorless and hard. Now the Polenta, that was delicious in my opinion, and oddly enough there was more sauce with Polenta side dish than the Chicken Parm Entree..

So... in closing, don't waste your time. Borgata has plenty of amazing dining options to choose from, this just...

I’m giving 5 stars because everything I ordered was made to perfection and I thoroughly enjoyed each dish. I went with a group of 9 people, so I got to try more dishes than I would have otherwise.

Other reviews aren’t happy with service / ambiance. I think this is more of a casual dining experience. It’s not upscale and not white table cloth, so you really just bring your own vibes and enjoy the food. Service for my table of 9 was good. We didn’t have any issues. All food came out on time. Server was attentive and generally friendly. Ambiance feels like you’re in a casino to me. I wouldn’t recommend for a romantic date, but certainly a great spot to escape the casino floor for a bit and fuel up!

The classic Caesar salad was just that - classic and what you’d expect a Caesar salad to be. The marinated Parmesan was super addicting. After we completely devoured our first order, we ordered another! The burrata with peppers and onions was delish and a perfect bread topper. The whole branzino was perfectly cooked and tasted just the way I like with capers and a big squeeze of lemon. Yum! I also got to try the bucatini pasta with beef short rib, and omg it’s divine. Definitely the best pasta dish. The noodles were Al dente and helped carry a good amount of sauce and beef into each bite.

The octopus appetizer was good, but nothing to write home about. I had some and enjoyed it, but probably wouldn’t have ordered it myself. The lasagna was another dish I tried and wouldn’t ever order myself. It was just okay in my opinion. I prefer more tomato sauce in mine. Garlic bread was tasty but not soft enough for me. It was more cheesy than buttery and I prefer a soft, buttery garlic bread with a crunchy exterior.

For dessert, I ordered the panna cotta and a decaf americano. I thought the panna cotta was a bit too creamy, but it was still delicious and topped with some blueberries and berry sauce. I really enjoyed it, and even though I was completely stuffed, it was still light enough to finish. Although, it is quite a large portion and definitely shareable for 2-3 people.

I wish I took more photos, but I was starving! Camera didn’t eat first...