La Strada at the Shore — Restaurant in Atlantic City

To whom it may concern: On Saturday, September 10th four girlfriends and I were guest at the restaurant. We attended the restaurant in hopes we would have a delightful dinner service for my friends 28th birthday celebration! The experience was not a pleasant one at all! May I start with the server's introduction which was short, brief and over powered with the pressure of buying wine and or a cocktails from the bar. Following turning our wine glasses over the server began neglecting our table. The menu and specials were introduced, however I do not recall the pricing of the specials and there was no recommendations or hardly any sales pitch on the food menu as much as the alcohol! The delivery of the food was not appeasing to say the least. Everyone had their main course except for me. I ordered the Chicken Marsala which was bought out approximately 6 minutes after everyone else's food which was getting cold for waiting. There was no check done by the server or anything just another random person delivering the food. I can say that once we finally indulged in our entrees they were appetizing. Following the conclusion of our dinner our server still had not returned to the table after more than 15 minutes had gone by; another server had to present us with dessert! Our server was disappearing in and out of the back room and took on a party even larger than ours although it seemed he couldn't even tend to us. To say the least my girlfriend felt very insulted by the service and we all reflected on the evening from beginning to end. At the conclusion of dinner I had to get up and request the manager on shift after we waited more than 20 minutes for our check and had lingering questions with regards to charges on the bill. I spoke with the manager on shift who wouldn't even look me in the eyes. We were charged the same price for a "Mac Jersey" which was the "special" that contained shrimp and broccoli compared to the menu item which contained shrimp, broccoli, and crab meat. The manager said that there was no difference in price and simply did not offer a resolution when we questioned getting the menu listed entree which offered more for the same price. Already exhausted from disappointing service and the non compassionate manager I just gave up and paid the bill. I am very familiar with the inns and outs of fine dining, and the spectrum of customer service. To say the least my girlfriends and I left the restaurant feeling very insulted and belittled. We were the minority and seemed as though we were frowned upon and looked over because of it! We were pre judged and were not treated the same as the other dinner guests around us! In lieu of the growing dissatisfaction I am writing to make you all aware of how the reputation of such a beautiful restaurant is being portrayed! We will be sure not to return and also to inform others of the horrible service we received after spending practically...

This was my first time ever visiting this restaurant, and my partner and I were excited to have a full experience—starting with a delicious appetizer, followed by an entrée, and maybe even dessert to end the evening on a sweet note. Unfortunately, what we anticipated as a relaxing and enjoyable outing quickly turned into one of the most uncomfortable and disheartening dining experiences we’ve ever had.

Our server, Alejandra, was inattentive, rude, and dismissive from the start. I ordered a starter but was served an entrée with shrimp on top, which was not at all what I had requested. It took over 15 minutes for her to return to our table so we could bring this up, and when we finally explained the issue, her response was appallingly unprofessional. Instead of apologizing or showing any understanding, she snapped at me, demanding to know why I didn’t say something immediately. I explained that I was in shock because I didn’t even realize what I was looking at—it was so overwhelming for what was supposed to be a simple starter. Her tone was defensive and dismissive as she abruptly told us she would speak to the manager.

As if her attitude wasn’t enough, she then aggressively instructed another waiter to clear our table, making it clear we were no longer welcome. It was as if we were being thrown out—not overtly, but in a way that felt deeply passive-aggressive. The emotional impact of this was crushing. My partner and I felt humiliated and unwelcome, and our excitement about having a full dining experience turned into a deep sense of regret for even choosing this restaurant.

Even after everything, I tried to move past it by paying the bill and leaving a nice tip. I hoped it might shift the energy, but instead, Alejandra continued to completely ignore us. Five minutes passed as we sat there watching her carefully attend to another table directly in front of us, speaking to them warmly and providing excellent service. When she noticed us watching, she briefly said, “I’ll be right with you,” but another 10 minutes passed, and she never returned.

We left incredibly frustrated by the experience. What was supposed to be a special evening for my partner and me turned into an experience that made us feel dismissed, invisible, and unwelcome. The lack of care, professionalism, and even basic courtesy left an emotional stain on what should have been a memorable night for all the right reasons. Instead, it was memorable for all...

This place is definitely now in my top 10 go to restaurants in AC. I came here this past Tuesday for my birthday with my husband and it was an absolute banger. The restaurant is beautiful on the inside and I liked that the entrance had a door to go inside. It makes it feel like as if it’s a solo location and not in a casino. The hostess was polite and friendly, and our servers were so good to us. They both went over the menus with us and even showed photos special items on an iPad so we could see exactly what the food looked like. There were no long waits and all together service was a 10/10

The food though…it was so incredibly delicious, I ate ALL of it. Portion sizes were really good and the flavors were definitely there. We started with wine and a cocktail as well as the prosciutto wrapped shrimp. For our entrées I had the lobster and crab tortellini, And my husband had the La Strada Fra Diavolo. Both dishes were cooked so perfectly and were extremely tasty. Before We finished our meal the servers brought out a complimentary birthday dessert topped with a candle. We finished our meal with a panna cotta and a carmel apple cheese cake. The entire meal was a 10/10.

I won’t take any stars away as this was an amazing dinner, however I do have some constructive criticism. This restaurant is NOT cheap, let me make that clear. My meal alone was $75.99 and our total was $$$ before tip. Probably my next most expensive dinner since Steve and Cookies.

With that being said, for the price point and atmosphere I wasn’t excepting to see other diners wearing jeans, t shirts, hats, sweats; essentially street clothes while my husband and I were dressed within the dress code which I believe was business casual/cocktail. I’ve believe the dress code should definitely be enforced more as this location is listed as fine dining not causal dining. Nonetheless it was still a great experience and we will...