J. Anthony's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Auburn

Went in for a quick dinner with my older sons as we were moving all day n famished. I left in tears from pure frustration from the utter n sheer disregard & disrespect my children had to witness from a very unprofessional , senior server , as I’m sure she’s been in the industry for a while. My only request was that our 3 burgers were cooked WELL NO PINK . I got 2 burgers medium well , my boys were so hungry they just ate it even tho it’s not what we asked for, we were rushed from the moment we sat down at 830, the host said our kitchen closes in 15 mins , so if you could order quickly BUT NO RUSH . Told her we were so hungry it wouldn’t take long. My brother arrived to the meal after we received our burgers , Jen our server who was also training n doing a horrible job never came back to do a 2 minute check , to see how our food was n I clearly had a problem because my 3rd burger was med rare . Burgers are way to easy for this, I manage a steak house . So yes I know & understand how it should work. Jen was more excited to see my brother before we could tell her what we needed , she assumed for herself n ran off to check off the kitchen was open so my brother could eat. Well he only came for a drink , but your other guest that are here already do need something n the kitchen being closed shouldn’t be a factor. Jen didn’t like the fact that the burger she didn’tcook , I wasn’t happy with, this is when the disrespect started . I just wanted to sit with my boys n eat dinner as a family after a long stressful day . The way I was spoken too ignored , I asked for a new server and Jen told me “oh well I’m the only one you got “ I asked for a manager 4 times politely she ignored me and still continued to try to take my brothers order who is saying UM SHE’S ASKING FOR A MANAGER. Jen decided amongst her self after I asked for a new server n a manager she decided she still wanted to serve my children’s beverages even tho I said no we don’t want anything else SHE SAID WELL IMMA GET THEM ANYWAY , when she came back to the table with the beverages I was standing in front of my children, I said to her politely no we don’t want those . She rolled her eyes walked around me n still proceeded to serve my children who are sitting at the table bewildered saying DO YOU NOT HEAR MY MOM SHE SAID WE DONT WANT THOSE .

To call yourself a family restaurant and allow your staff to behave n treat paying guest this way in front of anyone, never mind children is absurd .

J Anthony’s never has to worry about serving my...

The exterior and some of the interior of the building looks unkempt and rundown. They splurged on new decorative faux iron decorations and pretty sconces, but failed to update the carpet in the foyer, which looks 20 years old by the clear track marks etched down into them. Must be why they keep that entryway dark. The table of 6 we were sat at was wedged up against a nook which made it difficult when the person on the end that wanted the salad bar as the two people sitting on that side had to also get up so he could get out. The other side of the table wasn't much better as they were sitting perfectly on the side of the walkway into that section. Even worse when someone actually sat in those chairs, they were mostly in the walkway, overall very uncomfortable dining atmosphere. The selection of food was immense and prices seemed reasonable. The clam strip meals for adults and kids was plentiful and overflowed on the plate, but the stuffed shells special was minuscule portion and mediocre tasting at best. For an Italian restaurant, this was a mighty disappointment. I understand we are in New England, but it doesn't mean their seafood should be better than their Italian dishes. When you go to an Italian restaurant, you are expecting good or even great Italian fare. Not the case here. Last, but not least, the worst part of the whole experience is topped off with the staff. There was more wait staff than diners in the whole place, but that didn't seem to improve our server's skills. For the most part, the sodas were drained and all that was left was a mountain of ice in the diner-sized plastic glasses. This was made worse by the waitresses inability to recognize the need to refill the drinks. Even more appalling was the fact that when we ordered waters for the kids after their original juice cups were done, the waitress actually brought us two waters and one juice cup, and stated that she had "screwed up" with the original drink order for the kids. Had we not ordered a second round, I doubt it would've been mentioned and still charged on the bill. (FYI kids are under 7, so not very vocal about getting incorrect orders). Overall, if you are looking for a great Italian eatery with excellent quality food, service, and atmosphere,...

My husband and I just had our wedding at J. Anthony's. For such a large and lovely space, they could not be more reasonably priced and easy to work with. The high ceilings and that wall of windows are really a wow factor. They are currently making updates to the event space, so I can only imagine that future events will be even more fabulous. Any time I interacted with staff leading up to the event, they were so upbeat and enthusiastic. Being pleasant is obviously a part of working in the restaurant industry, but everyone always felt genuinely excited for us, which made us even more excited as the big day drew near.

We live nearby, so we already knew that they had wonderful food. We got compliments from guests on all of it, but the most talked-about items were the beef and the stuffed shells. So many people told me they regretted not requesting more stuffed shells. They really were amazing; I could have eaten an entire plate of them! A dessert was included in our package -- we chose apple crisp and it was delicious. But we also brought in apple cider donuts from a local orchard. Abbey (the event manager) was super accommodating. We just dropped them off in the morning and then arrangements of donuts on beautiful gold chargers were placed at each table during the evening.

One other point of note was how lovely the event staff was! My husband and I had multiple guests comment to us throughout the evening about the wonderful service staff. I can't imagine that is something typically noticed or commented upon at a large event, so it just highlights how personable and accommodating they all were. I was able to chat with some of the servers toward the end of the evening and they were all so kind and complimentary, it made my night even...