Enoteca Vespaio — Restaurant in Austin

Keep in mind, this is a review for the service as my spouse and I didn't even get to order.

My spouse and I are celebrating our anniversary. I was excited to try this place as it came highly recommended by the concierge at our hotel, and the reviews looked fantastic. We were going to a concert later at the amphitheater which is hot in the summer and involves a lot of walking, so we were both dressed casually, jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers for comfort. When we first arrived, the host asked if we had a reservation. I politely replied that we didn't. He made a rather dramatic show of naming off all the reservations times he had booked, glancing up at me periodically through his list, to drive home that we had walked in without making one.

He begrudgingly and pretentiously said, "Well, I GUESS I have one table to seat you at." The restaurant was freakin' EMPTY. We were the first people there when they opened at 5. He seriously gave us a once over, as though sizing us up, clearly disapproving of our casual clothing, then barked a short welcome. He dumped us at a tiny spot, tossed paper menus on the table, and he walked away without so much as offering a glass of wine or explaining anything on the equally pretentious menu.

I'm not kidding when I say this. We sat the there for 10 minutes while my poor partner had no idea what to order or even what the menu said (neither of us speak Italian.) I watched him grow increasingly embarrassed as he was trying to make the most out of what was SUPPOSED to be our anniversary celebration dinner, but he was unable to hash out the menu and didn't want to say anything and possibly ruin it. I turned towards where the kitchen was to see if I could get someone to help us, and the host was just standing there staring at us. Literally just waiting for us to go away.

I gently squeezed my husband's hand and suggested we go somewhere else. He looked so sad, and I assured him we'd find somewhere that wasn't too busy for hospitality. We went to a 6 hour concert while we were hungry. Wanna know what I had when we got back to the hotel? Mac n Cheese.

I live in a small Texas city that has two major Italian restaurants, and one is upscale, the other is not. BOTH places in my city treat me with respect and kindness when I dine with them. I have never been treated with such disrespect in a restaurant before. Ever. EVER Italian culture is known for their welcoming and well practiced hospitality.

Looks can be deceiving. We were more then prepared to drop 200-300$ on a meal for two people, but I guess because we were casually dressed, the host assumed we were broke. And did nothing to welcome us.

I have never been so insulted and ashamed. I will never go back here. I will recommend my friends to stay away from them as well. A horrible service moral. Just so very...

Had dinner here recently with a couple of friends. The cocktails were good, but everything else was between mediocre and awful, including the service. We ordered the fried calamari as an appetizer, and it was very under-seasoned. They also forgot to put lemon wedges on our plate (our friends got wedges on theirs). Small thing, I know, but now it seems like it was a sign. It then took almost an hour to get our main dishes. After about 40 minutes of waiting we asked our waitress when we could expect our food, and she assured us it was coming out soon, without even offering to check on it. We asked her to look into it, and she came back and said that "they were plating the dishes now". It took another 20 minutes for the dishes to come out. My spaghetti carbonara was ok, not the best I've had but pretty good. Unfortunately, the scallop risotto my spouse ordered was almost inedible. The scallops were burned to a crisp on the outside, to the point that the dish literally had a burnt smell, which was unpleasant, to say the least. The risotto itself was watery and flavorless, so it's not as if the rest of the dish was ok. We called the waitress over to point this out, and she was very dismissive of our complaints, in the end agreeing to go get the manager. He did come over and apologize, offering to replace it with another dish. We ordered the cacio e pepe spaghetti, which came out pretty quickly, but the pasta was over-cooked and the sauce was very thin and watery. The waitress then had the gall to come over and ask if we were "happy now", insinuating that the issues with the previous dish were all in our head.

The scallop dish was removed from our bill, but between the service, the wait, and the lackluster-to-bad food, our overall experience was pretty unpleasant. Not at all what we would expect from a restaurant with these prices and apparently good reviews. Shame, but we...

I used to frequent Vespaio before I moved away from Austin. I recently was back in town and visited Vespaio and can happily say my experience only improved. Vespaio is a staple on South Congress and here's why you should support them:

I dropped in shortly after 5p and was not only greeted by a friendly and exuberant host but also the smell of freshly baked bread. I promptly grabbed a seat at the bar, since I was a party of one (normally I dine in their main dining room). The music overhead was subtle but featured a lot of local Austin musicians. The lighting at the bar was perfectly soft giving the whole area a soft glow that was still functional (dim lighting and old age sometimes don't work well together).

Tom at the bar greeted me with a friendly hand shake. I ordered the espresso martini (by suggestion) and the beef carppacio (I had a craving for this plate in particular). Tom quickly delivered on both.

Richard the General Manager came by and we chatted a bit about how much Austin has changed. He grew up in Austin as well. He let me know Tom has been at the bar for 15+ years. This is a huge sign that Vespaio's hospitality group cares for their employees and values them. Richard was kind in our interactions.

There was a mixture of people at Vespaio on a weekday evening, from neighborhood regulars to elder couples and even a large family with kids. I observed Richard touching each table and ensuring all guests were enjoying their experience.

The espresso martini was velvety in texture and had subtle vanilla hints. The carppacio was everything I had hoped it would be- delicious wagyu beef, crispy capers, spicy arugula and a little tang from a horseradish Dijon.

I will definitely be back, but everyone should check this place out. South Congress has seen so many landmark spots change recently and this place deserves to...