La Cena Restaurant — Restaurant in Bensalem Township

This feels like a place pretending to be something it's not.

On the outside it has an out of place feeling somewhere between unfinished and neglected. A worn out awning, an aggressively styled entry that doesn't fit, and a big empty circle facing the road where a sign should be. It's not classy, it's not casual. It's not really open and inviting, but it's not "completely" sealed off.

When you walk through the door it has a much more classy and elegant vibe, but it's surface level. As you pay attention to the details, it starts to feel like something cheap that's been dressed up. The lighting isn't quite homey and the night club/bar lighting around the ceiling clashes everything underneath. It's an okay atmosphere, but it needs work. Inside and out.

Service is good. Not particularly quick, which is fine if you're waiting patiently and receive high quality, but... The staff are friendly. They don't check on drinks, though. Obnoxious, considering the price. And I'm not a snob that needs fancy water, but the fancy bottle with tap water is embarrassing. You can't afford a filter with these prices?

On the topic of obnoxious prices, there's the food. $20 for 3 stuffed mushrooms?! Fine, if those are the best mushrooms I've ever had. Not fine if they're undercooked with a pile of weird veggie mash on top that looks like cat vomit. "Market Price" for lamb? Okay, if it's great lamb. Not okay if it's charred on the outside and raw all the way through. Not rare, absolutely raw. All. The. Way. Through. $40. The NY Strip on the gnocchi special was cooked the same way - burnt on the outside, but undercooked inside. The sauces were bland and unusually flavored. The tagliatelle dish had a single spaghetti noodle in it. And it's always unsettling to find something in your food that doesn't belong, regardless of what it is.

And for this experience, 3 people spent over $250!!!

Not far from this place is Toscana 52, which delivers on a higher level in every single possible way for the same prices. La Cena needs to massively improve the quality of their food and invest a little more in their presentation. Otherwise, they need to drop those wishful prices to match the sloppy diner quality of what they serve.

Google reviews failed to give an accurate representation of what my experience would be here, so does it make any sense at all to post my own reviews anymore?

As it is, I don't recommend this place. I just wouldn't come back for these prices when there's a much more refined and high-quality...

If I could rate the guest service a zero I would!!!!

The manager Ryan has NO CLUE what he is doing and it shows with the decline in recent business. Long story short.. I booked a surprise 60th dinner for my father in law weeks in advance due to it falling on July 4th holiday weekend. The reservation was booked without hesitation.. I was even told "you might have the place to yourselves!".

however, Ryan called me a few days prior to confirm. His message merely stated "just want to get a final head count and go over menu options, give me a call".. I returned his call 17 hours later (obviously I was getting my final head count).. Ryan said "since you didn't call back right away & we don't have other reservations that day (Sunday July 3) we decided to close!!! Sorry!!!!"

Now here I am, less than 2 days from our dinner party and I have no place to go!! I have family driving from other places, a cake, decor, balloons... Etc! Let me be clear, Ryan NEVER stated urgency on his voicemail, NEVER called prior to this even though it has been booked for weeks & NEVER tried to call again before making the choice to close the resturant!! He spoke arrogantly without even trying to help my situation and told me "he is not going to pay his staff to come work for one reservation!"

I WILL NEVER ENTER THIS ESTABLISHMENT AGAIN! I will post this story on every social media site and I will be reaching out to the owner Maria! If anyone has any info on how I can get in direct contact with her please...

I ordered on their website through Slice. I waited a total of an hour for my food, half hour passed the time they quoted. Got out to my car and my panini and cheeseburger had no fries. I went back inside and spoke to the cashier. Another girl came out and said I gave you fries. I said no you didn’t or I wouldn’t being standing here right now. She said well I’ll give you fries for the panini but not for the cheeseburger, it doesn’t come with fries. I showed her the menu on their site. She said oh thats an old menu. I asked to speak to the manager. I heard him tell the girl no and to just show me the menu. I said are you seriously going to argue with me about French fries after waiting an hour for my food. She again said you don’t get fries with a burger. I left. The food was absolutely disgusting. Both of my daughters spit out their quesadilla. They said they were cold and something was hard inside both quesadillas. The burger was a dried up tasteless chunk of meat that was also cold. Panini barely had any meat, was cold and so was the poppers. This is the first time ordering from them in along time. They use to be a descent place, not sure what happened. Last time I will EVER order from them, same goes for my family and friends. The whole order went in the trash. I will sure I...