Osteria Rago — Restaurant in Bloomington

(This is a long review and the extremely rude behavior is at the bottom - if you want to skip down.) If you want to feel like you're eating at a restaurant in the city, that is NYC, you have to visit Osteria Rago. I've been to Osteria Rago twice; one time I actually got to eat, but I will never go back after their terrible attitude and service. The first time, I went with one friend without a reservation on a weeknight around 4 p.m. The restaurant only had about 2-3 tables with customers, and they told us that since we didn't have a reservation, they couldn't seat us. We mentioned that it was still early and that we were just going to eat and run; they still wouldn't let us have a table. The employee was in her 20s with a really bad attitude, which you never encounter in a place like Bloomington but is quite common in NYC.

So, let's get to the actual dinner I was so fortunate to be served. I've been to Italy at least 7-8 times throughout my life, so I know Italian food pretty well. I ordered gluten-free mushroom pizza and polenta as an appetizer. I had to instruct the waitress to write down our order, as she came to the table to take an order for 4 people without pen and paper. When I haven't said anything in the past at some places, it leads to the kitchen forgetting that the order had gluten-free items. The polenta came out as an appetizer, and it was ever so thin with a delicious sauce and mushrooms. I've had polenta in Italy, and it definitely is thicker and tastes homemade, not this thin version that's less than half an inch thick. This leads me to believe that they don't prepare it themselves but buy it frozen from a supplier. Then, the gluten-free mushroom pizza came to the table. The crust wasn't like cardboard compared to 90% of the restaurants in Bloomington, so that was good. However, it was dry, and the ingredients weren't of the greatest quality. I had to dip the crust into the remaining pomodoro sauce to make it less dry. If you want an amazing gluten-free pizza, you can visit Che Bello in the square (they also don't have an upcharge for the crust). The rest of the food that my friends ordered looked good but not great, especially for the higher prices. Now, let's come to the finale of the night. I paid in cash, and the waitress asked me, "Do you want your change?" That is the first time I'm encountering this in a restaurant out of all the 47 countries I've visited throughout my life. Usually, the waiter/waitress will say, "I'll bring your change." I guess she fully expected me to leave her more than $10 for a tip. Then, she comes back with a ten-dollar bill and some coins. She says, "Oh, did you want some $5s and $1s with that?" Again, probably expecting me to leave her the $10. I said, "Yes, I would like some $5s and $1s." Now comes the highlight of the evening! The youngest member of the crew comes over to the table at 1 hour and 47 minutes after the arrival of the first member of our friend group. He tells us that we need to wrap it up because there are other people waiting for a table. One of the members of our group of friends expressed thoughts about this inappropriate behavior and request. Then, what seemed to be another 20-something-year-old manager came over to the table with an aggressive and rude attitude to tell us that on Open Table, the rule states that you can't sit more than 1 hour and 45 minutes. At this point, it had been 1 hour and 47 minutes. I was pretty sure that my friend hadn't used Open Table to book and mentioned that fact. Then, my friend jumped in and said that she had used "Open Table" to book, but it turns out she didn't know about the website's existence and thought the manager was referring to an "open table" at the restaurant. The staff member or manager was extremely argumentative and rude and told us to leave. I've never been treated this way in any restaurant I've been to in all of the 47 countries and 48 states...

The first two pics are the Tomatoes Vesta- our appetizer. Just as delicious, as it was gorgeous! Fire roasted cherry tomatoes, lemon ricotta, arugula, red wine balsamic reduction, and house made focaccia (which is a separate treat by itself - they perfected their own recipe). I seriously needed a moment alone, and continuously made the mmm mmmm sounds while eating the appetizer. I don't know which represents the focaccia better, describing it as a pillow, or a cloud in your mouth! 🤤 Or maybe a combination of both! 🤷🏽‍♀️☺️

The next two were my hubby's meal: Bucatini Amatriciana- Pomodoro Sauce, guanciale, & calabrese peppers. His had a nice spicy flavor. I even tried the guanciale (even though I knew what it was- he didn't) and it was tasty- not fatty or greasy, more like a steak texture. Stephen raved about the Pomodoro Sauce!

The last two pics were mine: Chicken Parmesan - breaded chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto di Parma, Pomodoro Sauce, and pesto, served with spaghetti. I must mention that EVERYTHING is made in house and to perfection! It was, hands down, THE BEST chicken breast I have ever tasted. Tender, no grease, the perfect amount of breading and seasoning (although that could have come from the prosciutto - you don't even notice it, it just melds into perfection). You can actually taste the pine nuts in the pesto, as well, which is a bonus for me. They asked if I needed additional cheese, but I chose to trust their opinion and leave it as it was (first time ever- for those of you that don't know, I have a not-so-mild cheese addiction)😂- it was an excellent choice. Trust their chefs!

Not only is their food amazing- they use only fresh, locally sourced ingredients; but the atmosphere is pretty great, too. Unique, stylish decor, which includes an incredible stained glass piece. It is a locally owned, family restaurant. The staff is so friendly and accommodating - you feel like part of the family. As far as price, on par with Olive Garden, but the quality is leaps and...

At the moment, I would say that Osteria Rago rates 3.5 stars at best. The major problem here is the service. The waitperson took our order for a starter and second course but, according to him, the owner insists on all orders going in complete (rather than spacing the order out) so that our second course arrived while we were in the middle of our first course, leaving the choices of wolfing down the rest of the starter or letting the second course sit and cool. To add insult to injury, while we were in the middle of our second course, the waitperson came and asked us if we wanted dessert and proceed to read us the choices, thereby interrupting both our meal and our conversation. As to the food, while we, obviously, could not try everything on the menu, it was, for the most part, acceptable. However, it could use some work as well. My "cacio e pepe" was supposedly a blend of parmigiano and pecorino -- whatever the cheese it was very salty and it contained something called "toasted black pepper" that looked and imparted the taste of biber pepper and not straight up "pepe." The pizza was neither Roman style nor Neopolitan -- although it was closer to Neopolitan but it was very thick and the dough was on the tough side. Also, hand-tossed pizza does not mean it should come to the table square. They left the basil off the Margarita. The caprese was okay but was swimming in balsamic reduction. All of that said, the food was certainly edible and, on the plus side, the Caesar salad (although no more Italian than Tiajuana) at least was a real Caesar dressing complete with anchovies. As to second coursed, most of the choices seemed clearly tailored to American ideas of Italian cooking including the notorious "chicken parm." To sum up, I think they have a way to go mostly on service but also a bit on food, if their aim is to present traditional Italian cooking with a...