Vendetti’s Pizza Pasta Grill Mall of GA — Restaurant in Buford

My husband made a reservation for my 33rd birthday dinner at Vendetti’s for a group of 30 people, including kids. He even went the day before to confirm everything and drop off flowers that were meant to be given to me during the dinner. The staff reassured him that everything was in order.

When we arrived the following day, the restaurant was extremely hot, the AC wasn’t working, and they had a floor fan placed next to our table, which not only looked bad but did nothing to help with the heat. What's worse, no one called to inform my husband, even though they had his number. This could’ve given us a chance to make alternate plans.

Though the restaurant was empty, we were offered to move to another area where the AC supposedly worked, but it had high-top chairs, not practical with babies and small kids. Plus, that area had direct sun exposure, making it just as uncomfortable.

Service was truly terrible. We were assigned only two servers for 30 people, which is just not enough. One of them seemed new and both lacked experience. We had to ask repeatedly for basic things like napkins and silverware, still got ignored or forgotten. Food came out extremely slow, with some guests still waiting for their meals while others were already done eating. The water was warm with melted ice because of the heat, and everyone was visibly uncomfortable.

They even brought out the birthday cake without plates or spoons. The flowers that were supposed to be given to me, a server gave it to someone else in my table by mistake.

My husband ended up picking up a lot of dirty plates, used napkins, and used glasses himself because the servers weren’t doing it. I brought this up to the manager, who responded with a blank stare and a dry “OK” — no action was taken.

I really tried to stay positive and enjoy my birthday, but this experience truly ruined what should’ve been a special evening. It’s a shame because the food is good and the place is nicely decorated, but they have a serious staff and management problem.

We will not...

I would recommend to skip this restaurant and go to Cheesecake factory instead. Atleast the food tastes good.

The pictures of Pizza from the restaurant misleading is not at all how they make it.

Both pastas were extremely sweet. Requested the Vodka sauce spicy and it arrived sweet. The onions and tomato were raw. There was no flavor.

The Spaghetti pasta quality is very good. Received about half a bowl of pasta with mostly cream and barely any pesto flavor. You can see the difference in portion size between the Penne and Spaghetti in the pictures. This one was also too sweet. No flavors of basil or garlic from the pesto.

They need to work on their sauces and portion size considering their price point.

Pizza was meh. It was extremely soggy in the center. Lacking any flavor or salt. Even the canned artichokes were missing salt. Requested ingredients were missing.

Service was extremely slow even with only 2 tables occupied in the entire restaurant including us. Had to ask multiple times for spoons, condiments, napkins etc.

After the Spaghetti arrived luke warm, we requested the food be served hot. Despite that both pasta and pizza arrived luke warm.

The waiter was kind and served us with a smile but the one waiter kept yelling into the kitchen at the staff. It was not a nice environment...

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5/5)

Tried Vendetti’s Pizza Pasta Grill at the Mall of Georgia for a weekend dinner and was surprised at how sparse it was for a Sunday evening. The space itself is huge—probably too large—which makes the lack of crowd feel even more noticeable.

The atmosphere threw me off a bit. It’s the first Italian restaurant I’ve been to that was blasting pop music instead of something more fitting. That said, our server was attentive, kind, and definitely a bright spot of the night.

The menu is extensive, maybe too extensive to really specialize in anything. Prices are a little on the high side, but portion sizes were decent. The meatballs were a highlight—well-seasoned and tender—and the antipasti salad was a generous size with plenty of meats and cheese mixed in. Unfortunately, the New York cheese slice fell flat; the cheese had an odd smell and taste that really missed the mark. The minestrone soup was also disappointing—completely bland, and even salt and pepper couldn’t rescue it.

My family owned an Italian deli for 25 years, so I feel confident in judging Italian food. Overall, I’d give Vendetti’s a solid 3.5 stars. They’ve got room for improvement but also some potential, especially in such a prime spot at the mall. I truly hope they refine things...