Nonna's Italian Bistro — Restaurant in Centennial

Food was ok. Staff was alright. We had probably one of the worst dining experiences in a long time, and I am honestly having a hard time faulting only the restaurant here. However...they didn't exactly make it better. So we reserved a table for 6 for a Friday night. We had made the reservation about a week in advance. We were sat in a side room that had apparently been booked for an event. This was akward but we were going to make it work. Unfortunately, the folks who had reserved the room felt differently and were giving us the evil eye (you know, because we requested to sit in on their party eye roll). Then the "gentleman" that booked it started calling the restaurant manager every name in the book until she had no choice but to move us, right between appetizers and our main course.

Now, let me be clear... Our group was not loud, obnoxious, or rude. We had no energy to be. We were trying to take our minds off the fact that our mother had just suddenly passed away and we were in town for her service. We were just trying to have a nice dinner together that we didn't have to cook or clean up.

So... they moved us to a table in the main room. Great! Except for our appetizers getting cold in the process. Oh, and the fact that there was a huge beam in between the two tables they had pushed together to seat us at. So we had to choose who would be the outcasts for the rest of the dinner and sit behind the mini wall. Fun.

The rest of the meal was quiet as we tried to wrap our heads around the rudeness of the man who booked the party, the restaurants idea of fixing said problem, and the bad situation that we were thrown into on one of the hardest nights of our lives.

The restaurant tried to make it right, taking half our meal cost off of the bill, expressing that the man who booked that room had been warned there might be a table or two seated in that area with them (but he apparently forgot that part of the agreement that night), and gave us many apologies for the way the whole thing had turned out.

In the end, there were many things wrong with how this was handled but things are always clearer in hindsight. The restaurant probably should not rent a space if they cannot keep it private to that group. If they gave him a discount for having other tables allowed to be sat, they probably should have highlighted and bold type faced that part of the agreement (although to me he didn't seem like he thought anything applied to him. He struck me as the 'do you know who I am?' type). And, they should have waited just a bit longer to change or table to one that could actually be used for a 6 top. Or we could have waited longer to be seated in the first place, in the main dining room, where none of this would have happened. (that last option is the best option in my opinion, but again...hindsight). But overall it unfortunately left a horrible memory for a more horrible weekend in our minds that we won't soon forget. I just really hope that "gentleman's" for gets run over by his golf cart. Twice. (did I say...

Okay, so Nonna's "USED TO BE" amazing! It was our go-to for absolutely amazing Chicago style Italian food for years. And to be honest, if you haven't been here in the past you may find it amazing still too. The reason I say "USED TO BE" is because they have cut their portions in half or maybe by even more than half!!! They have also GREATLY reduced the amount of sausage and other meats and sea foods in their dishes to pathetic quantities. I typically stick to the same 2-3 entrees here and I am VERY familiar with them. However, when my wife and I took some friends here the other night I was so embarrassed. I had been talking up Nonna's lasagna and how amazing it is and how big of a portion they give you. I also expressed about the huge portions on the other entrees as well. When we got there I insisted our friends order the lasagna. They had been expressing how hungry they were and I knew from YEARS of experience at Nonnas that the lasagna would not disappoint on portion size! When the 3 lasagnas arrived to the table I was absolutely floored! I couldn't believe it! Inside the HUGE cast iron boat that typically would have held an enormous portion of lasagna, obviously cooked individually in the boat itself. Was a tiny, ridiculously small square of lasagna, obviously cut from a larger pan somewhere and placed in the middle of the boat!! I mean this looked pathetic! I called the waiter back to confirm we hadn't received the child's portion or something. He confirmed Nonna's had made some recent cutbacks on a few things! I can understand small cutbacks here and there on a few things to help increase profits during these high inflation times. But, to reduce the portion size of one of your most staple items by nearly 2/3rds is ridiculous! To a point where it is so over-the-top obvious that you think it's a joke. My wife had ordered the Arrabbiata pasta dish that same evening and that is well known for being absolutely packed with their famous spicy Italian sausage. She had only 3 small pieces of sausage in her dish and the dish had arrived in its normal gigantic bowl but only with a small amount of pasta centered in the bottom of the bowl not even covering the entire bottom of the bowl. This dish too had been reduced in portion size by nearly 2/3rds if not more. We left there that evening paying more than we have had to in the past and still hungry! I'm sorry to say it, because I love Nonna's SO MUCH and have ALWAYS told everyone about them. But, I don't think I can recommend Nonna's any longer. I don't know if we'll go back either. It's already hard to pay such high prices that they have for pasta, but their portion sizes had always made up for their extremely high prices. Now, the portion sizes wouldn't satisfy a young child. I just don't think I can justify paying that price for so little. I really don't want to see them go, but if they keep this up, they're sure to lose their regular clientele. I know they already had to close their...

This is a perfect example of folks not fully understanding the restaurant business despite being "veterans." The hostess at the front asked if we had a reservation dn I said know... She said, well we will see if we can get you in, it's getting very busy. The restaurant wasn't full at all and it was only 545. Someone else came and sat us and we had a great table 2 minutes after walked in. Gimme a break with being busy lady! At no point in the 90 minutes we were there was the restaurant full.

If you want to accept reservations and have a more upscale vibe 2 things need to happen. The bitter older hostess should not tell people the restaurant is busy when it clearly is less than 1/2 full. And you should really up the quality of the food. Restaurants need to season the food before it is brought to the table. Everything we had was super bland save the calamari which was also bland but spicy and I liked that. I had the chicken marsala and the chicken was dry and not at all seasoned, like no no seasoning. The marasala sauce was also somehow super bland. It was also 21 bucks for the dish and it's half a chicken breast (fileted to save cost I am sure) about 2 ounces of pasta and a couple tablespoons of sauce. So over priced but would have been happier if the food wasn't terrible. I ordered a Caeser salad and the portion, for 9 dollars was a joke. The dressing actually tasted good... I think they may make that on site and it was okay. But it's the smallest salad I've ever seen in my life. Most decent and even bad Italian restaurants will chip in a little soup or salad if they are charging over 20 bucks for an entree.

My wife had the piccata and said it was okay.

Also, a word to the ownership... If you stop taking reservations, you can increase the amount of tables you serve on a daily basis. This would assist with keeping your food costs down for your guests.... It's simply WAY over priced for what you get. There were 3 booths reserved to hold the table which I am guessing happens every weekend. Stop taking reservations as they really aren't needed. It's not that busy of a place.

I did give 2 stars as the bartenders who took care of us were sweet and helpful.

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