Le Farfalle — Restaurant in Charleston

If I could give 10 stars I would. We came to Charleston for our anniversary/babymoon and this restaurant was the top of our must do list. We had an early dinner reservation and were seated right away. We ordered the mint condition and salted grapefruit shrub (NA) to drink and received them immediately. It’s tough to find a really good mocktail but this one was spot on!

For food, we knew from online reviews and social media exactly what we wanted to order and were so lucky to have received the last octopus carpaccio which was not only delicious, but beautifully plated as well. We also ordered the braised artichokes and warm rosemary focaccia for our appetizers and all three dishes were amazing. We’ve never had anything quite like the artichoke dish before, which my husband described as a deconstructed stuffed artichoke with bread crumbs. It was amazing on its own but also great when we dipped the focaccia. For our main entrees, we ordered the agnolotti (duck pasta) and the squid ink spaghetti (at our server’s suggestion). Both dishes were unbelievable; there are no words to adequately describe this culinary experience. The agnolotti melted in my mouth and the squid ink was such a bright and zesty dish. Thank goodness we ate light earlier in the day because we would have licked our plates clean if it weren’t frowned upon, the food was that good.

Finally, the atmosphere and staff were so warm, friendly, and welcoming. They added to the overall experience we had. The venue itself is beautiful and the layout is untraditional but feels very open and roomy. The decor choices were beautiful as well. The staff were also a delight. We had Jacob as our server and he was nothing short of wonderful. When he learned it was our anniversary and we had checked out of our hotel and would be leaving Charleston straight from dinner without ordering dessert (we were stuffed and no room left), he had a tiramisu panna cotta wrapped up with plastic spoons for us to go! Joe, the maitre’d was also very friendly and checked in on us a couple of times during the meal as well as welcoming us in when we walked in. Sometimes it feels uncomfortable or intrusive when staff make small talk at the table, but with Joe, he felt like he could have been an old friend. We didn’t meet the chef or owner but when I complimented the chef and noted how impressed we were with our experience to Jacob, he even stated that Chef Mike is a great boss too. It’s so wonderful to hear when the boss treats his staff with respect, and I do believe that respect is reflected in the atmosphere the staff creates for the guests. It certainly showed for our experience at least. If we come through Charleston again, we will absolutely visit La...

Lovely ambiance. I wanted SO badly to give “Le Farfalle” 5 stars. I voted for Le Farfalle as my favorite Italian restaurant in the annual P&C "Charleston's Choice" Awards. The experience was most memorable. The rosemary focaccia with three dipping sauces of fine olive oil, Pomodoro, and luscious whipped ricotta was slightly oily but very good. The Caesar salad was surprising. l’ve never had it with thin dressing, it’s usually thicker with mustard powder (which I didn't taste) so it was different but tasty with anchovies which was on point. The polpetti (meatballs with currants or raisins and pignoli) reminded me of home. They were distinctly Reggio-Calabria style and authentic. The crabcake was very fresh but would've been nice served with a sauce. The absolute STAR was the Filet … wow, and not even at a steakhouse!… It was like butter, probably one of the best steaks I’ve ever eaten and I'm normally a ribeye fan. The pasta with peppercorn sauce was perfectly paired with the filet. l could also see that as a main with beef tips. The chef truly outdid himself with our meal. We ended with a Kir Royal and 24 Karat (carrot) cake that had pineapple and coconut, fabulous. Now for the reason I couldn't give the 5 stars. The Hostess (she was pregnant -possibly not feeling well?) was overall bossy and snippy/short to the parties that didn’t have reservations. It seemed that she couldn't be bothered and didn't acknowledge anyone until they asked for a table. She appeared overall annoyed, just trying to look busy. Two people standing at the kitchen entrance adjusted the lighting up and down a few times during our meal. That was uncomfortable. Our server, Michael, was truly superior. A Rockstar couldn't have managed better. He had 5 tables within 45 minutes and more than two of those in addition to us had wine service which caused the kitchen to back up -so our main course took over an hour after the appetizers were eaten (we cancelled one entree) and we even finished our bottle of wine before the entree ever came. Then, the lack of respect from the Sommelier to the Bartender (Chris) in front of a full bar of guests, was something l have to acknowledge. That Sommelier also served our bottle of wine tableside and was aware the Bartender was serving us cocktails when she embarrassed him. The future of a great restaurant can’t flourish with staff that lacks teamwork, especially in front of guests. I'd say communicate better and keep any problems in the back of the house, not the dining room.

We’ll be back again for the excellent food but not on a busy weekend. Highly recommend! *TIPS: You MUST have reservations. You can’t drink at the bar unless you...

Summary: We were promised that we would have the food out on time as some of our group had a ghost tour planned. The restaurant did not deliver the food to us at all and physically and verbally threatened us. The manager came out angry and unprofessional, we will never be eating here again.

The kids in our group had signed up for a ghost tour and needed to leave by 9:15. We let our waiter know (when we got there around 8) and he promised us that the kids food would be prioritized and they would have plenty of time to eat. He even came back later to make sure that he knew which people needed to leave early.

We got our appetizers rather quickly, but 9:10 came around and our food still wasn't ready. One member of our party tracked down our waiter and asked about the status of the food and his response was simply "I don't run the kitchen."

After this unprofessional and unhelpful response we asked to speak with the manager. We were prepared to be understanding with the manager and just wanted to figure out what was going on with our food, but the manager came out extremely irritated and unprofessional and only escalated the situation. After trying to reason with the manager, we decided to leave the restaurant. We were prepared to pay for the food and wine that we had already received (around $200) but we were not going to pay for the food that we were promised multiple times that we would get, but never received (around $500+).

After we started to leave we were swarmed by servers and cooks from the kitchen who proceeded to threaten us and physically prevent us from leaving. The manager continued to escalate the situation by verbally threatening a member of our group. The manager proceeded to call the cops and multiple police officers arrived at the restaurant to clear up the situation.

The restaurant staff didn't seem to care about the other people eating in the restaurant as they made no attempt to move the situation outside or clear out any of the many staff that they had brought out to threaten and confine us with.

After talking with the police, we agreed to pay for the food and wine that we received but they told us that we did not have to pay for the food we ordered but didn't receive. They even said that we should of called them once the staff began to verbally and physically threaten us.

Our kids left for their ghost tour hungry and the rest of the group went out to find another restaurant to eat at around 10pm. The behavior by the restaurant staff was absolutely unacceptable and we will not be...