Ever Andalo — Restaurant in Charlotte

I had the pleasure of dining at ever andalo during the very first week they opened before the porcetta was on the menu. It was a wonderful experience, the food was perfect and the service was impeccable. However my second experience wasn’t so grand. The food was middling at best, there were good aspects such as the tuna crudo and the Cocktails. And the service was still really good, not as good as the first week, but still very good. Most of the food was either over or under salted. The burrata was not nearly as smooth as our previous experience, it felt more like ricotta, but the bread they serve it with is great and kind of hides the fact that there’s a flavor component missing. The artichoke was well prepared, but difficult to eat due to the size of the hearts. They should be cut so they can lie flat on the plate as opposed to being round and rolling around. The Branzino was good, but the salad that is served on the side is unnecessary and honestly detracts from the fish. The mushroom tortellini, the sauce was grainy and the mushrooms felt boiled in texture. They had no color, the flavor of the mushrooms was lost because the flavor wasn’t developed during cooking. If it weren’t for the garnishes it would just be a sad gray and beige plate of food. The worst of all, which should’ve been the easiest and best, was the chicken piccata. The chicken itself was fantastic. It’s not traditional in that it’s grilled and not a fried or or sautéed ready cutlet. However when the dish was presented it had an orangey red tomato or roasted red pepper sauce with capers and garlic and a couple of lemon slices on the side. The sauce itself resembled Heinz 57 with capers in it. When I visited the restaurant the first week it was a non-traditional piccata, as stated before the chicken was grilled. The sauce that night was the BEST traditional piccata I’ve ever had the pleasure Of eating. It was perfection. Lemony, garlicky, capers in perfect proportion, buttery, all of the things that you want. The finesse was in the lighter take on the dish having grilled the chicken. I never return food, but I did because this just wasn’t good at all and it’s not a cheap place to eat. So when I describe my issue with the dish what the chef heard was that I didn’t like capers. But capers are a key ingredient in a picatta !! The menu nowhere mentions any sort of roasted red pepper or tomato component to the sauce, it simply says whey brined with lemon, garlic, and capers. What was on the menu was not congruent to what was being presented in my opinion. I was so excited to bring my friends there because of the phenomenal meal and service that I had on my initial visit, but it was quite the disappointment. The restaurant itself is a wonderful place, it’s very noisy and I don’t mind a lively dinner atmosphere. It’s a good thing they don’t play music because the voices carry throughout that restaurant very very loudly. I often found myself shouting at my dinner companions so they could hear me. It makes me think that they should charge a little bit more for their food and serve a few less people at a time in order to keep up a consistent, elegant dining experience. It feels a bit like they’re trying to keep the chill vibe of the crêpe cellar, but it doesn’t seem to match the new concept. I will absolutely give the restaurant another shot, because everybody could have an off night. I know that they print their menus regularly, maybe today’s printing didn’t accurately reflect the changes to the chicken piccata. I imagine if someone got the dish I got tonight and had never had Ever Andalo’s chicken piccata before (or had never prepared chicken piccata or never had chicken piccata in general), they would’ve likely enjoyed the dish, but it wasn’t chicken piccata as one would expect it. I personally enjoy simple dishes prepared well and it’s why I would go for something like that at a restaurant who has more complex dishes. Doing the simple things really well is what makes a restaurant stand out to me, and Ever Andalo faded m the...

Let me start off by saying the food here is excellent. Everything came out fresh, hot, and cooked to perfection (almost). The focaccia bread and olive oil flight was exactly what I wanted it to be. We added on the ricotta and honey pistachio addition and it was excellent.

My husband had the Branzino which tasted like smoked meat, which was delicious, but it was charred on the outside, which we didn’t love. Maybe it’s supposed to be cooked that way, but it tasted just a tiny bit burnt for our taste.

The carrots are out of this world! I highly highly recommend them to share. The mushroom tortelloni was wonderful. I would’ve liked the sauce to be a bit more salty but that’s just me.

We had dinner reservations for 6:30 and we were seated immediately upon arrival which was nice. However, we were seated at a two top that was so close to another table that I felt like the four of us were having dinner together. I understand it’s a small space but I wanted to be on an intimate date night with my husband and it felt like we were just part of the conversation at the table that was 4 inches away from us. It was super-awkward, but we just laughed it off and made the best of it.

Our waiter was very kind, but his facial expressions and body language made it obvious that he was overwhelmed or just having a bad night.

My main complaint was how backed up the kitchen seemed to be. It was a packed house on a Thursday night and I know it’s a popular restaurant. However, it just seemed like a lot of time elapsed between courses to the point that we were checking our watches. Like 30+ min between appetizer and the main arriving.

Our waiter did acknowledge that the food was taking a long time twice, so at least he was aware and it wasn’t his fault. By the time we finished eating we decided not to get dessert because we are afraid it would take a long time.

Like I said, the food is excellent and we are going to try this place again but probably at a different time - maybe an early reservation or maybe around 8:30 to see if the kitchen is any faster.

Definitely try it out but just be aware it’s a loud restaurant so if you have hearing issues, you’re probably not going to be able to...

Some friends and I visited back on Wed. July 17th. Candice made us a reservation and we were seated in the back corner of the restaurant. First time visiting since Crepe Cellar closed. The server had a strange, frantic energy and couldn’t get thru one of the specials without having to grab one of our menus to read it and kept apologizing which was a little awkward. I chalked it up to everyone having an off night. Apps were tasty. We especially enjoyed the fried artichokes, hazelnuts, and the tuna. We all got a laugh at the cheese “cloud” not realizing it’s just a pile of grated cheese. There were some substitutions on the menu we were not made aware of before ordering. The salad with peaches was coming with strawberries that night we found out when ordering. My branzino was supposed to come with shaved fennel and watercress and came out with red radishes which is a completely different flavor profile, and I was uninformed the change would be made. I expressed disappointment in the missing fennel and the server said “oh they must be out and substituted that” and never checked with the kitchen to make sure that was the case or to try to rectify the situation. I will say the branding itself was delicious. I got the asparagus side, and that was probably the worst dish that came out. Stringy, tough, and overcooked. The flavors were unpleasant. I would have sent it back for something else, but our server was not present much the whole time we were there. When he did pop back to check if we needed anything, he came in with frantic energy, would see waters were empty, fill the waters, and then rush off again before he actually got an answer that we needed something. I tried to order a second martini multiple times and never got it. My friend even had to get his attention when he was about to walk away and said “he’s been trying to order another martini,” and he acknowledged that, but I never got the martini. Overall, most everything we ate was top notch, but I don’t know if I’d return if I knew I would have that server. Would like to try it again with...