Tavola — Restaurant in Charlottesville

Had an extremely negative experience here tonight. My friends and I drove 2 hrs to visit Charlottesville and enjoy a nice meal at Tavola, an establishment we have all previously raved about.

We were seated at 5pm - our drink and food orders were taken and we received our apps and drinks promptly. This was the extent of any quality service that we received. We proceeded to wait nearly 2 hours for our entrées to arrive, which is completely unacceptable, even for a busy dinner rush. To make matters worse, we counted 4+ tables around ours that were seated after us, ate their food, and even paid before we got the first plate on our table.

Upon expressing our disappointment to our waiter, we were met with no apology or clear explanation to our long wait. The manager and owner, Michael, was called over and simply stated that our food took so long to come out because our appetizer plates had not yet been cleared. This was not explained to us beforehand (our waiter Dallas, tried to convince us otherwise and argued with me when all 5 of us were in agreement that he had NOT in fact explained to us that our orders would not be put in until after our plates were cleared). Again, no apology from the manager for lack of communication, just condescending words all around. We were told to just try to enjoy the food and to be happy that at least the dishes had finally come out. No explanation as to why all the other surrounding tables had been prioritized over us, when they too had ordered appetizers and did not experience the same wait as us.

Only when the manager was called over for the second time was when we received some semblance of an apology, and even then, Michael followed up with a weak excuse saying that the appetizers were the problem, insinuating that somehow we were in the wrong and just did not know how restaurants worked. We were offered free dessert for the nearly 2 hour wait, which we did not accept.

Our waiter came back with the check and was quite hostile with my friend, who again tried to express her disappointment with the service. Dallas was rude, defensive, and condescending. He victimized himself, saying that he wasn't comfortable with the way my friend was speaking to him, though we all spoke calmly. He went so far as to correct my friend on her pronunciation of the restaurant name in the middle of her speaking, seemingly in an attempt to embarrass her, which was totally uncalled for and irrelevant to the situation. We were astonished by such awful treatment.

If this establishment is comfortable with their waitstaff acting in this manner (all while charging parties an automatic 20% gratuity), I cannot recommend that anyone dine here. I encourage you to seek out local businesses who value all customers and strive to remedy matters in which they are at fault. A 30 minute wait - even up to an hour wait - for dinner is reasonable given a busy restaurant. But to be upset and vocal about a nearly 2 hour wait is valid, and the owner of Tavola swept our concerns under the rug and diminished every single complaint we had, while clearing the staff and management of any blame. We were talked down to and not made to feel like we were welcome in the space. There are so many other amazing options in Charlottesville and I encourage you to explore those...

We were a party of 3 and we sat at the chefs counter. Our server was wonderful. She explained the menu to my dinner partners. I love wonderful appetizers & kept ordering everything I saw. Where do I start? My friend is extremely allergic to nuts & our waitressed listened & she distinguished what pestos had nuts in it. We started with the steamed mussels, delicious! I order the 3 bruschetta’. Creative & refreshing. I wanted more. The Puréed peas with whipped goat cheese was great. The cabbage purée with pickled onions was sweet & lite. I definitely would oder it again if available. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the heirloom tomatoes, stuffed with mozzarella on a sea of buttermilk dressing & a mild pesto. The tomato was blanched.& peeled. It was warmed with a torch. I wanted to pick up the plate & lick it. ( I didn’t). The tomato skin was crisp and served on top. I’m not a fan of tomatoes. However I have been converted. The tomato was refreshing & lite. I wanted more!! Then we had the grilled shrimp with arugula. Seasoned with a touch of garlic & salt & pepper. I wanted to work my way through the menu. One of my friends ate whatever I chose for her. We finally ordered our entrees. My wife had fresh pasta with bolognese sauce & it is excellent.Bolognese sauce is one of my favorite. My friend ordered grilled Bronzino. The fish was fresh, tender & cooked perfectly. I almost ordered the fish to bring home. I order pasta with fruit mare with pasta. It had a touch of heat from Calabria chilis. I always share my food. However this time my friend got just a bite & no more. My co- dinners had salads too. Which looked beautiful. Jennifer was preparing appetizer she was very knowledgeable & shared & answered questions. She let me have a taste of the olive oil which was lite on the pallet. The balsamic.vinegar had body & sweetly tangy on my tongue. I drank the whole thing. I’m Italian & food is my thing. I drive my wife crazy, we finish dinner & she knows I’m already thinking about tomorrow’s dinner. In my opinion Tavola has elevated Italian food. I was happy to see new fresh & lite dishes. I can’t wait to return to continue going through the menu. Desert was next level. The flourless chocolate cake with fresh cherry gelato was lite & had just enough sweetness, it was not overpowering my platte’s memory of dinner. The cheesecake w/strawberries was lite & delicious. The tiramisu was one of the best I ever had. It is my favorite. I brought home what I didn’t eat. It will be breakfast, w/espresso latte. I had a conversation with the chef & encouraged him to find a sponsor him to cook at the James Beard Foundation. I spoke to chef, told him I would go to NY Be a volunteer for him. I have volunteered there in the past & it was an incredible experience. I believe the Chef has a vision to make it there. I suggested he consider it & look into. Anyway we had a wonderful dinning experience. Out wonderful waitress checked in with us. She had perfect timing. She was in-sink with us & was there as I kept ordering app & asking questions. I know this is a long review & I don’t usually write reviews. Go to Tavola enjoy great food & service!! I can’t...

don't eat here. the owner, michael, does not take responsibility for problems that occur at their restaurant. michael, try not shifting the blame on the customers. we were done with our apps fifteen minutes after they arrived. for the entrees to take and hour and a half is ridiculous. you signing off on that and offering dessert to placate us, instead of actually listening to our frustrations without disruption and condescension every few seconds - disappointing.

additionally, when i spoke about our disappointment regarding the operation of the restaurant, dallas (the waiter) butted in that he cannot communicate our concerns (which didn't make sense because they had grabbed the manager for us twice already). confused, i responded that it was unfortunate their service turned out to be like this - to which dallas began taking things personally (their words). dallas elected to stay by our table despite having previously made a move to leave, they began egging and taunting us on to say more. as we reiterated why we were upset, dallas suddenly butts in that we made them uncomfortable even though they taunted us to clarify our disappointment. we said nothing new that dallas hadn't heard before, so it was so appalling to see them manipulate the scenario and paint themselves as the victim. we appreciate that dallas ensured that nuts were not included in our meal due to my friend's allergy, but that sudden turn of attitude was shocking.

the victimizing, lack of accountability, blaming customers, and condescension we experienced at this restaurant was ghastly. they tried shifting the blame, tried blaming the busy crowd (the whole room almost turned over with new customers before we got our meal because they had already been served so that is no excuse and we arrived right at 5PM), and tried using their "years of experience" to downplay our frustrations (why do they always fall back on that as though we don't have our own fair share of experience?) michael and dallas could not have tried harder at gaslighting their customers and belittling them as they did tonight with us.

we also happened to be some of the VERY few minorities at this establishment at the time, so we did wonder if they would have taken our words with much more gravity and seriousness had we been white and older like the majority. incredibly hurtful behavior from two separate individuals.

to those whom cooked our food and made our drinks, thank you. we did not get to enjoy them fully due to your coworker and owner. the night had started off so well only to turn out like this.

they may respond to this and twist our words, so i hope that whomever is reading this that you take our words to heart. there are kinder and better-tasting restaurants in the area you should go to...