(UPDATED) Just ate here again, this time on a Saturday evening with my wife as we returned from out of town. We had Marcos as our server (one of the great wait staff from my first visit with the larger group) and he was once again fantastic. He loves his job and is all smiles all the time, as well as very attentive with service. The entire staff was constantly moving and very efficient. Kudos to the team.
They've got a wide-ranging set of choices on the menu, so something there for everyone. We got the 3-pasta combo with a side salad and it was excellent. Their garlic knot bread and seasoned melted butter dip is outstanding and addictive. Next time we'll bring a larger appetite and try one of the chicken or veal plates, which all sound excellent, too.
This is a great venue and choice for Italian and is becoming one of our go-tos. Highly recommended, and worth the drive even if you have to go a bit further like we did from the area north of 1604.
ORIGINAL POST A MONTH AGO: First time eating here since the previous restaurant in the location, La Cabana, shut down. We organized a farewell lunch for one of our departing military members in our organization, and it is difficult to find a location a) with enough room for large groups and b) that don't charge a fee for hosting them. We arranged it for today, a Monday, but it turns out there was a mix-up, as the restaurant is normally not open on Mondays. Rather than say sorry, we made a mistake, but you need to find another location (which would have been very difficult on short notice), the owner made the decision to open up for our party of 30 and host the lunch. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you do customer service.
The staff serving us were all terrific and upbeat. They made us feel welcome and never seemed like they didn't want to be there. Considering how large our party was, total credit goes to the kitchen staff and the fact that they got our orders out pretty quickly once all were taken by the waiter.
The food itself was very good, and everyone was impressed for our first visit. I would also point out that the "Daily Special" menu had a very reasonable price of $11.99, with a good range of basic menu choices that came with fresh bread knots and a butter/herb/garlic dip, a salad or soup, and a drink. I had the stromboli, which was so big I could only eat half of it. Taste was excellent and for the price value was excellent.
Only slight negative is that they need to work out the billing at the end. It took probably 30 mins to get all the tickets worked out individually, cards/cash gathered up, and all finalized. Some suggestions would be to have someone else helping the waiter to start ringing them up as they are collected, get a portable system that makes it smoother at tableside, or get the on-table system that allows customers to do it right there. Either way, a little faster for large groups would be good.
Overall, an impressive first experience and I for one will be back with my wife for an evening meal for sure. We were all happy with the experience and recommend a try for anyone who has not been there. Thanks to the owner and the entire...
Read moreI like to visit new restaurants here and there. Tonight was a first for me and our party of 7. We arrived at 630pm, most of our party got there about 7pm which was fine. Was about 20min wait on table but that was ok since most our party wasn't there yet, when the hostess was seating us, the busboy was still cleaning the tables an separated them apart which we waited around for them to figure out why. The men's bathroom was slippery, and it sure wasn't water. The bathroom looked very run down. Our female party said the womens bathroom had water on its floor. For a newish restaurant taking over an old restaurant footprint, you think they fix it up or at least have proper plumbing. After being seated, we were waiting for the rest of our party it gave me an ample amount of time to look over the many options on the menu. We started to order, and our friends son wanted a kids' pizza, but they didn't have any more pizza dough that size. No worries, they got a med to share. Everyone else ordered, I asked for a hefe-wiessen beer but they were out, then asked for Heineken they were out as well, 0-2 at this point, I try to order a sausage calzone, but was told they ran out of that size dough to make them. The waitress did find 1 hefe-wiessen shoved behind the other, so that was nice. The staff was very friendly, and the manager was nice to check in after we finished eating. So finally, I decided on Cannelloni that it wasn't very flavorful. It was a bit noisy with full house, but I could hear our conversation at the table. It stayed busy while the night went on, so they were popular on Wed night. Large space inside an outside to choose from was too dark for the kiddo to play outside. Overall, it was nice, nothing to rave about and jump up and down. I'm just 1 review of all those others. Might just been off day for them. One of the entry doors was still locked when we arrived and exited. We all had split check, my party of 2 was around $63. ( 1 appetizer, 1 soda, 1 sweet tea, 1 beer, 2 meals under $15 ea). W/20% tip was...
Read moreWe came to celebrate my son's bday. The place was very busy & we did anticipate a wait. Someone from the kitchen came out to the bar where we were sitting, asked how many in our party and had them sit us right away. I'm not sure who he was but so very thankful. Disclaimer: we had been waiting about 30 minutes & everyone had already gotten a table at this point. There were about 2 other parties besides us that also got seated by said gentleman. The service is great. They are very knowledgeable in their food, their drinks.. everything. We started with the Bruschetta alla Feta plus of course the house bread. It was delicious. The combination of flavors... All the fresh ingredients made for a good experience. It just needed some pepper & a little more seasoning. There was 4 in our party. We ordered Sausage Arrabiata, Eggplant Rollatini, Chicken Cacciatore & Chicken Dardania. All of these dishes were excellent. The flavor and balance of seasoning was on point. The cheese was so hot & stringy when putting my fork thru my entree. That's how cheese should be done! This restaurant does things homemade and you can definitely tell by the sauces and the way they fried up that eggplant and rolled it. This place is special. My son tried out the Black Forest Cheesecake & he said it was delicious. Definitely homemade in house on the premises like everything else. I'm telling you, this place is special! It's a bit on the pricey side but for what you're getting, it's definitely worth every penny: Homemade food, huge portions (all 4 of us had a box to take) delicious flavor, excellent customer service and great ambiance. They all work together for you. You've got people serving you, taking your dirty dishes, refilling drinks..all different people. You don't notice them sometimes. Like stealth ninjas... Nice ninjas! I highly...
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