Il Posto Bistro — Restaurant in City of Canandaigua

First time here, food tasted great but I wanted dinner not a appetizer. No salad, no bread and barely any food in my dish. Don't even seem like I ate, will not return again topped off with a $130 bill for me, my wife, and teen son. Couldn't find a way to respond to owners reply so I'll add to my review.

First of all, I did not walk in with an attitude, didn't know that " not wanting any water" is an attitude. Yes I did order a captain and coke with my meal like many others do does that make me a bad person or "trouble" as the owner stated? As far as my meal, my wife and son got a reasonable portion, I did not! When waitress came back to ask how things were my food was gone while my wife and son were basically just beginning to eat. When asked by waitress I told her I was hungry and barely got any food. Her exact response was a shrug of the shoulders and a "I'm sorry". Never once was I offered more food so don't lie about it. I also didn't say I wasn't paying the bill, I asked to see the owner which the waitress went and got. I pointed out to the owner the prices on the menu and what I was charged was more than what the menu said, so again Denise tell the truth or get your prices straight. As far as the bill, I tried to give you my card to pay and you wouldn't take it, I was in no way looking for a free meal but for a $130 I sure as hell shouldn't be walking out hungry. Not to mention for that kind of money one would think you would at least get a salad and or bread. If you think I care about the $ your badly mistaken, we go out to eat at fine establishments 2-3 times a week, Case de pasta, posseco's, Otto Tomotos, Bella's in Geneva, just to name a few and have never once walked out hungry or had a $130 bill for the 3 of us (usually about a $100). As far as you saying I was rude well I'm sorry for that but I don't take being ripped off lightly and will gladly speak my mind every time, I wasn't loud or belligerent in any way for your other customers to hear me so I don't know what you would have called the police for but whatever floats your boat. Last but not least Denise, you don't have to worry about banning me LMAO because I have no desire to ever visit your place again and will make sure I share my experience. I guess I should have read farther into your reviews before we came because now that I have I see I'm not the only one that has had these issues. Have a nice day...

In one simple sentence, I'd describe this place as a casual-dining, Italian Bistro with excellent service, exceptional food and well-balanced drinks. I'll start with our server, Kayley - that I immediately liked - but being our first time here - I didn't know whether her tastes aligned with ours and whether she could be 'trusted'. She absolutely earned it - when we go back I'll ask to be in her section. Her first recommendation was for a fried goat cheese balls - and we like goat cheese - but I'd describe this dish as perfection. The thinly-breaded exterior was golden brown and texturally executed perfectly; the cheesy interior held its shape but was slightly soft, the relish gave it some heat and the arugula gave it something fresh as well as slightly bitter, but in a good way. We both had drinks too - me the Fig Old-Fashioned and my better half had a salted caramel martini. Again Kayley described the martini as 'drinking dessert' - again, spot on description. I'm a bourbon fan - and I thought this Old-Fashioned was well balanced, a little bit of smoky/earthiness from the fig - and the bourbon was there, but not bashing you over the head. Our entrees included the Bolognese and Gorgonzola. We only ate half to save room for dessert - and again both were excellent - and still great when we had the leftovers for lunch then extra day. Be aware - the gorgonzola 'funk' isn't for everybody - this dish was probably my least favorite of the night; but it was still very good. I liked it better the next day cold - my only suggestion would be to boost the ratio of asparagus and mushrooms. We came for the Tiramisu - and ended up getting that one to go when (again, thanks to Kayley) we heard about the chocolate boudino and a bourbon-apple, amaretto panna cotta. The turamiso was breakfast the next day - and still wonderful, the boudino - be warned - was roll-your-eyes-back-in-your-head-in-a-good-way sweet, and the Panna cotta was nice. Best meal we've had from beginning to end in a...

Yelp "filtered out" my review. So here it is: I want to start by saying our meals were all great. But just great meals does not make a restaurant experience.

And, now on to the bad. Where to begin...I know they were busy, but our server was not attentive. We ran out of water immediately, she did not replenish our supply for the entire meal. When my husband asked what a "hanger steak" was, she could not describe it. Instead, she patted herself on the ribs and said, "this part" which we interpreted as "the flank"? (Glad we didn't order the rump roast. But come on, you really can't describe your own food?)

Then the bill came-we were two couples asking for separate checks. What a mess to try to figure out. Our server claimed she could not make it clear because "we don't have a point of sale system". We redid her addition and she had overcharged both couples. She took the checks back with no apology. When the hostess asked if everything was okay, we told her our checks were wrong and we would have been overcharged if we had not recalculated them. She laughed it off. She then said, "we don't have a point of sale system". YES, WE KNOW. I asked if they had a calculator in the back and reminded her that it was first grade arithmetic. She said they had a calculator and instead of an apology, she gave me a sneer! Lovely.

We all left a little P.O.ed at the mess up and the way-over-priced drinks.

If I could speak to the owner, I would say, "You have such great food. Please improve the front of your house and reconsider your top shelf...