Umberto's of Glen Cove — Restaurant in City of Glen Cove

Tonight, June 24th, we made the error of joining with some family members at Umberto’s in Glen Cove for dinner to celebrate our daughter’s birthday. It’s about the 10th time we’ve been there for dinner since it opened in Glen Cove. The food is almost always fantastic; the wait service has been acceptable, but never stellar. Tonight’s experience was unacceptable. The restaurant is clearly short staffed, given a “help wanted” sign in the window. Yet, they chose to accept reservations tonight for several larger parties, plus many other guests, including us. It was packed. As a matter of fact, knowing how they were so short staffed, they should have never taken our reservation. There are many other options in the Glen Cove area. It’s certainly not the waitress’s fault that her English skills were minimal, and she could barely understand most of what we were saying to her. (Someone should teach her to ask for clarification when she doesn’t understand what people are saying.) However, she misunderstood 4 out of 5 drinks on our first round, and even further after multiple corrections were attempted. Our second round of drinks was difficult to achieve, but finally worked out. While the two waitresses were somewhat pleasant (and clearly looked frenzied from working so hard in a packed restaurant), our needs were not being met appropriately. Bread arrived at the table after we were there 45 minutes (only after we asked for it), with no sight of any food order to be taken by any wait staff. We finally were able to order 3 appetizers about 55 minutes in. They arrived more than an hour in - and were delicious. Then, we were able to order the entrees, over an hour in. Delicious, except for one that was not cooked in the manner in which it was ordered (and it was stressed to make sure it would be cooked correctly). At that point, I asked to see the manager, which turned out to be another error. (We still had our entrees at the table!) The five adults at the table, if you added up their life experience in various kinds of supervisory roles, total nearly 200 years of cumulative managerial experience. What we encountered with the manager was something that we’ve never seen and never expected, and clearly, did not deserve. First off, the manager came to the table with the check already prepared (which we had not asked for, as we still had food at our table, and were planning on getting dessert). Inquiring if we wanted dessert, apparently, wasn’t an option for this manager. I complained to the manager about the problems we had. He responded in an unprecedented (in our experience) and totally inappropriate manner. I said that we understand they are short staffed, but the meal for one of our guests did not come as it was ordered. I also referenced the other mishaps that were made. I said, “I understand you are short staffed, but perhaps you shouldn’t overbook if you don’t have the staff to accommodate the people.” I told him that I expected that he would make some kind of offer to remediate, on at least some level, what had turned out to be an obvious bad experience for us. Instead, he handed me the check (which, again, hadn't yet asked for), so we were not able to sing, “Happy Birthday!” I said that I would expect he would at least take off for the meal that was overcooked. He did nothing of the sort. Instead of doing the right thing, the manager said, “I did what’s right for the restaurant.” I told him I would write the truth about our experience online - and he said, “Do whatever you have to do - I did what I have to do.” At that point, quite honestly, I thought he had already appropriately adjusted the check, as any good manager would do (or, at least, offered something!). Clearly I was wrong as no adjustments were made on the check, as I learned once I viewed it. (ran out of room - more details in Yelp review) Note: I saw how the restaurant responded to this review - it's further evidence of how they treat customers and speaks for itself, aside from the bold-faced...

After God created the heavens and earth, separated the seas and skies, gathered the water and grew the vegetation he decided to rest on the seventh day. What the authors of the Bible failed to document was that on that day, an overwhelming hunger manifested in him, one that could not be satisfied with only his writings BUT needed to also tickle the taste buds. So, "The Great" Umbertos Of Glen Cove was created to take care of everyone's hunger here on earth and we are all that much better and happy for it. Thru time "The Great" Umbertos decided to create NY's BEST BRICK OVEN PIZZA (meat lover) and BUFFALO CALAMARI and the rest as they say is history. Umbertos manages the appetite of my wife and mine each and every Friday evening and most definitely do an extraordinary job (to say the least) and my wife and I couldn't be happier. The owners along with their Umbertos staff are "The Tops" as Mel Tormae would say. Umbertos is to culinary arts what Glen is to carpentry -"A TRUE VISIONARY!"- So in conclusion, don't walk BUT run to Umbertos because you don't want them, you NEED them for all your belly filling needs. xoxoxoxoxoxo Jen...

Summer 2023 I've only had their pizza pie so far, but that is outstanding. I do ask for well done on all my pies, and they hit it perfectly. Bottom is like a good loaf of Italian bread, just on the edge of burning, but not burnt. And as important as the bottom is, the top is not scorched, but still soft as mozz should be. This is a difficult task, that few pizza shops can achieve correctly. I am not sure if this Umbertos is related to New Hyde Park Umbertos, but their pie makes me think it is. I dinged service two stars, because they close early sometimes, and that sucks. You think you have till 9pm, as the door and wesite says 9pm, and at 8pm they are inside waiving you away, saying they are closed. That's just not good business. Consistency wins in the food business.

Summer 2025 Update the stars to 5, as they dont seem to have issues with closing times anymore. Pies are still consistently good....