Gola Osteria Restaurant & Catering — Restaurant in City of Ithaca

I typically don’t leave reviews like this, but I have to say I’m extremely disappointed with the result of the quantity, quality, and service for our wedding.

I’ve asked those invited to give me their reviews so that I can relay everything in one, long post out of respect.

Here is a compilation of 10 reviews, starting with bride & groom:

Bride: Food was cold, the GF pasta was mashed and the sauce was burnt, thickish/cold consistency and sparse. This was the meal I requested as someone who is unable to eat gluten or dairy. I had 2 bites and couldn’t fathom eating another, so I did not eat. I’ve never had GF pasta be so bland, mashed and over cooked, and it was disappointing this being my only option—turned out the way it did.

Groom: The chicken Parm had good flavor but was mostly burnt/over cooked which made it drier. The sausage was too spicy and the non-GF pasta was way over cooked as well. The bread was good.

Guest 1: Chicken parm was burnt but had OK flavor. Bread was good but the cheese platters made no sense. How do you serve without crackers?? Sausage was too spicy and the food was colder than lukewarm. Overall wasn’t the best, wasn’t the worst.

Guest 2: The salad was really good! The dressing too was really good but when I went back for seconds there was none left. It was a small wedding, so it didn’t make sense how it was already gone. I learned some people didn’t get any either which was sad to hear. I didn’t like the rosemary chicken, it was dry and didn’t have much flavor in my opinion. The chicken parm was underwhelming, and the regular pasta was too overcooked and mushy. It was OK overall but I wouldn’t order from there.

Guest 3: Bread was good but that was about it because the food was lukewarm and bland. Didn’t enjoy any of it. The cake was redeeming from the dinner disappointment. A lot of people were hungry so they settled.

Guest 4: The bread was delicious! Fluffy and everything. The sausage made no sense to me because it compacted a lot of heat but didn’t belong anywhere? I think it was supposed to be a sandwich but none of the bread was sliced. Being Italian, I have a high caliber for quality of Italian food and this missed the mark. The pasta was mush and the sauce was bland and cold. The chicken parm was probably the best dish and that isn’t saying much. It was okay overall, but I didn’t go back for seconds.

Guest 5: I’m not a picky eater so I don’t have too many complaints. I used to work for a catering business so I don’t blame them for the food being cold but everything was over cooked and tasted really bland. When you think of Italian, that doesn’t really come to mind.

Guest 6: By the time it was my tables turn to be served there was no more salad left. I don’t eat meat so my options were limited after that. I did enjoy the bread very much! But the pasta wasn’t great. Very bland and over cooked. I was so hungry I didn’t care but it’s not anything I would order again.

Guest 7: Food was lukewarm and bland. It was OK overall.

Guest 8: I enjoyed elements of the food but cohesively, it didn’t come together. The sausage would have been great as a sandwich but on its own it was too spicy & a bit on the dry side. The chicken parm was good but over cooked & overshadowed by the mushy pasta. The salad was so yummy and when I went back for more it was all gone! There were these cheese platters spread throughout the venue that had a strong odor and didn’t look appetizing. There were no crackers or wraps to use for them, so it was a bit odd.

Guest 9: Chicken parm was good but tasted dry. If you like mushy pasta then you’d like the dish. I’m not a big fan of it but I’ll eat anything so it wasn’t a big deal. The rosemary chicken was a big let down tho because the flavor was not there and it tasted so dry. OK experience.

Guest 10: I felt bad because you [speaking to bride] didn’t eat! The food was really over cooked and hard to eat unless you had an appetite. It was a bummer for sure but the cake made up for it! ( I know that was catered...

I dined at Gola Osteria on Friday, October 15th. I was joined by my sister and brother-in-law as a celebration dinner for his birthday.

Our reservation was for 6 PM and we were seated promptly. Our server, Steve W. was fine initially. He never told us his name and seemed hurried. We enjoyed lovely salads, and a yummy appetizer. The wine was sublime.

All went well until more tables were seated. Our server was covering inside and the porch. Our meals were delivered by someone other than our server. Our server finally came and asked how the food was without waiting for our answers. Very robotic. He offered no ground pepper or any other pleasantries that I have experienced in the past while dining at Gola. I was there in April, 2021 and had a lovely experience.

There was a large table that arrived in the main room and our server was very attentive to that table. I was facing the room and made eye contact with our server several times.

We finished dinner, and were taking portions home. The food was scrumptious. As usual. We sat for at least a half hour with our plates in front of us, our server never once coming to our table. Finally a young girl came to the table and offered to clear and prepare our take home packages. Still our server never came to our table.

Another 15 minutes passed with no one coming to the table. My brother-in-law went to fetch dessert menus. Another 10 minutes passed...still no one. I went to the fellow who seemed to be a monitor and explained that our waiter was ignoring us. He apologized. Another 10 minutes passed and our server finally came to the table and said "I'm here". I replied that he was ignoring us. Instead of apologizing, he said he was busy. I replied that I was his dining guest as well. He finally apologized...without much sincerity.

We enjoyed dessert. Our server brought the check. I always always tip at least 20%, but only tipped 10% this evening.

I know with Covid things have been extremely tremulous for all of us, and especially for restaurants and the entire service industry.

I love Gola Osteria and have always had wonderful servers. If our server had come to our table and been kind and less curt, it would have been very welcome.

I write this missive to alert you that this server missed the mark dreadfully this evening. And while it didn't put the kibosh on our celebration, it was disappointing.

I look forward to my next dining experience at Gola returning to its pleasant, delightful self.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it creates an awareness, especially if there is something amiss in the...

This review is specifically for the catering team, not the restaurant itself.

The food was good, but an event is the sum of its parts. We asked for labbatt blue 3 times, very early on. This beer is the only one my family drinks, and was a very important beer to have at this event. It’s a pretty easy beer to source in upstate New York. They didn’t have it for our day - and when asked why, the catering lead (who we had been working with directly, the whole time) told us that since it was a late addition, they weren’t able to source it. This was something that we had asked for at our tasting, as it was something extremely important to my family. And this was the level of attention to detail that we received in every aspect. Our invoice was incorrect every time we received it. We were double charged for things that were supposed to be included, such as a side in our package. We expressly stated which cookies we wanted, which was also included, and received the wrong ones. They brought cookies with nuts, unlabeled, and we had guests with nut allergies. We requested iced tea and lemonade, and received neither. I don’t drink, and this was important for me to have at my wedding. We couldn’t get a PDF of the menu or bar prices from the catering lead for a long time. Communication throughout the whole planing phase was like pulling teeth. The team had two additional weddings to ours that day. This of course would have been fine for a well organized team who had everything in order. They, unfortunately, were neither. We requested two bartenders, so that our bar lines weren’t outrageous after the ceremony, when everyone goes to the bar. We requested pre poured wines. Or at least someone to go down the line to get canned beers. Neither of those things were executed. They had run out of ice (before the event started) and sent one of the bartenders to get more. This resulted in very long lines for our guests, which we were trying to avoid by requesting two bartenders. This was a very important day for us, and my whole family didn’t have the beer that they drink, I didn’t have my favorite beverages, and tea service at the end was completely forgotten. I had to expressly ask for something that we purchased. And when the water came out, it was cold. The venue owner went and made me tea from her home, because she noticed that I was sick and also don’t drink coffee. The owner reached out and offered us a refund for the services we didn’t receive, but this doesn’t change our day. I don’t want this is happen to anyone else on a day that it planned with such care as your...