Pane Vino On The River — Restaurant in City of Rochester

If I could give this restaurant negative stars, believe me, I would. Save yourself. Go to The Cheesecake Factory instead. At least there, the food doesn’t taste like an insult you paid for.

I really, genuinely wanted to love this place. I came in rooting for them — a local, upscale spot, promising potential. What I got instead was one of the most disappointing meals I’ve had in years.

Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t think I’m better than anybody — but I have definitely experienced better than… whatever this was. I’ve eaten at Blue Fin, Carmine’s, the Tiffany Blue Box Café, the Chart House in Edgewater, and proper Brooklyn steakhouses. I know what good service and atmosphere feel like. And just as clearly, I know when I’m being served mediocrity wrapped up in an oversized, overpriced menu.

Because here’s the thing: I don’t need a chandelier dangling over my head to recognize when something tastes like trash. I’m perfectly happy at Cheesecake Factory too, if the food’s good. Good food is good food. Bad food? Bad food is whatever hostage situation they were trying to pass off here.

By the time our plates hit the table, I found myself wishing we had gone to Cheesecake Factory instead. I shouldn’t have to sit at a supposedly “prestigious” restaurant and wish I was eating chain food. But that’s exactly what happened.

Yes, it’s a chain. Yes, it’s commercial. But at least there, you know what you’re getting — steady food, pleasant service, and a night that actually feels worth it. Here? It felt like they were trying to fake “prestige” without a clue how.

Now the food. Oh god, the food: The fettuccine Alfredo was dry, bland, and overcooked — like someone quit halfway through making it. The chicken francese? Drowning in lemon water, soggy, falling apart before you could even stab it with a fork. It looked tired. It tasted worse.

You know that tacky feeling when chicken is cooked so badly it’s like chewing gum? Yeah. That’s what they served me. And somehow thought $30+ was a fair trade for the privilege of chewing rubber.

Nothing tasted seasoned. Nothing had richness or balance. It was just plate after plate of mediocrity trying to look fancy.

Now before anyone jumps in with, “Why didn’t you just send it back?” — here’s why: After our original waitress vanished, they sent in reinforcements. A second, pushier server kept aggressively reminding us, “This was made by our head chef! Let us know how it tastes!” Sending two meals back under that kind of hovering pressure wouldn’t have solved anything. This wasn’t about a bad dish. It was realizing the kitchen, leadership, and service all missed the mark.

After the second forkful of soggy chicken slid off my fork like wet paper, I wasn’t about to stay and hope third time’s the charm. I just wanted out. Nothing was going to save that meal, not a re-cook, not a free dessert, nothing.

It’s the kind of half-hearted disaster that belongs on Kitchen Nightmares. Overpriced dishes. No clear vision. A confused atmosphere. And food that could barely even be called edible.

The ambiance? Just as dreadful. If you’re going to charge fine-dining prices, you should at least attempt to create an experience. Instead, the place felt desperate, awkward, and half-finished.

If you’ve never eaten outside of Rochester, maybe you’d think this was fancy. Maybe if you’ve never set foot inside a real city restaurant, you’d think this was special. But for anyone who’s ever tasted food that had a real chef’s hands on it? It was just sad. Pathetic, really.

It’s nights like this that make me ache for New York City.

Because anyone who’s eaten real food even once would recognize this disaster immediately for what it is: an unforgivable waste of time, money, and appetite

Yes, I was that annoyed. Yes, this is my first ever Google review because it...

Would not return — some of the worst service I have ever experienced.

Our experience began with a 7:30 PM reservation for four. When we arrived, there were only three people at the bar, with seven empty tables inside and two outside. Despite this, we were left waiting.

There was no one at the hostess stand when we entered. After about five minutes, the hostess appeared and said she’d “be right with us.” This happened three more times, leaving us standing there for another ten minutes.

When we were finally seated—at a table marked “reserved”—we asked if we could sit at another open table farther from the live music. The hostess, clearly surprised by the request, responded, “Uhhhhhhhhh, we’re actually saving that table for someone else.” At that point, it was obvious we were not going to be a priority for the evening.

The menus offered no information about side options or specials. After about 10 minutes, our waitress arrived and began with, “We’re out of several special options.” We placed our drink orders. Again, the restaurant had multiple open tables and empty bar seats, yet it took 20 minutes to receive our drinks and place our dinner orders.

One person in our party asked if it was possible to order a side of pasta, even though it wasn’t on the menu. The waitress scoffed and replied, “Yes, we have everything. What do you want?”

Thirty minutes after our reservation time, we finally placed our dinner order. Then we waited. For 1 hour and 15 minutes, we received no food—not even a salad. Our waitress never checked in, didn’t offer water refills, and didn’t ask if we wanted another round of drinks. Meanwhile, every other table had a carafe of water, and the chef was seen chatting with other patrons.

Eventually, our salads arrived—1 hour and 15 minutes after ordering. Our entrees came another 30 minutes after that. At that point—nearly two hours after our reservation—the staff finally brought us a carafe of water.

It was painfully clear the restaurant prioritized a select few guests, who were given preferred seating, water, and attentive service.

To be fair, the food was good—though hunger may have clouded our judgment. One person in our party resorted to eating the Parmesan cheese from the bread basket while we waited.

I had high hopes, especially given the lovely ambiance by the river. But I left bitterly disappointed by the appalling service. I will not...

We really wanted to love this place. Everything was going okay until we got seated. I say this because while they were accommodating us, we went to the bar and order drinks. We got seated and then we waited for like 10 minutes for the waitress to stop by and at least tells us the specials of the day. We already had a drink so we were thinking of ordering a bottle of wine just for when the food comes back. Once we placed our food order the waitress ghosted us for around 30-35 minutes… we saw her multiple times around other tables but she never came back to ours. We finished our drinks, finished our waters (lol) and she never came to even give us an update on the food or give us an opportunity to order more drinks or even an appetizer. One of the busser guys stopped by and we asked him if we could get an update on the food, he was really nice and went to the kitchen to ask and came back like two minutes later, saying that the food was almost ready. Our waitress comes like five minutes later, upset (not even kidding) because we asked the busser about our food. She said that they were just busy and the food just came out. At that point we just wanted to eat and just leave. We ordered a steak (medium rare) and ravioli with vodka sauce. Not going to lie, the ravioli was delicious! But the steak, was dry, far from medium rare (this was not her fault, by the way, just wanted to put it here) When she saw we were actually kind of upset she stops by again asking if we were going to order more drinks… the answer was “we wanted to, but with the service, not anymore” she tried to ask us again a couple of times while we were finishing our dinner, but we were just done lol, so the last time we just asked for the check. While we were waiting for this, the bartender who helped us with our drinks at the bar, and who was really sweet and nice, comes with two espresso martinis that we didn’t order, she “confused” our table with the one next to us. Nothing to complain here, just a “simple mistake”. When the check comes back, we had two espresso martinis added to our tab!! The waitress just put them in our table… so of course wasn’t the bartenders fault… and it wasn’t a silly mistake anymore.

Long story, but I think we needed to get it out of our system. We don’t mind spending money on food and experiences, but it’s sad when it’s...