Michaelangelo's Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Cleveland

Dishonest Manager and Careless Wait Staff Do NOT eat here if you have a life threatening food allergy!! We came here for dinner on 9/16/17 with a party of 4. I asked our waitress multiple times if my dish was gluten free, and she assured me repeatedly that it was- even after it arrived and I thought it looked suspicious. So I just assumed that what I was seeing on the plate was a different kind of grain. I had a bite before realizing that what my salmon was sitting on top of tasted a lot like pasta to me, and I had just swallowed it. I called a different waiter over to the table and asked if he knew what that was under my salmon, and he said he had no idea. This is disconcerting in itself, as the wait staff of a restaurant should be familiar with the meals served there. I called a second waiter over, who confirmed that it was pasta that I had just eaten- on what was supposed to be a gluten free plate of food. He sent our waitress over, who was less than apologetic, and said that she had assumed I was only referring to the fish itself when I had asked her twice before if the meal was gluten free. Really? Why would anyone in their right mind request gluten free fish served over gluten? She simply replaced my meal, acting like it was no big deal. We decided to take it out of her tip, and only left her 10%. We fully expected to have our meals comped, or my own meal comped, or receive a free dessert, or at the very least for the manager come out and apologize. Unfortunately, none of these things happened, and I I requested to see the manager on our way out, in order to make him aware of the seriousness of what had happened in the interest of future patrons with serious food allergies. When he came out, he didn't introduce himself. When I finally asked if he was the manager, he said yes, and I explained that I wanted to discuss with him what had happened. He asked me to move to a more private location, and apologized for not coming out to speak to us earlier, stating that he had been dealing with a situation in back. This wasn't true however- we had seen him sitting at a table with friends, talking and laughing. I explained what had happened and he initially attempted to defend her behavior by explaining that she had "misunderstood" me. How is that possible when I had asked her repeatedly if the dish was gluten free, and when she herself claimed to have recommended this particular dish all the time? She even said that she ate it herself, so she had to know that it was served over pasta! All she had to say was, "Yes, the fish is gluten free, but it's served over pasta, so we can just leave the pasta off or substitute a potato or something else." When I refused to accept his inadequate explanation, he did then offer to give us gift certificates to return at a later date, which I politely declined because we will not be returning ever again. He then offered to comp our entire meals, which I was initially very happy with, until he later attempted to cheat us in a very underhanded and sleazy manner. The meal had been paid on 2 credit cards, and he took them both from us under the guise of giving us a refund. But when he later returned with the cards, only one of the receipts said "refund" across the top. The other said "sale" instead. He tried to get our friend to sign it, even though he couldn't see where it said "refund" anywhere on the slip. He refused to sign it until the manager could actually show him where it said "refund", and of course he then knew he'd been caught red handed. He tried to explain it away by saying he must have given him the "wrong one," but anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant knows that's a blatant lie. You can't give someone the wrong slip- it's either a sale or a refund. He was purposely trying to charge our friend twice, because he figured we would never catch it, and he knew he'd never see us again. Well congratulations- your unethical actions not only cost you our future business, it cost you a bad review as well. Well played, dude,...

This place really knocked it out of the park. We went here for a 2-person birthday dinner, on a Saturday night and here's a quick synopsis of different aspects:

Atmosphere: Michaelangelo's has all the tellings of an upper-class - yet uniquely humble - restaurant. Upon walking in, you feel immediately relaxed and at ease. The lighting was intimate and the noise from other tables at a minimum, making talking to your table/waiter easy.

Service: The service here was great. John, presumably the matre d of the restaurant, made us feel at home and made a fantastic wine recommendation. After we finished our dinner, we moved over to the lounge area (beautiful place to sit in front of a fireplace to have a drink) and John continued to give us attention. The waitress also was very attentive and provided top-tier service. Not to mention she was a great conversationalist.

Food: Finally we arrive at the most important piece. The food. Authentic Italian is perhaps my favorite type of dish, and I've had some fantastic, out-of-this-world meals. There is no recency bias when I say the dinner at Michaelangelo's is in my Top 3, and could easily compete for #1. I had the Sacchetti Al Tartufo and it may now be my list when I answer "What do you want your last meal to be?" I couldn't give it a higher...

This used to be one of the very best restaurants in Cleveland, so it brings me no joy to rate it this low today. We were one of two tables in the dining room, and it took about ten minutes for a server (who was actually the bartender) to acknowledge us. I asked for a drink list, she brought it over, and then disappeared for another ten minutes. While we sat there waiting, we listened as the other server complained to the busser about the other table. The beef carpaccio was not at all like it used to be. It was not tenderloin, it was a different cut of beef, sliced way too thick and submerged in oil. The sauce in the veal saltimbocca was inedible, and the potatoes that accompanied the filet were overcooked and dry. When we brought our grievances to the bartender, she was very rude about it, and she went right back to the kitchen and complained about us very loudly. This restaurant used to be the gold standard for food and service and it’s very sad to see how far it’s slipped. It was very concerning to see that all of Little Italy was very busy last night, except this restaurant. After experiencing some of the worst service possible and lackluster food, I now understand why. Very disappointing. I hope the owner decides to invest some time into fixing the food and staff before...