Bistro di Marino

First of all I have to say that I have been to Bistro di Marino plenty of times in the past and have always been happy with both the service and food selections. But, when I went there last night with a friend for dinner, our experience was VERY disappointing. We were seated by a large party who were very loud to begin with. Our server seemed nice enough at the beginning, but she took a long time to come over to greet us and get us wine glasses. We decided to order a gnocchi trio appetizer after our waitress suggested a few, including the lobster one. The sampler on the menu was $14.50, and the waitress never told us that it would be $20.95 if we ordered it with the lobster choice. So, you can imagine our surprise when we got the check. Mind you, the sampler only includes 5 gnocchis of each kind. A bit pricey for the amount you get. And charging an additional $6+ for bits of lobster is ridiculous. Next, we waited for a LONG time for dinner to come out. We were starving at this point and had to ask when our meals would be out. We kept being told, “Thank you for your patience.” Once our meals came out, they looked yummy, but mine was supposed to have asparagus on it, but there were only a few tiny chopped up pieces. When I said something to the waitress about it, she then offered to bring out some more. I never asked her for more. She then put in an order for asparagus that I did not ask for, brought it out AFTER I finished my meal, and then proceeded to charge me $5.99 for it. I did not know this again until I got the check. Of course I told her I was not paying for something I did not ask for. It was taken off the check. Now let’s get to desserts. We decided to order dessert to take home. We were not given a dessert menu. The waitress only told us verbally what the four choices were. The waitress highly recommended the limoncello cake. My friend ordered it. It was $11.95 for a small slice - ridiculous! Again, prices revealed on the check. At the end of the night when I talked to the waitress about the price of the appetizer, she automatically said, “Do you want to talk to my manager?” I guess she has issues all the time to refer customers automatically to the manager. So, since she obviously was not going to help, I did speak with the manager. He was the one to apologize, not the waitress. He did take off $10 from the appetizer after he told me that what I said to him was what the waitress told him. Really? What happened to the saying “The customer is always right.”? Our waitress never apologized for ANYTHING. She just ran away and avoided us. Seems to be a pattern with the younger generation today. But, I am glad to know that my own children know how to take responsibility for their actions. In the end, it was a disappointing visit. The waitstaff is younger and from this experience seems to not care about service. The manager was also young. I found it funny when the kid filling up water glasses wanted to help me figure out a tip- really? So, in the end my advice is to make sure you ask prices ahead of time, check your bill before paying, and don’t expect much from service. Also know at the bottom of the check it stated they will charge a 3% surcharge if you use debit or credit cards. I did not see that on the menu. Luckily we had cash. Overall I am giving 2 stars because the food was good. But, this turned out to be a disappointing dinner experience because of the poor service. I won’t be back.