Vincente's Restaurant — Restaurant in Delaware

I have never written a restaurant review however our experience was so poor I felt I had to. We had a 7pm dinner reservation and arrived a few minutes early. We were seated immediately. That was the highlight regarding the restaurant. Outside of water our drink order was not taken until after 7:30pm. Sometime after our drinks arrived we were served an appetizer that seemed to be something put together as a result of running out of what was supposed to have been served. After receiving menus we placed our dinner order between 8 and 8:30pm. How does an Italian restaurant run out of ravioli? My wife ordered gnocchi instead. As we patiently waited for dinner we ordered a second bottle of wine and overheard the guy that makes the bananas foster say to another customer that it was normal to be there for two hours because it was a dining "experience". At approximately 2.5 hours into the dining "experience" we were served our meals. I won't speak personally for other meals but I had the Linguini with white clam sauce, my favorite. It was without a doubt the worst white clam sauce I have ever tasted. It seemed to be dominated by the taste and texture of flour. Not to mention it was quite obvious that it had been "sitting" around for some time. The highlight of the gnocchi was the single tiny meatball that it was served with. We powered through dinner and tried to salvage the evening with dessert. We had witnessed the Bananas Foster preparation table side and figured why not, we've already been here for three hours at this point. We ordered the Bananas Foster Cheesecake and coffee. Much to our disappointment, we were told that this would be prepared "in the back". Fine. The cheesecake was bland and flavorless and the bananas could not save it. The coffee was OK though. As we paid the check 3.5 hours into this ordeal we were thankful that we went with a couple who helped pass the time and could joke about the evening. We had a great time. Unfortunately that had nothing to do with the restaurant. By the way, the Bananas Foster guy was sitting at the bar on our way out. I've never in my life complained about service or food in a restaurant. I understand the ups and downs, the busy nights etc. This was...

It was my birthday AND PROPOSAL dinner (Dec. 22nd....birthday on the 23rd). My bf took me here to propose to me. We walked in and the hostess (an older lady w/ blonde hair- lil past shoulder length) looked at us & asked 'Can I help u?' My boyfriend said '2' as he held up 2 fingers as well. She asked 'Do u have a reservation?' I replied 'No.' She looked at the seating chart/book and I watched her shake her head no, so I said 'Im sorry do we need 1?' She then replied w/ an attitude 'Almost every night!' She sat us at a 2 top table right behind her close to the kitchen doors. I ended up facing the main doors and could see & hear ppl as they came in. About 20-25mins go by and an older couple walk in and THE SAME HOSTESS greeted them MUCH MORE FRIENDLIER THAN US and said 'Hi can I help u?' And the gentleman said '2.' She took them right to their seats NEVER ONCE ASKED THEM IF THEY HAD A RESERVATION, NEVER COPPED AN ATTITUDE W/ THEM....LIKE I SAID WAS MUCH FRIENDLIER! NEEDLESS TO SAY MY BF WAS AGGRIVATED AND DIDN'T END UP PROPOSING TO ME AT THE RESTAURANT.

NOW.....I asked for a sweet red wine and our server (WHO WAS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL) had brought me out 3 diff wines to TRY.....None of them were sweet, very dry and bitter. They do not carry sweet red! So I just had a soda and a water....not her fault. When we ordered our meal I just ordered the spaghetti w/ pomodoro sauce. Maybe I'm wrong here, but I THOUGHT pomodoro sauce was SMOOTH spaghetti sauce. This sauce had chunks of tomatoes in it (which I didn't mind, I was just expecting smooth sauce.) The sauce was a LITTLE spicy as well- not what I expected either. The whole experience we BOTH had was disappointing. Needless to say BECAUSE OF THE HOSTESS ALONE.....WE WILL NOT BE GOING BACK. HER ATTITUDE WAS UNCALLED FOR! I would give the food another chance, but I DEF. DO NOT want to feel how that hostess made us feel....ever again. I watched her the entire time ....not ONCE did she smile! That was supposed to be a very special & exciting night for us both & it was...

Went to Vincente's for the first time and had an interesting experience to say the least. We had a reservation, which I would recommend, because they were busy. We walked inside and waiting for at least 5 minutes before anyone acknowledged us. They would make eye contact, but keep walking. (Note: there is a sign on the door saying they are short staffed so I am not going to deduct stars for this. So many places are short staffed. I just wanted to mention it and we expected to wait longer than what would be typical. We appreciated the heads-up). One of the things that drew my attention when I found this place was the table-side caesar salads. My wife loves caesar salads so this place was a must try. While we were waiting we got to experience the show that comes along with the salad being made. The salad is made fresh in front of you. (It's a huge portion), and then there's the show of trying to get a cheese bowl thrown into the bowl from a distance. (Good corny fun, but it works).

We were treated with a free appetizer of flounder along with a slice of bread with a cheese spread on top. This, the fresh bread, the salad, and the main course....you will be stuffed! They did have a banana desert which is also made tableside, but we had no room. We did see it being made though and it looked delicious!

The food was good, but I have had better at other Italian restaurants, but I like the variety of options you have on the dishes. My chicken dish I could choose the spicyness of the sauce, and my wife's steak was topped with peppercorns and had good flavor.

All staff including management did seem a little flustered at times, but knowing they are short staffed I am not going to knock them for that. Our server Matt was awesome and explained the menu well.

I would recommend trying, especially if you like...