La Sponda — Restaurant in Downingtown

This place was nothing but amazing. The food, service, dining, view, and interior were exceptional. This restaurant was like finding a diamond in a pot full of coal. All the options are flexible for both vegetarians and meat eaters. You can come in for brunch or grab a good and tasty lunch. The main point is that this place was great.

A reason I loved this place is because of this service. Everyone on the staff was kind and polite. There was no rush there which meant we got quickly seated, it was amazing. While waiting for the food we were greeted with bread and olive oil. We got our food in less than 20 minutes which was a surprise for the great food they served us. If you’re an introvert or hate loud crowds then this place also works for you because you’re 10 feet away from tables so you and your family can peacefully eat . The whole time the staff and people there were kind.

Another reason I loved this place is because of this service. When I went to this place we immediately got seated at a clean table. After a minute we got served fresh bread with olive oil and water to go with it. After that a server came and politely took our orders and served us more fresh bread and oil. After talking with my family and looking at the interior and view, the server came and served our food kindly and politely. After we got more bread we gobbled it down. When we finished he came and gave us our bill. He never disturbed us and interrupted us. The servers were kind and polite.

Another great thing was the food. Don’t get me started on how great the food tasted and looked. There are a wide variety of options ranging from spaghetti to fresh pizza. The food tasted fresh, delicious, and loaded with flavor. They served a big portion of food to eat. Each food was nutritious and delightful to eat.

Overall the experience was great eating there. This place was like winning the...

Update: After going a second time and having dinner I realized the food is over priced and bland. I went with the braised short ribs for $31, I expected more meat and more than 2 brussel sprouts. The only thing on the dish that was seasoned well was the polenta. Even the lemon cream cake was bland and barley tasted of lemon. I did have a whiskey sour and I thought that was very tasty. Our server seemed bored at best. So I'd say stick with the bar area, it's more lively and better service.

I think in the future we'll stick with happy hour. For a delicious dinner woth the money I'm sticking with Amani's down the street.

Original post: We went here for the first time and decided to start off with going for happy hour. The atmosphere is fantastic considering it's a renovated old paper mill. The service here was also great our bartender Tom really knew his stuff.

The food for the happy hour was really delicious but at $7 a piece some seem like better options for the money than others. The wine and cocktails are also $7 each but there's only 2 cocktails (only one of which I actually liked) and one $4 beer option. I'd like more beer and cocktail options. I also love that they still give you bread with happy hour although I wish I could get more than one basket because I loved the oil it comes with.

I really loved the ambiance of this old paper mill turned rustic restaurant. Adding one more great place to eat in Downingtown makes me...

Dined here last night as a family of 4. The restaurant was super busy/full when we arrived (6:30pm reservation) but then it started to calm down as previously full tables departed. The drinks were great, and STRONG, and the appetizers were good, though 3 came with so much arugula on top it was interesting to hunt for the tasty morsels (octopus and 2 beef carpaccio). The mussels were the winner of the appetizers, an amazinggggg cream sauce with hints of saffron and bits of pancetta tucked away. All our remaining bread went into that sauce, to die for!!! As for our entrees, we had a hard time deciding whose was best! We ordered the mushrooms papardelle, seafood risotto (my personal favorite, the flavor was WOW), veal saltimbocca (amazing with very subtle marsala flavor), and beef short ribs (my second favorite, amazing truffle flavors throughout!). All were phenomenal, and while we were too stuffed for dessert, we will definitely be back to try some next time!! Complementary limoncellos at the end of the night was a very nice touch, and my husband's Battle of the Brandywines dessert drink was a hit. We will definitely be back! Only critiques for the kitchen/owner would be to not dice the octopus up, cut down on the arugula a bit, and have a bit more truffle flavor in the mushroom papardelle. Overall though, amazing food and we...