Delmonico's Italian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

My waitress when I was here was Amanda, and by God have I fallen in love. Nearly immediately, she set out all the facts: everything's made in house, allergies and substitutions are 100% allowed, our food is our oyster, etc etc etc. For an introvert like me, that's perfect; it completely eliminates the awkwardness of getting a substitution. So, she laid out these facts, and then immediately built a strong connection between her and the rest of my group through her charisma. She also looked gorgeous. I asked for a sauce on the side, and when they forgot it she brought it back, and in under 5 minutes, the plate I ordered was out in front of me. I said it to my group and I'll say it here: if I had the money, I would personally hire her to be my waitress at any dinner spot I go. Management, I don't know if it's the training you give them, or just Amanda as a person, but she better get a raise if she doesn't already have one. My one complaint about her—which isn't even mine, but one of my party members—is that it felt like we were kinda rushed; though, it was pretty packed where we were. My worst moment with her was that I forgot her name—and due to my introverted self—was too nervous to ask it again, so I waited until the check came to ask for the name, and the check said Amanda.

Aside from Amanda (peak), the restaurant itself was good. When we walked along the outer wall, and I saw the blurry silhouettes of multiple chandeliers, I had a feeling I wasn't dressed for the occasion. Then, when we get inside, we're greeted by staff in suits. There was the sweet lady at the front who was checking which tables were open, and then we were escorted by this handsome man in an all black suit. The place looks and feels amazing to be in. The meal I got was phenomenal, the steak—I mean.

Now for the bad moments—which are all minor: For a restaurant with "steakhouse" in the name, it only had 6 "steak" options, one of which was pork; on that note, the menu was kinda difficult to navigate for me—the rest of my group didn't seem to have a problem. My mean, the sliced sirloin (or something like that) came out wrong, and then got fixed, but the meat specifically wasn't cooled completely medium well. Some of it looked medium, some looked well done. Granted, all of it was good, but it could still be seen as bad. Personally, I didn't like the mushroom sauce or the fettuccine alfredo I got. I didn't hate the fettuccine alfredo, just didn't really like it. As for the sauce, I don't really like mushrooms as a whole, I just wanted to try it, and look at that, I didn't like it.

I doubt your experience will be the same if you visit, but really it was phenomenal. I don't have a high enough diction to fully describe how good this place is. Go there.

TL;DR Amanda is a...

Phenomenal Food, Forgetful Service

Let me start with the positive: the food. Everything our party of 10 ordered was cooked very well, and the kitchen clearly has some serious talent. The atmosphere aims for a classic, comfortable Italian steakhouse vibe, but it comes off a bit garish with about 30 photos of Frank Sinatra everywhere. It feels like they're trying to play off the famous Delmonico's name from New York, despite having no actual connection. Unfortunately, the great work from the kitchen was overshadowed by a deeply frustrating 2-star service experience.

Our waitress, who was also training a new employee, seemed completely overwhelmed. The issues started early and continued throughout the meal. To begin, both she and the trainee completely forgot to take dinner orders from two people at our table. We had to flag them down after they walked away to ensure everyone got to eat.

My own experience was just as problematic. They forgot to ask for my drink order initially. When I finally did order a bourbon neat, I had to remind them multiple times to bring it. When it arrived, it was on the rocks. On the food side, my pasta was brought to the table without any sauce, despite being ordered with it. On top of that, 2 other members of my party had barely any sauce on their veal parm and requested extra. Again, I had to find and flag down our server to ask for the sauce it was supposed to come with. Rather than taking my dish back to be corrected, they eventually brought me a side of sauce to pour over my now lukewarm pasta.

While I want to love this place for its delicious food, the constant mistakes and lack of attention from the service staff made for a disappointing and disjointed evening. I hope this was just an off-night and that the management can improve their front-of-house training to match the excellence of their back-of-house.

(Uploading 22 photos of the food and...

My wife and I are in Orlando for our anniversary, we decided to try Delmonico's Italian Steakhouse. I will start off by saying, if I keep making decisions like this I will be married until I'm in the grave, and I know i will be eating Delmonico's in Heaven. We started with hands down the best fried mozz sticks my wife has ever had, then came the roma tomato and mozzarella salad which was fresh and light, a perfect transition to The Lasagna which is beyond reproach, you will be hard pressed to find a better lasagna for under $50.00, every layer was perfectly blended . We capped our meal with Tartufo and Tiramisu which were both amazing. The housemade chocolate sauce and whipped cream set it apart. The best part of the night was our wait/server staff . Jennifer and Sadeka were top notch. They went beyond expectation and paid exceptional attention to detail. My wife and I thought we got special treatment bc of our celebration which we did (cannoli and picture on the house) then we realized these women just know how to tend bar and take care of house guest , at the same time. Their team work and communication matched with the ambiance made for a unique dining experience . Jennifer and Sadeka thank you for allowing us to experience your art and craft of taking care of guest and truly being a great host. We will be back and only hope to have you again. To the whole staff at Delmonico's Thanks for making our anniversary truly special. I've been in restaurant acquisitions and corporate training/consulting for years . If I were starting a restaurant I would be lucky to have you all, a part of the journey. Best wishes, Eric and...