Convivio Restaurant — Restaurant in Durham

I have really mixed feelings about this restaurant, but felt it could be helpful to write a review when one of the first things that came to mind was this restaurant when someone asked me about scams I've fallen for in my life. Don't get me wrong, the food here tastes amazing. At the same time, it's hard to enjoy the moment when you feel like you need to be on guard. I remember the person who seated us was snooty and didn't give a good first impression of the restaurant. And by the time the kind chef came around, I didn't want to be unkind when the food was great but the rest of the experience was lacking. I ordered one of the pricier entrees, the lamb, and asked for a wine recommendation. I'm not sure if it was a miscommunication, or this is just their business model, but the waiter was very pushy when I didn't want an appetizer and wanted to save room for dessert due to celebrating my birthday. I also feel like I was tricked into ordering 2 entrees, because I wanted exactly what I described and felt really pushed until ordering a "side" that ended up being a second entree that was $24 in addition to the $35 entree I actually wanted. I felt like crying when the food came because I felt swindled and almost didn't order dessert, but my friend offered to pay for my dessert, if there was a charge, since it was my birthday. I was expecting a charge for the dessert and feel it's worth mentioning that there was no wiggle room for anything remotely similar to a substitution for anything, so I wouldn't recommend this place for anyone with allergies or dietary restrictions. I think my friend could have been deathly allergic to mushrooms and still pushed into having the risotto with mushrooms, based on my experience here. They didn't charge $9 for the gelato, but overall, I had a negative experience here and would not return. I would have paid for coffee and a cocktail with dessert, if not for the entree issue. Please, please, please if anyone from management is reading this, please just let people order what they prefer to have. You would have gotten a similar profit or more, without being pushy, and I would have nicer things to say about my...

Very disappointing experience at Convivio, a place I genuinely wanted to enjoy.

Made reservations on the Saturday ahead of Valentine’s Day, and there was no note that there was a very limited menu (dramatically different from the online version). I overheard other tables with the same issue.

My main issue was with the service. My partner and I were seated at a high top, while multiple other couples that came in after were seated at traditional tables. This was not part of the reservation.

Second, the woman who served us did not ask any questions, didn’t introduce herself, etc. She just asked what we wanted every 10 minutes or so. She was pleasant, but it felt like we were bothering her. The owner was walking around to every table except ours, strangely, and had long conversations. It felt like we weren’t welcome, though I still can’t figure out why. If it were a busy night I’d be more understanding, but we were one of ~5 tables at any given time. Every a basic “here’s what’s on the menu tonight” would have been nice.

The whole experience was only 45 minutes, and we quite left hungry despite getting 2 appetizers and 2 entrees. The food was generally good, but didn’t justify the price tag ($80 per person, before alcohol/drinks).

Overall, I’m disappointed because I really love the decor and vibe, and I’m sure the owners are good people. But based on our experience and my familiarity with all the restaurants in downtown Durham, I’d suggest one of the many other fine Italian restaurants that are equally priced, have equal quality of ingredients, and include a much more...

Took my girlfriend for dinner after years of not visiting Convivio and time has not been kind to this once great restaurant. We entered Convivo to a very loud band at the front of the restaurant and were greeted by the hostess who showed us to a table at the entry of the restaurant right next to the very loud band. Asked for another table and were shown to the bar. Looked back at the open kitchen and noted that the chef was not in the house, just his sounds chef and prep chef-surprised. Offered a drink menu and ordered some wine, which was great and from there it went down hill. Show table and the music was so loud and there were several sets of feedback from the band that sent shivers down my spine with fingers on the chalkboard sensation. Our waitress was new and we could not hear her, and she did not know how to service our table-from not hearing us to not checking on us, or offering suggestions or any kind of service. We ordered the fresh pasta a the risotto and both were just ok, the risotto was sent back because the rice was hard and under cooked. While the second risotto was better it was no where near the quality and flavor that it should have been. Oh, forgot, ordered the bread and olive oil, which, sadly, was the highlight of the meal. My GF and I would not recommend Convivio...