Fresco, East Greenwich — Restaurant in East Greenwich

Last Friday night my wife and I went to Cafe Fresco, as we have many times before. I arrived before my wife and ordered a cappuccino for myself and a mojito for her. She's had their mojitos and liked them. When she arrived she took a sip of her drink and it was way too strong. That happens sometimes, so I got our (very nice and professional) waiter's attention and told him about the situation. He brought out some of the syrup to dilute it a bit, but my wife still did not like it. So then he offered to bring out some seltzer water and it was still too strong so we asked him to take it back and he did. No problem so far. We both ordered salad also. My wife is allergic to red onions, and the last time we came in there were no red onions in the salad. So we get our salads and there are red onions in it. Since my wife can't eat them, I also sent that back and asked if he could make one without the onions. The waiter said "no problem", and they did.

The rest of our meal was very enjoyable. When the check came I noticed that the mojito was still on the check. I called our waiter over to point out the mistake, and he went back to the bar. The next thing I know, a general manager named Brian came over to talk to me and says "my bartender said the drink was made perfectly and we can't take the drink off of your check". And then he said, "We also had to spend money to make you a new salad." I can't even believe it. I paid the bill (which I probably shouldn't have done) and we left.

I have met the owner of this restaurant several times and have been a customer since they opened. I called in to the restaurant to speak with him and left him several messages. It took a week for him to get back to me. He said he needed to speak with the general manager to see his side of the story, and he would call me back. It has now been 14 days with no returned call, and I'm beyond mad. Needless to say, I will NOT be patronizing this...

On a Saturday night I made a reservation for 6:30, when we arrived, we were promptly seated. Grace was our server and she was very friendly. After waiting a while for our food I asked if it was almost ready as we had to be at the Odium Theater for an 8 p.m. show. She checked on our order and brought it out shortly thereafter.

With time being limited, I had four bites of my linguine with clam sauce and asked my friends (while I went to the restroom) to have Grace put it in a "SOUP" container as there was a lot of broth and didn't want it in the clamshell container she gave one of my friends to put her leftovers in. When I looked in the bag, it was in a black container with saran wrap all around it. Not what I asked for but just the same I thought it would do and like I said, we were under a time constraint.

I didn't get halfway down Main Street when the liquid from my dinner was pouring out of the container onto my slacks. I had no other option but to throw the entire bag and its contents away. It was a very expensive four bite dinner ($40). I was so disappointed and was looking forward to a few more meals from that dinner. I am not sure why Grace did not put the leftovers in a soup container like I asked.

Won't be back...

Cold white sticky rice as involuntary side dish to my salmon that seemed to sit under a heat lamp prior to our meeting... Started with unseasoned rubber feeling calamari..with absolutely no sauce or seasoning claiming to be lemon garlic?? Was like dry rubber nascar tires...recommended by alissa or alicia (we couldn't hear our own table ) . The risotto balls had unmelted cheese overlayed with chilled...that's right 'chilled' sauce??!!...

Chicken parmesan was soggy on bottom, rubbery all around the edges and dry on the top, was overshadowed by the fresh boxed pasta and marinara sauce that was piping hot!! And was the highlight of the meal. Along with 2 other reports from our table about the food, the cold management , kind Off-handedly took our entrees off the bill.

I expressed our embarrassment, if we were seeking a free meal, this isn't where we'd come, we came for a birthday get together dining experience that was underserved and over exaggerated by the reviews.

This restaurant has obviously become comfortable making "the average" customer...