Mi Scuzi — Restaurant in Erie

Disclaimer: I am not from the area of the restaurant. Deducted a star (really a star and a half) for FOH, food, and service.

Food: Overall pretty good. Ordered the kids spaghetti with meatball, linguine with clams, and cioppino. I did not taste the cioppino but had just one calamari of it and it was tender (maybe it's the substitute for - look it up if you don't know). Kids meal come with a drink and dessert, which we got cannoli and vanilla gelato. I tasted the kids spaghetti and the marinara sauce was good with a very subtle tang. The meatball was good, it was moist and not dry and seasoned well. The linguine with clams was overall good. The flavor was well balanced. However, the clams were VERY small and some were not in its shell, and this is what you're actually paying for of the dish. Some clams were incorporated into the pasta, but I tasted grit in at least 3 bites I had. Not worth the price. The kids cannoli was an adorable size and tasted...like a cannoli. The vanilla gelato tasted like regular vanilla ice cream and didn't have the texture and taste of a gelato.

Service: FOH (the hostess) could use some tact. We asked to sit al fresco and the hostess asked do you have reservations? Nothing wrong with asking but the tone of the ask was a little demeaning, albeit it was 8 pm and of the 8 or so tables outside 5 were empty with 2 settling. Some patrons came wanting dessert and the hostess (who happened to be outside watering plants) was way more pleasant toward them.

The server was pleasant, engaging, attentive, and overly grateful, but at times I felt he was subtlely trying to rush us. He skipped asking if we wanted to start off with any apps (primo) and at the end didn't ask if we wanted dessert (outside of the kids' desserts). Further to that, we were never brought our garlic knots for the table at the start. That aside, the server was fine.

Ambience: A little bit odd. It used to be in the downtown area ("fun fact" while talking to the server) but since moved to a mall. Given that, the al fresco set up was still inviting and didn't make you feel like it was a restaurant attached to a mall. The inside was nice (got to see it when going to the restroom). The other "interesting" thing was, upon observation of patrons exiting the restaurant, I noticed many were slightly dressed above casual. We arrived dressed as casual as can be (did I mention it's attached to a mall?) but it appears that for the area this may be a restaurant of the caliber where you dress up a bit.

Overall, if I were in the area again I would return...but I'm still going as casually dressed as can be.

Tip: If you pay with cash the bill amount is slightly lower than...

Before you read this rambling review, read this: IF YOU HAVE THE FINE DINING CARD, THERE ARE MULTIPLE REVIEWS THAT SHOW THAT THEY DON'T TAKE OFF ONE OF THE ENTREES- CHECK YOUR BILL BEFOREHAND. Okay, caps lock mode off. We ended up going here for our anniversary dinner (which happens to be very close to Valentine's Day, so it was busy). The food was great- we got the calamari ceviche as an appetizer- the presentation was fantastic and it was honestly the best calamari we've ever had. My boyfriend got angel hair pasta with chicken as his entree, and I got the special for the day- 3 petit entrees- chicken parm, portabello mushroom, and then a (ravioli?- I forgot, but it was good). Both of the entrees were great- tasted fine and for the price, the portions were pretty solid. The problem came with the service, however. Our waitress was nice off the start, albeit maybe a tad slow on refilling drinks (it was busy, I'll give her a pass), but when it came to the bill, we were upcharged $34. We have the Erie Fine Dining Card, which allows a free entree with the purchase of another entree. When the bill came back, it was stated that the card was used, but there was no sign of such. The original bill without the EFDC should've been ~$94. It ended up being $128. I don't know how you make such a glaring error. That's two things you messed up- not adding the free entree and then somehow upcharging. When the head chef came over to check on us (which is nice), he saw us checking the bill and said in a really passive/aggressive tone 'oh, doing math on the bill, are you?'- like, dude, come on. Just because your main clientele isn't 20-something-year-old gay guys doesn't mean you need to be like that to us. When the server came back to get the bill and we addressed her, she apologized, and it seemed super fake, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt- she said sorry like 10 times. When the final bill came back, it was the price it should've been (like $68). After we signed the bill, our waitress said in the strangest tone 'I'm so sorry about that, you guys can get out as quick as possible, I know this sucks'- uhh. Telling people to 'get out as quick as possible' is not a good thing to do. This is all doubly strange considering there's a review from a month ago that says basically the same thing that happened to us. If you're not going to appreciate the Fine Dining Card, then don't be a part of it in the...

Upon entering at 3:30pm the staff was very cold and rude. My husband and I, dressed very nice but yes we are heavily tatted, given looks of disgust. I asked for a table for two when none of the three girls asked anything. Then I said sorry if reservations are required. Another girl snapped “reservations are highly recommended”. We were seated in the far back, maybe a total of four tables were seated. I asked a completely different girl if they had large reservations tonight and she politely said they would be very busy between 5-6:00, that is 1.5 hrs from now so I couldn’t understand the rudeness, especially from the blond female manage. We sat for over 10 min before a waitress came to us and I told my husband let’s leave, he said no let’s see it through. Our waitress gave no introduction simply said would you like more time with the menu? Very cold, we ordered she left. We didn’t even know there were any specials for the night until we heard another server at another table. I guess we were an inconvenience to their atmosphere and the customers they want to serve. We witnessed a couple with a gentleman in a wheelchair be turned away because they had no reservation, not even moments later another couple with no reservations were seated simply because a gentleman worker knew them!!! By 4:20 the place was still not even 30% capacity and I could count a minimum of 7 workers on the floor and I am sure many more I didn’t see from the back. Now we travel all over the world for food never have we had such a terrible customer service from MULTIPLE employees!! If you don’t want to do service quit and find another job. Stop judging people by their looks because you have no idea one’s status or financial ability to do fine dining! We will never be back, if you are one who doesn’t like to get fancy to eat I suggest you go elsewhere because even though I had very nice expensive clothes on I felt uncomfortable with the looks I was given. Also to note, we tried several times to call to rsvp, no one ever picked up the phone so yes upon arrival seeing the rude blonde manager talking to three staff at the counter I suppose should have been a red flag to leave. I suggest Peppinos or Colaos for better service...