Cafe Cortina — Restaurant in Farmington Hills

This was probably by far the "worst" fine dining experience ever. Even with that said, I still left a 20% tip because it's just who I am. It was my mom's birthday celebration, so I decided to dine here. I thought she'd enjoy it, especially with the multiple vegetarian options available on the menu. We were seated around 6:15ish. We literally did not get served food for over two hours. The restaurant was full on one side, however, every table seemed to have been served before us. Alot of these customers came in after us. We had a large party (10), however, we only had five adults, which was average (the amount of adults seated at a table) as I looked around. We ordered simple pasta for the kids, which doesn't take much to prepare. After placing all of the orders, and waiting, the server comes out to inform us that whatever two of my guest ordered was not available. He then brought out the menus, and allowed them to make another selection. As we were waiting, I ordered a regular coffee. It took about 30 minutes to receive it. The coffee was room temperature, so, I requested another. It took another 30 minutes to get coffee the second time around. As we waited for over two hours, I noticed the server go around to other tables to offer bread without being prompted. Mind you, the server literally had to walk around us to get to these tables. It was almost as if we didn't exist. Each time I got bread, I had to ask for it. Even with asking, it was almost as if she didn't want to provide bread for our entire table. This server would literally give a couple of pieces, then proceed to walk back to the kitchen. I mean.... After sitting patiently for over two hours for a meal, the least that could have been done was offer us bread as they did for everyone else. After receiving our food, not one person came back to check to see how everything was. Prior to that, my mom had actually ordered a cocktail and wanted another. No one came back to ask if she wanted to order another beverage. A few times my mom actually said "excuse me" to try to get a server's attention (to order another cocktail), but they either didn't hear her or totally ignored her. I want to believe that they just did not hear her due to the noise levels. My food actually tasted like the chef had accidentally dumped a whole container of salt on it. I didn't end up eating at all. Once the server came back to ask if we needed any food boxed, I ended up just sending my plate back. He did ask if I wanted to replace my meal, but, at that point I would not have gotten food until close to closing. I declined. We ended up leaving well after 9pm for a dinner that started around 6pm. I was extremely disappointed with my service, and the entire experience. My mom was dissatisfied as well. She really just wanted to leave. As we were being seated I informed the staff that we were celebrating a birthday. When I made reservations, I informed the host that it was a birthday celebration as well. Not one time was it mentioned that they actually had a special desert with a firework of some sort for birthdays. They actually sang "happy birthday" as well. I only found this out as I was getting my coat from the coat check, and on my way out of the door. This was happening at another guest table. I did ask the lady who retrieved the coats about it. She advised that you have to ask, lol. How many times does one mention a birthday before someone from the establishment would think to inform you of what they had to offer? That to me wasn't as of a big deal though. My entire party was disappointed, and will not return. This was my first time here, and last. I booked based upon all of the wonderful reviews that others wrote. I am saddened that my family and I did not share those same experiences that I read about prior to making the decision to dine at Cafe Cortina for such an important day. The amount of money exhausted definitely did not add up to the experience that...

EDIT: I wanted to edit this review bcs I feel that after my most recent experience this review should reflect that, we went back to cafe cortina last night for a do over and last night experiences was 5/5 rockstar. We were invited back by the owner and I did appreciate them reaching out bcs this place is one of those restaurants (the ones you fall in love with and wanna keep going back to continue the good memories) . We ate on the patio for the first time (the weather was perfect for it) it's adorable and so peaceful out there if you haven't tried it I would recommend. The dream team working the patio were the stars of the show last night; Larisa, Miranda and the gentleman working with them were a breathe of fresh air, the lemon cheesecake martini and the special filet mignon are tied for number two stars of last night (imma be honest all of the food was (is) amazing but I will dream about that martini about for days it was so smooth so creamy the right balance of tart and sweet, and that filet omg the mushroom sauce 🤤❤️)

The Cafe Cortina last night was like greeting an old friend, the one you tell all your friends and family about and have all those memorable moments with. Thank you so much for inviting us back, we truly enjoyed our evening.

Original:

I've been to cafe cortina at least 3 other times and those precious experiences were always what made me want to go back from the food to the service all of it was previously 5 stars. Last night while trying to have a nice dinner to celebrate my birthday it was not. While the food was still good, the service was by far the worst we've ever had and to be honest it hurt a lot. The night started off well, but after getting our entrees is when everything went downhill so to speak. My husband order a pasta dish, I specifically ordered the rib eye but I received the short rib instead I tried talking to the waiter bcs my husband had heard me say the rib eyes name but the waiter was sure I ordered the short rib (I didn't but didn't feel like continuing that convo and sending it back and waiting to eat with my spouse) so I just said it was fine I'm adjustable. Miscommunication happens so in the grand scheme it's not a huge deal it wasn't what I wanted or ordered but I'd live. Our main issue was we were subsequently ignored after that we literally didn't see the original waiter (Manuel) the rest of the night he'd act like he was coming over then turn right back around or go to another table. And the other male waiter who took our entree order also ignored us. No one checked on us asking how the food was or if we needed anything at all (not even another drink). The only person who was attentive was the young man refilling water he was also the young man who offered to box up our food for us. Even when it came time for the bill we didn't see either of them, the young woman who graciously took our drink order at the beginning of service did that (the lemon cheesecake martini was amazing and by far the highlight of my evening) and they were making their way around to the other tables graciously speaking to them and ignoring us. If the wait staff had an issue with us even if it was about the miscommunication send over the manager don't just ignore us.

For how expensive this place is and having been here back in Dev 2023 celebrating our anniversary and giving this place 5 stars across the board to this was beyond upsetting and I did cry on way home.

Also we weren't the only ppl celebrating something there were clearly a lot of celebrations that night we could tell we just felt like the staff didn't...

I wish I would’ve read the reviews about having an event at Cafe Cortina before we booked for our wedding on Saturday. Let me start off by saying that this is an absolutely beautiful venue for a small wedding (we had 40 in fireplace and patio area) and not many places offer this setting for smaller groups. I can certainly see the appeal for having a wedding/event there. The communication throughout has been abismal. We put in a deposit in March and were told not to contact the coordinator until after Easter (end of April) to sign a contract and go over details. That never happened. I called multiple times after that date, both the event department and the coordinator for weeks with zero return calls. Early June, we FINALLY were able to make contact and requested a meeting at the venue to go over details so we were prepared for our event. The coordinator was 30 minutes late to our scheduled appointment.

On our wedding day, when setting up, it seemed no one knew what the other was doing. The men’s bathroom must have overflowed because it was a terrible smell and an employee was there with cleaner and holding back throwing up because of the smell. The coordinator did not make herself known to the parties that were setting up that she was the main contact which made asking questions and setting up a nightmare.

Our price included beer and wine, which was not told to any of our guests. That could’ve been an easy fix by including it on the pre printed menu that was at the tables.

I will commend the staff as it rained for about 20 minutes on our wedding day and they had the inside ready to accommodate us for lunch within about 20 minutes.

As a bride, on my wedding day, I don’t expect to get asked if we had a cake we were cutting and serving, even though it was delivered that morning. I was told that she was double checking and not to panic. Too late for that. I wasn’t even told they were able to find the cake, it just magically appeared on the cake table. No one asked the children that were there about their meal, even though the venue was told in advance that there would be three small children in attendance. We had to find a waiter to get a meal for the children. Again, not something I want to be dealing with at my wedding.

When final payment was due at the end of our wedding, no one gave us the bill and explained what everything was, it was just dropped off at our table. They were lucky we even saw it before we left. The bill was like a restaurant bill, nothing explained for the miscellaneous charges that were there.

As I stated, the venue is gorgeous and that alone is reason to have an event there, however, they need a lesson in communication as the other reviews have stated. This is the most important day of people’s lives and to have to beg for clear communication is absolutely ridiculous. So many of these items could have been fixed with clear communication. It makes it seem like these events are booked and they just don’t have the capacity in the event department to handle it.

Will never be recommending anyone here or to have an event at this place. Less than pleased with...