Alla Campagna — Restaurant in Fredericksburg

I’ll start by saying the food was absolutely delicious — every dish we ordered was incredible and well worth the visit. Unfortunately, our overall experience was disappointing due to the service we received from Sabrina while celebrating my bachelorette trip.

We were initially quoted a 1.5-hour wait for our party of nine, which we completely understood and were fine with, but we were seated after only about 30–45 minutes. It felt like we may have been over-quoted to discourage us from waiting since it didn’t even look busy when we got there and no other parties were waiting. As we were being seated, the manager stopped one of our guests to address an outside drink, which we understood was against policy. However, the tone and approach came across harsh and made our guest feel attacked — to the point of tears.

Once seated, our server immediately informed us that the focaccia wouldn’t be available for about 30 minutes and suggested we order other appetizers instead. We told her we were happy to wait for the focaccia and ordered it along with two other appetizers. When she returned, she asked if we were ready to order since “nothing had been put in yet.” We were confused and clarified that we had ordered apps and the focaccia, but she told us she hadn’t placed the order because the focaccia wasn’t ready. When I reiterated that we wanted to make sure it was put in, she continued to refuse to put it in the order. The exchange was unnecessarily uncomfortable and created tension over something as simple as bread.

We eventually received the focaccia — but not until after our entrees had arrived, nearly 45 minutes after the initial estimate. Later, when clearing plates, one guest asked to keep her silverware since she was still eating her appetizer, but the server refused and took it, saying she would bring fresh utensils when the entrees came (leaving our guest unable to finish her food).

We did bring our concerns to the manager, who was understanding and said she would address it. We did notice some improvement afterward, which we appreciated.

That said, a mandatory 20% gratuity was automatically added to our bill due to the large party. While we fully respect tipping — and most of us work in the service industry ourselves — we felt that the service did not reflect a 20% experience. Unfortunately, the automatic charge left us with no choice. If we had an amazing experience we typically would have even tipped more than what was already added for gratuity.

Overall, the food was fantastic, but the service and handling of our table made what should have been a special celebration feel uncomfortable...

Wow. I’m so disappointed in this place. After being seated by the host last night, I overheard the waitress and host talking about her being the only person serving all six tables outside and asking if she could handle it. I totally understood her poor situation and initially felt bad for her. When she took my drink order I asked if they had more than one vermouth. She said no so I ordered a gin drink with the one vermouth. (They actually had at least 2, I would later find out) When the drinks came, one was completely wrong, and my Negroni didn’t have an orange peel. No big deal. We mentioned the wrong drink and I just asked for an orange peel when she stopped back at the bar. The waitress then got angry and said, “Bar is backed up.” She then grabbed my Negroni and the wrong drink and angrily left with them while we were trying to explain that she didn’t need to take my drink but just requested an orange peel. She then returned with just my Negroni 10 minutes later. Thirty-five minutes later, we still didn’t have our party's correct drink, and our waitress was ignoring us, obviously upset about the table situation. At this point, I spoke with the manager, and he apologized and said he would get us our missing drink. (He was very pleasant and apologized for the shortage of staff) Forty-five minutes later, after we ordered our appetizer, we got it, and the waitress dropped it on the table without a word and walked away.This appetizer came right before the group next to us got their main course (they came 15 minutes after us) When we finally got our main course, we had no water on the table, and when I looked around, every other table had full bottles of water. At this point, we were done with the place (my meal was terrible, but everyone else’s was good), so when she finally stopped by again, we said no dessert. Once she heard that, she disappeared for another 15 minutes as we waited to ask for a check to end this nightmare experience. Once I asked for a check, she said she wasn’t able to split the check in half. By then I had had enough and just asked for the manager who I dealt with earlier. She then showed up to the table and said the manager had left, but she would split the check-in two if we told her everything each party had. She then proceeded to split it incorrectly, and we had to ask her again to do it. At this point, I was done, but then we heard the other tables also complaining about how awful the service was. This made me feel a little better that it wasn't just us who she was treated...

I’m hopeful that there’s some potential at this place. My experience, however, was underwhelming.

My fiancée and I chose to celebrate our engagement here. We were walk ins at 8:30pm on a Friday night. I’m ex-industry - so I know: that’s tough for even the best restaurant. However, it was about 5 minutes before we were greeted while standing at the host stand. Someone could’ve said something, anything, just to let us know they saw us and planned to get to us. The host who finally got with us lacked confidence to explain his game plan to turn a table and then seat us. It left me a bit confused if I should sit at the table he pointed to or wait for him to set it. Confidently telling people what’s going to happen with kindness and what they need to do is a superpower. It’s great leadership. Would’ve made a nice touch for a place of this caliber. Hiring and training is hard though, so I get it.

The server we had was unfortunately struggling to issue relevant recommendations. It stank of pre-shift regurgitation. She mentioned the daily special of some kind of fish, but literally couldn’t describe it qualitatively at all. Just went blank. The menu was very difficult to interpret - I’m a foodie but even I don’t know all that stuff about Italian words. Just make it simple. Stop trying to impress us with your authenticity. It’s just bad user experience. And, I can’t order what I really would like because I’m so confused so I end up literally with a worse taste in my mouth. I got too overwhelmed and ended up going with the servers recommendation of the Wild Boar. I was concerned since it sounded a bit out there - but I was assured it wouldn’t be “gangy, as people often assume boar is”. Well, it turned out incredibly gangy. It was very, very disappointing. The noodles also seemed a bit too chewy or sticky. To the server’s credit, she was able to notice my disappointment without me saying anything and offered more sauce. It made it a little better. My fiancée’s dish was okay, a squid ink and shrimp dish.

Dessert was a lemon-strawberry-cream confection I forget the name of and definitely the tastiest thing we had there.

The restaurant looks beautiful. It seems very fancy. It’s a disappointment, then, that the staff is undertrained, the menu is pretentious, and the food is mostly mediocre and...