LaScala's FIRE — Restaurant in Glassboro

(I just want to preface this review by saying I have worked as a server for seven years and even now continue to work in the restaurant industry) My friend and I went here last night after not going for about a year. I’ve been maybe 7 or 8 times throughout the years and never had an issue until yesterday. The waitress came up within seven seconds of us being seated by the hostess. We hadn’t even put our keys or purses away yet that’s how fast she came up to us and then was annoyed when we weren’t ready to order drinks. (Totally fine maybe she was just busy and stressed) She came back with her drinks and we weren’t quite ready to order entrées yet, but I said “oh we can put in an appetizer,” then she proceeded to wait for us to put in our entrées. Then we had to then explicitly say we weren’t ready for our entrées yet and again she wasn’t thrilled. (It’s also a free flowing kitchen. You are not supposed to put everything in at the same time) My drink tasted watered down, flat and slightly flavorless (I got the grapefruit spritz, which was tequila, grapefruit liquor, sprite, and grapefruit juice). Didn’t really like it, but I drank it anyway. My friend got the espresso martini which she said was great. Our appetizer came out. It was delicious. We ordered our entrées after eating our app and they were also delicious. We were done eating our pasta, but we were still picking on our appetizer & drinking when our server came over and we asked if we could have some boxes. She brings over the boxes and the check without saying anything. She didn’t ask if there was anything else she could get for us. She didn’t ask if we needed another round of drinks. She didn’t ask if we wanted dessert, etc. We wanted a new round of drinks (Different from the ones we had previously ordered) And we needed to put in a to go order. Once she came back over, she asked if the check was ready to be picked up and I said “no we actually would like to order a new round of drinks.” She had already started walking away from us when she said “ Oh, the same ones?” And then was again slightly annoyed that we said no we would like to order different drink drinks. My friend got wine and I got The pineapple spicy margarita. I want to preface this part specifically by saying I almost always drink tequila and margaritas. So when she dropped off my drink and it tasted like salty ocean water, you could imagine my disappointment. I waited until she came over. I flagged her down and I told her that I never send anything back because I understand it’s annoying (again I was a server for 7 years) I said “I’m sorry. I don’t know if this was made wrong or what but this is actually undrinkable. Could I just a glass of wine instead.” And then handed her the drink to take it away. I hate you not it literally tasted like Salt Water. Definitely no remnants of tequila, lime, anything spicy or pineapple. She had someone, who I’m assuming was the manager, come over to bring me the glass of wine and didn’t say anything. just dropped the drink. The waitress then came back over and said “do you feel better?” In a snarky remark instead of saying, “I’m so sorry you didn’t like the drink. How are you doing with the glass of wine?” Then again proceeded to bring the check unprompted without asking for dessert, without asking if we wanted a third round of drinks and without asking if she could get us anything else. So we said whatever we paid our bill we went to the bar. We had a third round of drinks and then we got our go order. Our bartender was extremely nice....

Was visiting Rowan University and lunchtime was quickly approaching. When going through the choices, the decision was pretty quick when I mentioned the Ricotta Board (Ricotta, Honey, Wood-Fired Piadina Bread) that we had during a visit to a LaScala's Fire in Philly. With that, after the tour, we ended up having a great lunch.

On a Monday afternoon around 1pm, there was plenty of seating and we quickly sat down. I was impressed with their craft beer selection and ordered the LaScala Haze (New England Hazy IPA) which arrived quickly after ordering.

For starters we ordered the Ricotta Board which is amazing!

For lunch, I ordered the Basil $14

Buffalo Chicken Cutlet (Chicken Cutlets, Buffalo Sauce, Mozzarella, Blue Cheese) from the wood fired pizza menu. Pizza was tasty and complemented my Hazy IPA rather well. Pizza has slight charring which was expected being from a wood oven.

My daughter had the Ravioli (Ricotta, Fresh Herbs, Basil, Famous Tomato Sauce). I should note that orders are cooked and served to order. When the meal is ready, it comes out when it is ready and they will not keep the food sitting. While traditionally it is common courtesy to wait until all meals are served, in this setting, don't be afraid to dig in when your food is served. In this instance, the ravioli came out first and my pizza was served shortly thereafter but I had my daighrer start her meal.

All in all, a great lunch. While it is all to common nowadays, I should note they do have a cash price and a slightly higher fee for credit cards. When planning meals, I usually will plan to have cash to avoid these fees. While I do get why the fees is tagged on, I still find it annoying and will eventually just let it go. If you find yourself on the area, stop in for...

Edit 12/31/23 Nice change!! Went here for an early NYE dinner to use up a few gift cards we had accumulated since we were not going here for about a year...see review below. Very pleasantly surprised. First, I cannot say enough good about all the wait staff and bartenders and the front desk workers. Everyone was working hard , I saw no slackers, they were efficient and attentive. There were a lot of staff and no one was standing still, service was great. All were helping each other, saw a server waiting for her order at the bar and she was prepping oranges and lemons for the bar while waiting. Drinks were excellent as were ALL of our meals. The San Remo chicken was awesome. Thanks for the change!

Edit 1/4/2023: Something is wrong in Glassboro. We dine here at least once a week. Won't be doing that anymore. Food quality has really taken a dive. Eggplant parm was awful as was the pasta/sauce it was served with. Pasta cooked to mush, and over-sauced and watery. Trash actually, took it home and threw it out. Salad quality has been even worse, bad lettuce and no-care prep. The roasted Brussels have been charcoal and inedible, and the sandwiches are doughy, and dry as a desert. ( Chicken Parm Sammie, how can you manage to screw that up?). Very disappointed. Bright spot is the bar, very good cocktails. Now if the restaurant only had a decent kitchen. There seems to be no oversight in the kitchen, where is the chef??

Original review: Good food, orders come out when ready, not all together. Our app came out same...