La Trattoria Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Greenwood

This is a mixed review part about food and part about customer service. My brother gave me a gift certificate to La Trattoria and is a regular patron. He goes on and on about how good this place is. We were going to be in the area and decided to use the certificate and go to dinner. We were seated right away. The food and service were good. We had the mushroom appetizer and a couple of Cosmos. My wife had the spinach mushroom ravioli and I had lasagna. The food was good, the portions not bad. We were full. The menu selection is a little light in variety, but the price is more like $$$ and a half. Most pasta dishes are $16.95, other meat dishes are $18.95 or really about 30% higher than the dish should be. There is a spattering of other pricing, but still 20-30% higher than the dishes should carry. Don't get me wrong, the food was well prepared and the sauces good, just not that good at that price value. If you wanted a steak there is easily a 100% markup. Seriously, it would have to be one hell of an 8oz steak with a mediocre fish (Tilapia) to warrant the $41 menu price. This is downtown Indy Ruth Chris pricing. But again, the food was good. For reference, I just had grouper, six large scallops (1" after cooking), six large shrimp fries, salad, bread and my dad had fish and chips with soup. The damage, $56 with tip in Cape Coral. Folks the bill was $86 with tip for a mushroom, ravioli, and lasagna, oh and don't forget the two Cosmos. $$ my ass.

The review above is my opinion independent of what happened when I went to pay the bill. What I love about reviews is the ability to call out BS. The only reason we went there was because we were given a gift certificate. Now these certs are about the size of a long business envelope. I had to take it out of my left shirt pocket, unfold it and I put it with the bill and my credit card. Low and behold, the bill came back without the cert applied. I pointed this out to the waiter, who returned and informed me there was not a gift certificate according to his boss. I'm thinking you have got to be kidding me. He goes and gets his boss, who I assume is the owner. He shows me a torn up certificate that wasn't mine, approximately the same size and format, but a little different, professing that that was the only one he has seen today. He further suggested that when I get home, I could look for my gift certificate. I pointed out that would be difficult since I had taken it out of my left shirt pocket, unfolded it and placed it with the bill and my credit card. You have got to be fricken kidding me, what kind of crap scam is this? I went ahead and paid, thinking thank god for social media. As I headed out, this person looked about as if looking for the cert. You know what are you going to do, it is my word against his, but come on folks this feels more like Dallas when Bobby died yet he didn't, he was dreaming. Who pulls this type of crap? Especially saying I can look for it when I get home, then feigning looking for it in the dining room as if it magically fell out of the bill book. Come on. I will have fun cutting and pasting this every where I can. You can decide the truthfulness of this and what type of business you are dealing with. Foods not bad, just way overpriced...

My wife and I stopped in without a serious intention of enjoying a meal. Italian food in Indiana is dismal at best. I did not take pictures aid the food because I expected nothing. This was a mistake.

It was impressive from the beginning to the end. I’m not talking about stuck up wait staff -it was not. Happy, capable staff cared for our needs. Normal people that were killing it.

This is a restaurant with no pretense just great service and food. We haven’t even discussed the food.

Mind blown, we ordered a bottle of red wine to start then Immediately ordered the escargot. Then we waited and watched the staff work the filling floor. They moved in and out of the back to each tables we were trying to count but it took some time.

The wait staff helped each other brining food to taped for their counterparts while keeping in contact with their own tables. It was a refreshing breeze to see people working not self driving, driving as a team. Everyone was smiling and genuinely polite.

The escargot came out, in its shells, the wait staff looked worried, she said “I brought tooth picks out with only one fork because they are hard to use” I was confused. She departed and we began to eat. Like and idiot I had ate all the bread the brought out before the appetizer. So I ate one with out bread and my tastebuds twitched! I though what the hell, I need to try this with the French bread and waited. My wife who never, and I mean never beats me eating the appetizer was killing it. It was spectacularly perfect.

The waitress came back and asked if we were having problems getting the escargot out we laughed and said no why? She said most people did not know that they came in their shells so they send them back and have them replaited. They were exactly as I remembered them in France and Germany.

Then we revived my salad. Cesar salad was plain and perdition too. Now my wife and I are discussing how long of a drive it is back here. I tell my wife stop don’t jhingx this. Let save judgement until the end.

Jennifer and I have just moved from Florida and had found a favorite there that we loved for 5 years but now we’re here on the hunt. So to the fact that we wanted to find a home base for friends and family we found it week 3. We were t holding our breaths.

This slowed down the cutlets we’re stacking up and the door. My wine bottle was keeping us alive at our table when I commented at pouring the last two glasses out of our bottle. The food should be out here soon, the waitstaff respond with that is a very true statement.

A few short minutes pass and boom the food drrrops. It was honestly savory, Spicy sausage with creamy Alfredo infused with a broccoli purée. What the heck is this, your not supposed to exist here I said. We have found that new home base restaurant for our friends and family to visit with us.

If you can’t tell, I enjoys this...

We first walked in as a new customer to this establishment, not to be greeted but to be stared at. Noy one person spoke just stared, which I thought was strange. I expected to hear someone say welcome to.... or hi how are your today or two for dinner? Something but after we stared back for over a minute or more finally the hostess with no personality finally spoke and said two for dinner. Still no welcome nothing and this was our 35th anniversary. We expected to be treated better since we have never been here. The Triple Chocolate Truffle drink was amazing you could taste the Vodka. It tasted like chocolate milk with Vodka, very good and probably the best part of the meal. The salad was a HUGE disappoinment, iceburg lettuce, no green of any kind. We expected for the price we would have spinach, or spring mix or at the very least some green. Nope, no cucumber, no nothing, one ring of onion, and store bought croutons. I expected homemade croutons at the very least from the prices on the menu!!! Again, a HUGE disappoinment....at the very least we expected something like what is served at Logan's (croutons and greenery) which are amazing and have flavor, that salad had no flavor, but the homemade dressing was good/better then store bought better then Logan's. The bacon mozzarella cheese red potatoes for an appitzer was good but for the price we expected to have real onions and real garlic instead of powdered ingredients. The spaghetti with my steak had way too much water, not drained off, disappoinment, the steak was what I call burnt on the outside and way too hard, no flavor as far as seasonings, disappoinment for a $33 steak. I should have tried the ravioli which was my first choice. Dessert was so-so nothing to write home about. Over all I could have went to Logan's, or Johnny Casino's for two visits, drink, and dessert for this price and walked away satisfied. A BIG HUGE disappoinment for our anniversary, never again would I visit there. And the man seated next to us went on and on about his red neck white trash neighbor. Apparently he is God and no one could do anything well but him, he ruined the rest of the dinner, which was dessert, glad he wasn't there through the whole meal or I would have resorted to saying something. Oh, and the drive home was less then 8 minutes to our driveway and my husband was hit with...