Olio Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Groton

Below this "letter" is our response to the owner's response.

To Whom It May Concern,

My husband and I dined at your restaurant on October 14th and were extremely disappointed with both the quality of the food and the service we received.

I ordered the cod, but from the very first bite, it was clear that the fish was not fresh. It had a strong, unpleasant odor and was tough and overcooked. I immediately sent it back and ordered the pork tenderloin, requesting it be cooked medium rare. Unfortunately, the pork arrived overcooked, lukewarm, and lacking in flavor. Similarly, my husband’s steak dish was also served lukewarm, and the mashed potatoes were equally unappetizing.

As someone who has spent years working in the restaurant industry, my husband—who recently retired as a chef at several renowned establishments—recognized that something was seriously wrong. We asked to speak to the manager on duty, and when she arrived, we were met with an unprofessional, dismissive attitude. Rather than acknowledging our concerns, she told us that no one else had complained and seemed surprised by our feedback. Her response gave the impression that she was not invested in addressing the issue or maintaining the quality of the restaurant.

Instead of deflecting responsibility, a more appropriate and professional response would have been: "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. We strive to provide our guests with an excellent dining experience, and I sincerely apologize that we did not meet that standard tonight. Let me see how I can make this right for you." Such an approach would have left us feeling valued as customers and reassured that our concerns were being taken seriously.

Her response not only dismissed our concerns but implied that WE were the problem, which was incredibly frustrating. A manager’s role is to ensure that guests leave satisfied, not to undermine their experience. Moreover, she seemed inattentive to the overall quality control in the restaurant, as evidenced by her behaviors.

As loyal local patrons of this establishment, we’ve always enjoyed dining at Olio and have brought friends with us many times in the past. However, based on this recent experience, it’s clear that both the kitchen and the management have declined in quality. We are now hesitant to return or recommend your restaurant to others, which is truly unfortunate.

We hope you will take this feedback seriously and address the issues we encountered so that future guests do not have the same disappointing experience.

Sincerely,

Response to the owner's response:

Dear Sir,

We were disappointed with the dismissive tone of your response. The issue was not with us as patrons, but with your manager on duty on the night of October 14th.

Contrary to what you were told, we did not ask her to sit down with us. We requested that she come to our table, which seated only two people—there was no third chair. She lied to you or you lied to the public to make us look bad.

The fish we were served did not taste fresh. Sir, we were the ones eating it, you were not, and our experience of the food should be the priority. We visited your restaurant with the intention of enjoying a meal, not to create problems.

When a customer raises a complaint, a professional response is key. Hearing "I am surprised to hear that" and "No one else has complained" is dismissive and unhelpful. Your manager would benefit from training on customer relations. A more appropriate response might be, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Let me see how I can resolve this for you." Her response, as well as yours, implied that we were the problem. She displayed an unwarranted air of superiority and a condescending attitude towards us, which left a negative impression.

While we appreciate the $30 gift card given to us, your recent response now makes us question its intent. It feels less like a gesture of goodwill and more like an attempt to silence our voices. We will be returning the gift card to you.

We sincerely wish you and your business all the best...

As You walk or roll in, their are stairs down to tables, but if you go to the right, there are tables for handicap seating. I also saw a sign for outdoor seating as well.. Arrived, seated, right away served water, and said our waiter would be right over. I waited a bit but asked for some menus while we waited. Eventually, a newbie waiter came over, but I was pleasantly surprised how catering and on top of things he was. For a newbie, I was impressed also was impressed because if he didn't know the answer to my question, he made sure he found the answer. We were served bread with dipping oil. My boyfriend said a million times how delish the bread was, lol. Got our drinks. My boyfriend got a sea foam beer. Great tasting IPA. I ordered our meals. I got a grass fed burger, and my boyfriend got a special of prime rib. Our meals were fantastic. The only thing is no dipping sauce like ranch or honey mustard, but the chef was kind enough to whip me up some homemade honey mustard. The ambiance is really nice and saw a waiter just making sure tables were organized and presentable. The hostess and our waiter came over many times to make sure we were satisfied. We then looked at the dessert to go. I got a seven layer carrot cake that was so yummy. ALSO FINALLY A CARROT CAKE WITH NO NUTS!! A total redo place, in my opinion If you want to come to a place that is on top of customer service, then this is the place. I came for an anniversary dinner. To celebrate my man's life. We had again a phenomenal waitress . Food catering because of my allergies was outstanding. We all had a phenomenal night. They even came out with happy anniversary cake and just made my man so happy . We had champagne called into our table. Top notch place. Again, I had the delicious carrot cake. All the times we have come everything outstanding. Service is impeccable, but every perfect place can't always be perfect . I came in, and the night was just off. Waitress was very pleasant, but she or the cooks in back, not on their game. I ordered the hamburger salad, and what I received was the meatball salad with all my allergies all over it. So, while everyone was enjoying their dinner, I had to wait to even get a meal but still will give this place 5 stars because sometimes the night...

So I should start this review by saying the food was absolutely amazing. We were a party of four and all the food was amazing. Taste was completely perfect, presentation was beyond incredible and the uniqueness of all the food was great. Outside of that the service was mediocre at best. While our waitress was super friendly, she was inattentive and disappeared for long periods of time. Also her recommendations to our entries was far from how she described. When some states they are hungry and you recommend a meal that a ten year old could finish with ease to a grown man and state it’s a good portion, it was nothing less then disappointing when the meal was delivered. Yet a petite female in our party asked for a recommendation and a ribeye meal was recommended ( turned out to be a 24oz amazingly prepared steak) you have to question their judgement. To further add to the lack of attention we finally caught her attention to ask for a dessert menu after a solid 20 minutes after we had all finished with our entries and it took an additional 10 minutes to get the dessert menu. She then took the left overs to box up and “ give us some time to decide on dessert”. Well we decided in about 5 minutes what we all wanted and then waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. 25 minutes later she returned and by that time we had reached the point were the desserts we had wanted had become not worth the foreseeable hour it could take to order and receive them and wait for the bill. While no one was in a rush we just simply had too much time sitting at the table waiting. Other waitresses offered to bring us more drinks and ultimately took our bill to process. The worst part about that was our waitress was only attending two other tables (small restaurant and easy to observe where she was and who she was serving, though hardly ever out in the dining area it seemed) so not sure what was going on. Just kinda sad because we would have loved to have tried more of their delicious food and hung out more but hard to keep the mood going with long delays and no drinks. I highly recommend their food. It was truly eclectic and the pairings of tastes was completely perfect. I just hope future service was...