Giampino's Cucina Italiana B.Y.O.B. — Restaurant in Haverford Township

I hesitate to write a bad review of a local business because I know that most people are trying their best, but this one star review is absolutely deserved. If you have booked or are thinking of booking a private party at Giampino's, take this as a warning to double, triple and perhaps quadruple confirm the date and details of your party. I put a deposit down several months ago to have my son's graduation party at Giampino's. 10 days before the party, I called and spoke with the owner, Jason. I confirmed the date, gave him our menu selections, and we discussed how the tables would be set up. He told me that we could arrive any time after 11:00 to begin decorating (the party was from 12:00-3:00). When we arrived at 11:10, the restaurant was locked, the lights were off and it was clear that no one was inside. I called the restaurant phone, and it went to voicemail. I googled the names of the owners to try and find a home number. I sent a message to the wife, Tracy, on Facebook. My son sent a message to the Giampino's Instagram account. We were both in panic mode. Around 11:30, my son had a message back from the Instagram account telling us to call a cell phone number. I called numerous times until Jason finally answered and told us that he was on his way. When we finally got in to start decorating, the restaurant was a mess. Tables were wet and the floor was covered in dirt and food, as though the restaurant had not been cleaned after closing the night before, so that had to be taken care of before the 3 teenage girls that had been called in could begin the actual party set up. The first of our 60 guests began arriving at 12:00 and most people were there by 12:30, but there was no food aside from some salad and antipasto that had been hastily put out. The main dishes finally began coming out at 1:00, but after the first table went up and filled their plates, most things were empty, and we had to wait for them to be refilled, which took a while because everything was running behind due to the late start. When I was finally able to speak to Jason, I asked him what happened, and he said he just forgot, which is unbelievable to me. Something like this would NEVER have happened with the previous owners (Giampino's was sold earlier this year). I told him that my husband was going to demand a discount, and he said he would give us the desserts for free and "let's leave it at that." In other words, that's all we'll do for you, and no further discussion. It should also be noted that my friend went back to the kitchen to ask for more plates for the buffet table because there were not enough. Tracy handed her a stack of plates, and my friend immediately gave them back because they were all dirty. Tracy then apologized and said they've been having to wash everything by hand because their dishwasher has been broken. By the end of the party, everyone was fed and my son was happy because he had a nice time with his friends and family. But this was an expensive party, and the panic that we felt when we realized that no one was there, the embarrassment of having to explain and apologize to everyone about the food being delayed, and the half-hearted apology from the owner made for an unpleasant experience. We will not...

I was excited to try Giampino's, as I've driven by many times and they are always advertising in the coupon circulars. My mom suggested a chain Italian restaurant, and I suggested this mom & pop instead tonight. This was our first time here, and will be the last. We went on the website ahead of time and thoroughly read the menu, picking out what we wanted before we left. We also called and made a reservation, even though when we got there it was clear we didn't need one. It was VERY dark inside. Our waiter John was polite, and brought us our drinks right away, along with some cold, not very good bread. He answered a few questions about the menu, and we ordered. I got a chicken dish, and my mom got stuffed flounder. I asked how the chicken was prepared, and he said it was sauteed, not fried like the eggplant in my dish. He offered that I could get it fried if I wanted it that way, and I agreed. We asked what the entrees came with, and he said spaghetti with marinara. We asked if we could get a different pasta/sauce, and he said absolutely. So we got aurora sauce on angel hair and aurora sauce on tagliatelle. It took an extremely long time for our salads to come out. So far, not so good, but we were hopeful. Dinner took a really long time to come out too, and there were very few people in the restaurant, so it shouldn't have taken so long. The food was okay. My dish was a little overcooked and smothered in sauce, but my mom loved her flounder. My side pasta was overcooked. I was okay with the experience until the bill came. It wasn't great, but it wasn't the worst either. My meal was supposed to be $21.50, and my mom's $24. We had a $5 coupon. I was completely blindsided when the bill came and my meal was suddenly $26.50 and my mom's $26. This was already a stretch for us, and I never would have eaten here for those prices. We asked John about the bill, and he got VERY snippy with me when I told him the prices on the menu. He said that I asked for the chicken to be fried and we got "specialty pastas" and that it's clearly stated on the menu that those are an upcharge. And he would NOT be adjusting our bill. It is NOT clearly listed on the menu I read in the restaurant, it is nowhere on the website, it is not on the takeout menu, and he didn't mention the upcharge when I ordered. If he had said, "of course, we'd be happy to substitute pasta/sauce for you, but there will be a $2 charge" or, " we'll fry the chicken for you, but it will be an additional $3." I would have stuck with the original meal. No WAY I would pay an extra $7 for that! I feel like I was ripped off, and even though he saw I was upset, he did not offer to get a manager. He acted like I was in the wrong. I will not go back to this restaurant. We were treated rudely. We eat out almost every night of the week and were hoping to add another restaurant to our roster. This will not...

Valentine’s Day dinner- 1st of all they raised their prices for the holiday 6-10$ per dish!! Not a good way to treat your regulars or anyone else for that matter. Calamari was bad nothing but a bunch of crumbs, very disappointing! Now the Entrees scallop Marsala over linguine, I asked the waitress how many scallops and she said 7 big scallops when it arrived it had 5 very little scallops on it and they charged 31$ for that !!! Chicken Parmigiana was so small it was completely covered in sauce, I couldn’t even see the chicken so I asked for the manager and he explained price increase due to operating costs and said nothing was wrong with our entrees! WHAT A JOKE!!! We saw our waitress 1 time during our dinner and her tip reflected her absence but she had time to keep stopping and talking to a customer she knew! Finally, after your meal they gave all the woman a rose for the holiday but we received no rose ,when I asked our waitress about it on the way out she said oh yes you get a rose but she never followed us up to the front so no rose for my girl, not from there anyway ! We will not be returning, if one of those things had happened we may have gone back but everything was a disaster so they won’t be getting any more of my money! One more thing I’d like to mention, when we arrived the restaurant was less then half full and there were 10 dirty tables(never cleaned off) so we had to be seated in a corner of the restaurant that was behind a pillar! Giampinos sucks, I would avoid this place and go to media where there are...