Fenicci's of Hershey — Restaurant in Hershey

My partner and I were part of a large party of about 20 people. We were split up into three tables which was nice, especially since the wait staff was able to split the check up according to tables. Very convenient.

Once we were all sat, we were handed Fenicci’s dinner menu along with drinks and specials. Our wait staff then came around and took our drink orders. About 10 minutes later, we were about to order our meals until the manager/owner came out and told us they would be taking back the menus and this would be a fixed course meal. You didn’t know that prior to seating us? Okay. The owner said we had the four following options along with house salad and bread rolls: Chicken Parm Alfredo w/ Chicken Tortellini w/ blush sauce (some vegetable/pasta? option)

We ordered our food and one member of our party was gluten-free. The waitstaff did not know if they could accommodate him but took his order. It wasn’t until about 10 minutes later that the staff informed him that they would not be able to provide anything other than gluten-free penne alfredo. He declined the substitution and asked if he could have a steak off of the main dinner menu. The wait staff declined and said they could not do that. I found that very odd since one member at our table was able to order a personal pizza, an item that was not on the fixed menu.

Throughout our experience, we noticed that the staff (only two people) was very flustered with the party/three tables. I will not make accusations on their individual capabilities but as a restaurant, I (along with the 19 other members in our party), do not believe Fenicci’s can handle anything larger than a four-top table. I continuously tried to help the waitstaff out by communicating things to our tables and collecting menus for them. Our one waitress was not friendly at all and genuinely did not look happy to be working a party. She ran into a chair at one point which looked like that was the tipping point for a positive outcome from her. The other waiter was kind and helpful but was often missing when needed most.

When the food came out, the Alfredo wasn’t good (second hand from my party), my partner said their parm and spaghetti was cold, and my tortellini w/blush tasted like it came off the stove 10 minutes too early. (It was not cooked through) I think this was because my food did not come out with everyone else’s food so it wasn’t until I notified the waiter about this that my food came out 8 minutes later.

We received the check and our waiter was able to rectify an issue I had with it: we were charged for 8 people who ate when one person in our party (gluten-free one), did not eat. He promptly went back and made the adjustment to 7 people.

TL/DR: Fenicci’s cannot handle large parties The waitstaff we’re flustered & confused Poor (and lack of) representation from the owner Cannot accommodate those who require gluten-free options Can split checks by table Drinks (specifically dirty martini and cocktails) are tasty & unique Atmosphere was private and warm (thank you for turning the heaters on!)

If I find myself back in the area, I may choose this place again but only as a two-top. The dinner menu looks great & the reviews are far more positive for smaller groups than the one’s for parties.

Edit: This owner is a sloppy representative of his own restaurant. He is the prime example of how NOT to treat your customers. Read his reply below. Good to know Jodi can have a positive attitude to other tables, just not parties I guess. I looked for that review below and can’t find it anywhere. No way you can accommodate 100s of people, very inflated. Readers: Pick a...

Me and my girlfriend were on our 5 year anniversary today we had a reservation for 6:15 pm on Thursday. We had an amazing day and hoped that this would end the night off good because it seemed like a nice little Italian restaraunt. We walked in to the front desk and were met by two young ladies who were very very sweet. Sadly that was the best part of our experience for the night. We sat down at our table waiting for 15 minutes before the waiter even came to introduce himself and ask anything by that time we were already ready to order. I ordered the chicken Alfredo and my girlfriend ordered the vodka pasta. We were then given the saddest salad of our lives which consisted of two tomatoes and barely any cheese with lettuce. The bread that was given was rock hard and cold and the butter was unspreadable. Then we waited for our food which didn’t take too long but usually means the food was already precooked which definitely seemed like the case. My girlfriend enjoyed the vodka pasta but said it was much much better 6 months ago, last time she went. My Alfredo on the other hand was awful in simple terms. The chicken was mostly just fat and undercooked whilst the noodles tasted just as bad as Alfredo I can make in my own home with Prego sauce from Walmart. Not authentic at all. Our waiter which I do not remember his name came to our table maybe 2 or 3 times tops and we spoke to him for I’d say 1 minute at most all togethor. He pretty much ignored us and we were seated in the farthest booth even though there were many closer open clean tables. After we were finished eating we sat there for 15-20 minutes waiting for the check because the waiter did not come at all. Eventually I decided to just get up and ask to pay because we had plans to go to the movies. We missed the movie. I asked another waiter if we could pay and they said your waiter is right there. I pay the full 58 dollars even though I shouldn’t of because I barely even touched my Alfredo but he wouldn’t of known that because he didn’t come back to check on us at all. He gave me the pad to pay and I gave a zero tip because I did not feel the need to tip someone who we talked to for less then two minutes all together at most. Then he had the audacity to ask me why I didn’t tip. To which I reply “you were at our table three times and we finished eating 15 minutes ago” he looked angry but that didn’t matter to me because WE left angry and this ISINT our place of business. If I ever acted that way or treated people that way at my resteraunt I would either be retrained or fired. I don’t know the guys name but the only thing I remember about him was that he was balding and very quiet spoken. He needs to be trained and learn how to be in the service industry. I’m very disappointed in the way our...

We decided to try this place for our anniversary, because we had driven past it so many times, and the reviews seemed to imply excellence. It seemed kind of pricey, but if the food was good it would be worth it. It turned out the food was terrible!!!! The people who say they liked the food must have dead taste buds. Every single thing we ordered was so bad that I asked the waitress if I should go into the kitchen and teach them how to cook. I could instantly tell from the taste that one of the vegetables was obviously out of a can. I actually did ask if I could get certain spices from the kitchen so I could season my own food. Unfortunately she was not able to do so. We tried quite a few different dishes, hoping something would turn out at least palatable, but every single thing was either tasteless or an inedible taste, except the bread. The bread was the one decent food. How sad! We even brought the food home to let our (adult) children taste it, to see if it was just us, or was it legitimately horrible. We didn't say anything to any of them, so as not to influence them. Every single one of them not only said it was horrible, but they spit out every item they tried. I laughed and said that my son should apply to be the cook, since four out of five of us are good cooks, and Fennici's obviously needs someone in their kitchen who actually knows how to cook. We are originally from New York, so we KNOW good Italian food, and this didn't even come into the category of decent food of any kind, let alone Italian. There is nothing Italian about their food other than the name. I made sure the waitress knew how extremely disappointed we were. She said she would tell the manager, and that we would be sent a survey in my email so I could lodge our complaints, but I've never gotten any emails from Fennici's. My final take (to avoid writing a small novel) is "They've got a lot of nerve charging so much money for serving such...