Coda Del Pesce — Restaurant in Isle of Palms

My wife and I have been loyal customers of Coda Del Pesce for years, regularly bringing friends and family to celebrate special occasions. We chose this restaurant for our 13th anniversary, but unfortunately had a disappointing experience that fell far short of our expectations.

We've always been willing to pay premium prices here because we believed the quality justified the cost. However, during our anniversary dinner, my wife discovered a hair wrapped around the pasta in her entrée. We understand accidents happen in any kitchen, so she discreetly informed our server rather than making a scene in the half-empty dining room.

While our server was apologetic and quickly removed the dish, the manager's response was concerning. He brought a replacement plate without acknowledgment or apology, and when our server returned, she explained that "these things happen when the kitchen is behind" - despite it being only 5:30 PM with plenty of available tables. By then, her appetite was gone and she asked to have the remainder packaged.

What troubled us most was the complete lack of service recovery. Our anniversary went unacknowledged beyond the initial greeting, the manager never approached our table to address or apologize for the situation, and our bill reflected no adjustment despite the significant issue with our meal.

For a restaurant positioning itself at this price point, simply replacing a problematic dish with excuses isn't sufficient service recovery - especially in Charleston's competitive dining scene. We had been excited about Volpe's opening, but this experience has unfortunately changed our perspective on supporting this owner's establishments.

The lack of genuine concern from management left us feeling undervalued as longtime customers, which is particularly disappointing given our history of loyalty to...

Sadly not what we expected of such a nice looking restaurant. I feel bad, because I encouraged our group to try it. One $200 bill later, we had to go get second dinner somewhere else. It’s pretty sad when you get 10x better service at the ice cream shop down the street than a $$$ restaurant. First off, our waiter dismissed us with attitude, off the bat, because we didn’t order alcohol. (Sorry for being pregnant, dude.) There was still potential to up-sell us on food and make a hefty 20% tip on more than $200. I cannot eat seafood, so I asked if there was any way to just do some sort of creamy pasta with no seafood. Because the restaurant doesn’t offer a chicken dish. Waiter didn’t even attempt to help us out, just said flat out no. Then we asked if they serve bread, and he says, “well, our chef believes bread is not an appetizer, it’s a luxury. So we’re only supposed to bring it if you ask.” How about just bringing it and not saying anything about your chef? Because now you’re all starting to sound like tool bags. Then our waiter told us they are out of Diet Coke and didn’t offer any alternative. Then they bring a Diet Coke and waiter explains all the effort they needed to go to (walking down to the managers car) to get more for us. Oh, wow, thank you so much. 🙄 We are from Atlanta and frequent some of the nicest restaurants in town (Ford Fry, Little Alley, etc) and this was quite honestly one of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve ever had. My family enjoyed the food, but the awful service overpowered that completely. Embarrassing.

P.S. if the restaurant would like to reach back out to me and get the waiters...

I am so glad that I found this gem of a restaurant. Per my request (as I was proposing after dinner) they seated us with the best view of the ocean. Our server Britney was incredibly detailed describing every dish on the menu and was very attentive. The food was nothing short of incredible. We started with the flounder brasicole and a sou vide octopus salad which initially knocked our socks off. Our pasta dish was the Gnudi which is like gnocchi but made with ricotta instead of potatoes. I can't even describe how incredible it was as it melted in our mouths with the exceptional brown butter sauce that it was in. Our main courses really impressed us as my tile fish dish had so many different flavors that made my brain erupt with disbelief in what I was tasting. My fiance had the veal dish which was literally the best veal I've ever seen/eat. Normally when you get veal in a restaurant it's pounded really thin and fried. Coda del pesce gives you TWO generous thick, very tender cutlets in a tomato sauce that is to die for. This will be a restaurant that we will visit any time we are in the Charleston area. So glad I found this place. They do an amazing job. High end food and drinks at amazing prices with top notch service and accommodations. If I could give it 10 stars I gladly...