Pasta Vino — Restaurant in Johns Creek

We weren't sure what to think about this place. It was my birthday dinner and I wanted Italian food. Good Italian food is not an easy thing to find in the Atlanta area, particularly if you don't want to spend less than 20 bucks a person.

I didn't make a reservation, so needless to say we had to wait. It was at least 40 minutes before we got to sit down. You get some bread and some garlic knots. Not unusual for an Italian restaurant. The bread was decent, the garlic knots were good. So far pretty much what I expected.

Then we ordered a salad to share. It was a garden salad, so it was good except for the croutons. They were bland and lacked seasoning.

With all that being said, I wasn't expecting much from the entrees. I was with my brothers. 2 of us ordered chicken parm and the 3rd ordered eggplant. I took a bite of my dinner and was absolutely blown away. The chicken was perfectly pounded out, tender, and not overly breaded. The sauce was fantastic and they gave you some basil leaves between the cheese and the chicken breast. Then there was the pasta, a small bowl of spaghetti perfectly al dente and coated in the same great marinara sauce that covered my chicken. I even took a bite of the eggplant parmesan. It was phenomenal. This is the best Italian food I have eaten probably since the last time I ate Italian in New York. That's right. New York.

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My husband and I decided to order from this place since it was closer to our house than our usual Italian place. What a mistake. I ordered the Cheese Ravioli which the menu said was "baked in a tomato sauce and melted mozzarella." I was also given the option to add Sausage to my meal. I quite like Italian sausage and typically add a sausage link to my meal at other places. While I thought the $5 charge was a little steep, I was optimistic that it would be tasty. What I got was a bowl of seemingly microwaved frozen raviolis with a bland tomato sauce dumped on top. The supposedly baked mozzarella? Just clump of melted cheese that was melted underneath the sauce. It was gross. As for the $5 sausage? They just tossed in the sliced sausage they (I assume) use for their pizzas. It reminded me of something you would give to a child. Not at all what I expected for the price. My husband ordered their Rigatoni Bolognese. He recently had a stay at the hospital and said the Rigatoni at the hospital was much better. He also said that he would prefer Chef Boyardee (which he does actually like). I can honestly make better Italian myself at home with store-bought pasta and sauce and it certainly wouldn't cost me $40.00. I don't think I have ever been this disappointed on a meal from a...

I wound up eating here on a Saturday night, the restaurant was fairly busy with less than 5 empty tables.

I did find the service exceptionally slow, it was 20 minutes between a glass being empty and them filling it.

It took 45 minutes to get our starter salads, it was only after I complained that 3 tables that arrived after us were eating their salads, I asked to speak to a manager and never did the manager appear.

It took about another 25 minutes to get our main course, I had the chicken parmigiana, I will give high marks to the tenderness of the chicken, it was a bit bland but once I added Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes it was quite good. The salad was decent but not a highlight, the garlic knots were very good.

So if I rated them on food alone it would be 3.5 - 4 but with a complete lack of service in a timely fashion and the manager not caring enough to come out and chat really put me off on this place.

The staff I did interact with were friendly.

It’s possible I’d go back but only if I had a few hours to kill and if I went back and the service was still the same then good food or not I’d not return.

I would advice the manager to circulate to make sure the diners are enjoying their experience, it also sets a tone for the rest of the staff if you...