Gondolier Italian Eatery - Longmont — Restaurant in Longmont

My husband and I took my mom here to celebrate her birthday a couple of weeks back. It was our first time here and we all thought that it was so beautiful on the inside and were excited to try the food. The first red flag was when we were walking inside and I slipped on the floor because there was a huge water puddle. The hostess just said "oh sorry, it is kind of slippery." I brushed it off and was excited for the rest of our evening. Next came our waiter. He was an older gentleman that approached the table and took our drink order and then started to talk about the restaurant (as we told him it was our first time) and making recommendations off of the menu. We were glancing at the menu and listening to him explain items when he abruptly and rudely said "Well I can see that no one is listening to me so I'll just leave." We all just looked at each other and thought that it was an odd things to say. I ordered the white sangria and when he brought it to the table he just said "I have no clue what kind this is but here." We ordered a couple of appetizers (meatball sliders which my husband said were very good) and calamari which was insanely rubbery and chewy. It wasn't that busy of a night yet and the waiter kept staring at us while we ate which made us pretty uncomfortable. We ordered our food (my husband got alfredo, I got some kind of veggie/pesto dish, and my mom ordered a chicken parmesan sub). I knew that the pasta was homemade so I was really excited to give it a try (I'm from an Italian family and nothing beats homemade pasta). When our plates arrived, the pasta was so thick that it looked like worms. My husband and I tried the pasta and it was so chewy and thick. Both of our dishes were extremely bland and I'm assuming that whatever sauce was on the plate had been sucked up by the insanely thick noodles as there was barely any sauce when they were delivered. My mom enjoyed her sandwich and got fried zucchini for her side that was also very good. The waiter is continuing to stare at us while we attempt to pick at our dinner since 2 out of the 3 of us disliked our food. He comes over and asked how everything is and my husband and I say that the pasta is really thick and we don't really like the dishes that much as they are bland. The waiter then says "oh, well maybe next time" and walks off. At that point, we were tired of being stared at, not liking our food and being spoken to by the waiter in such a rude manner. I asked for the check and he brought it out to us. $97. Ninety-seven dollars for piles of bland worms, a rude waiter and sangria that tasted like lemonade. I understand that you order food and it isn't always what you thought and that you aren't pleased with every dining out experience. I did not want to raise a fuss and I was fed up with interacting with our waiter but the entire way home, the entire situation really bothered me. I have been in the food service/hospitality industry my whole life and what truly irritates me is staff that could care less and just see you as a walking dollar sign. Not only was he rude in the way he spoke to us but he watched us from the second we got in until the second that we left. You would think that if someone is staring so intently at you that they would notice that we barely ate our food and come and say something but no. He just stood and stared at us. I have no problem spending a decent amount of money on a dinner but it does bother me to spend that kind of money on a dinner that was not enjoyable. If I was looking for something I would have brought this up to the management while we were there but I simply just want to pass my feedback along so that your future customers don't have the same experience that my...

Our group had an unexpected foul up this Wednesday, so we decided to change locations to Happy Hour at Gondolier. Upon arrival, we let them know that we expected around 20 people and asked if we could put some tables together to accommodate. The restaurant was very uncrowded with the entire bar area completely empty and many unfilled tables everywhere, so it appeared to be a relaxed evening for them. The woman who greeted us did not seem at all happy that we showed up, and in fact, stated in a huffy tone that she didn't know that she could accommodate us. She certainly wasn't smiling or welcoming as everyone noted and made it obvious that she didn't appreciate having to move tables.

Nevertheless, a young man went and put tables together and a very nice waitress (Amanda) greeted us and brought water right away. We could see lots of looking, head shaking and talking among the bartender and that woman I'm guessing was the manager? As people arrived, we seated them ourselves. It understandably took Amanda a while to get everyone's orders but after ordering, I estimate that we didn't get drinks for at least 25 minutes, even though they then arrived piecemeal, (not all at once.) Amanda then looked really busy, so I got up and gave new people water glasses and refilled our pitchers so she didn't have to. At one point a new lady joined us after everyone had already ordered, and since Amanda seemed busy, I walked up to the bar and politely said that a new lady had come, and when they had time, could they please bring her a certain drink and mozzarella sticks. The male bartender huffily replied that if people kept joining us it would sure be impossible to provide separate checks. He and the female manager continued to look over at our table most of the night with unpleasant expressions, whispering among themselves.

Amanda was great, pleasant and helpful, and the food that arrived most of an hour later was quite good, which is why 3 stars. If it weren't for these, I'd give 1 star for poor unwelcoming attitude as well as incredibly slow food and drink production. I really thought that the attitude of 2 of the people NOT Amanda stunk, (as did everyone in our party.) We all agreed we'd prefer not to return there strictly based on how unwelcome we were made to feel. Under normal circumstances we'd gladly have called ahead, but this night didn't go as planned and it wasn't our groups fault. Everyone was very polite and nobody acted demanding.

Look, a lot of us at that table have worked in restaurants and in customer service. And we all know there's a nice way to say things to customers that get your point across but don't sound rude and cold. Personally, I'd have smiled nicely and said something like "Goodness there's a lot of you, thanks for coming in, could you just give us a few minutes to get things together for you?" And if they couldn't manage separate checks, then they should just smile apologetically and say so, NOT in a tone reserved for people whose dogs just did doody on your lawn and left it....and please, don't glare at us all night and whisper about us behind the bar where we can see you! Not exactly courting...

EDIT: After communicating with management, we were welcomed back to Gondoliers and visited again this past weekend. We made a reservation this time, so there were no problems there, but the place was again pretty full. We arrived about 30 minutes before our reserved time and were able to sit at the bar for a quick drink before our meal. Sitting at the bar was a tad unpleasant, due to the amount of foot-traffic passing around all the time, but the staff was friendly and reasonably helpful.

At 6:30, we approached the host stand again and were immediately taken to our table. The waitress was fast to arrive and work with my wife on selecting a wine, but the length of time it then took to take my drink order made clear that the place was, perhaps, too busy. The food, however, was spectacular! The clam appetizer left something to be desired, but the carbonara was excellent!

Ultimately, we will return, though perhaps not during the weekend dinner service. Although we were very happy with the food and the service, the place was a bit too busy for our tastes. Fortunately, we didn't have to experience the parking lot, which, upon leaving, was packed like sardines, but the restaurant floor was pretty tight and bustling too. While this may open up a bit in the spring/summer (as it appears that there will be a patio, only time will tell.

In a nutshell, tight quarters but excellent food!

I would have rated one star, but the food was good. In any event, we live in the neighborhood across the street, so after they opened, my wife and I tried them for lunch. The food was good, and the daytime staff was very nice (our waitress was especially nice), so we decided to walk over with some family on Saturday evening for dinner a few days later. The place was busy, but the hostess was exceedingly RUDE! She practically scoffed when I asked for a table, said, in a very condescending tone, that we should have made reservations at least a day in advance. We went down the road to a different restaurant, where we were greeted warmly and welcomed in.

Seeing that others in these comments have encountered rude staff as well, I don't think I'll be back unless and until I changes are made. It's a shame too, because we frequented Deli Cioso (the restaurant that occupied the space before) and looked forward to making this our family...