Impastato Cellars — Restaurant in Louisiana

I was excited to try Impastato Cellars, as I had really liked the original restaurant in Metairie. Unfortunately, we were sadly disappointed with out experience. We arrived for our dinner reservations and we quickly greeted and seated. Our service through the entire experience was very good. We all decided to try different dishes on the menu, as this was our first time. The bread was served first with a room temperature butter. This was the best course of the evening, as the bread was toasted on the outside, yet warm and soft on the inside. The atmosphere inside the restaurant is nice. It is cozy and clean. The menu seems fairly simple and limited, but with a wide enough selection.

Our first appetizer course came out, which was the shrimp au gratin. It was described as "shrimp in a bechamel sauce". However, what we received was shrimp in skim milk. The shrimp were clearly not very fresh, maybe a day or two out from spoiling. They also tasted frozen. There was a fair amount in the dish and they were covered in cheese on top. Overall, this was given a 5 out of 10 after adding some salt and pepper for flavor. Next, we received what was supposed to be fettuccine alfredo. We were told that the pasta was made fresh each day and made to order. It came on a sad looking dish and appeared very plan. It had been so over cooked that it had congealed into a ball of gelatin. It was bland and flavorless. We all gave this a 2 out of 10, even after trying to add salt and pepper. Next, our salads came out. These were small, side salads. They were very simple and plain: lettuce tossed in a light dressing and a tomato wedge. The tomato wedge was spoiled and mushy. The lettuce was, well, lettuce. 3 out of 10 for this one. As a main entree, I had the redfish payton. Again, the portion size was good. The sauce itself was nice and did have good flavor. The redfish was juicy, but was not seasoned at all. It was very bland, even with adding the sauce to it. This was agreed upon to be a 6 out of 10. Lastly, we all had tiramisu. This was ok, but a bit soggy. There was too much coffee added to the lady fingers and the dessert was served in a puddle of coffee. This was a 5 out of 10.

My opinion is that the restaurant keeps people coming back by serving large portions of food, but slacking on the quality. Having been to Italy/Sicily multiple times, this would not be acceptable. As I mentioned in the beginning, it was a disappointing experience. I usually try places twice to see if it was just a bad night, but I can't see all of these food issues being corrected. We were also surprised that a member of the management or cooking team did not come to our table after we expressed our concerns during...

I'd like to express my disappointment regarding our recent dining experience at Impastato Cellars. As a large family that frequently dines at nice restaurants, our visit fell considerably short of our expectations. First, the staffs attitude was not only unprofessional, but also rude, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere for our party (my father in law's birthday). We were not aware that the menu would be a fixed 5 course menu with options (the website does not indicate as such). A few of our older children were hesitant to order off of the fixed menu because it did not have items they would eat and it was a considerable amount of money to order food they did not like. They discussed the possiblility of ordering from the kid's menu amongst themselves. The waitstaff over heard, and rather than address it with us (kindly and professionally), they spoke about it where members of our table overheard, then had their manager come to our table. The manager asked "what is this that I hear about some people wanting to order of the kids menu?", and when a family member (16) mentioned she was thinking about it, the manager very snidely said "no, that's for 12 year olds or under" and abrubtly walked away. The tone of the manager was enought to stop the conversation around us because we were all so surprised at how she spoke to us. Additionally, we asked if we could split the check into 2 parties instead of one, and we were told no, it was too difficult for them to do so. Moreover, the length of our meal was excpetionally long (almost 3 hours), and the first course (alfredo) arrived cool, and the $60 steaks came to the table warm, not hot. As a family who appreciates frequent fine dining, these factors significantly impacted our impression of this restaurant. Additionally, we were surprised to find that an automatic gratuity was added to our bill, as it did not state this policy anywhere on their websites or menus. When the bill was adjusted to add the amount of gratuity we thought would be acceptable, our request was ignored and with the absence of any policy, we felt misled. Finally, the parking lot is not big enough to accommodate the size of the restaurant, and there is no overflow, except to park in the grass on the highway. We value the experience of dining out and hope our concerns are addressed for anyone who may visit this restaurant in the future. I can confidently say that we will not visit this establishment again, nor will we recommend...

Greeted at the entrance by a less than pleasant hostess, our seating assignment was just outside a private wine room (open door) and 13 adorable, but quite mobile little ladies and their daddy dates. If proper staffing had been available, perhaps they might have been better occupied and the evening might have been different. Our waiter was constantly taken from our table to help herd children and food and if my husband hadn’t said something, we might still be waiting for our food~ food which was at best, pedestrian and in one case, colder than a lost Door Dash delivery. Honestly, the sauces weren’t as good as Rau, thrown in a pot and set in a corner since the night before. Our waiter was wading through only his second night and was being pulled hither and yon. He was unfamiliar with the menu and didn’t seem to know basic Italian dishes. The salads did have a lovely, light dressing. The chef should be sent to Italy for a refresher course; the hostess for a personality make-over and if you have a love for authentic Italian food in a romantic setting, this is not the culinary experience you wish for a date or special occasion. When a restaurant places a group above the rest of the patrons, this is a recipe for disaster, leaving a bitter taste...