Roma Italian Bistro — Restaurant in Lufkin

My wife (a celiac) and I are from out of town and decided to eat here as they had good reviews and gluten free options.

To start with I called the restaurant to make sure they had gluten free pasta available and it wasn't applicable to only certain dishes. After talking to the management or kitchen they confirmed this was the case as they had gluten free pene pasta so I hung up and discussed with my wife what she wanted to eat. After deciding I called back and placed our order for Shrimp Crema and Spaghetti (Gluten Free) with meat sauce. At this time I reconfirmed that the pasta would be gluten free as well as the meat sauce. The host spoke to a manager and confirmed and then placed my order.

I was told it would be a 15 minute wait so I drive over and get there right about that time. I was told it wasn't ready yet and waited as needed. This was not a big deal as I would rather fresh food than it already cooling down. After asking for utensils I departed for my hotel.

After arriving at the hotel I break out the food, my wife finds mine first and gives it to me and then opens hers. After stirring it real quick as it was covered in sauce, we discovered that the pasta was spaghetti, not penne as we were told it would be.

I called the restaurant back and told them a mistake had been made with the order I just picked up. After speaking with the manager he confirmed that the order would be remade and hung up with me before I was finished asking him a question.

I drove to the restaurant again and the food was ready to be picked up. Once they realized which order it was the manager came over to apologize, at which time he merely gave an excuse about their main computers being down, so they have to print it from the front machine and bring it to the kitchen and this is what caused the ticket to NOT say gluten free. (The front is also where this restaurant answers the phone, so perhaps they could have noted the GF manually.)

After offering their 'apology ' I was offered a piece of cheesecake, a different dessert, or perhaps a salad. I informed him that I could not take any of the desserts as they all contained gluten. The host was astonished that I didn't want to take one of their salads, which I thought was quite odd.

I thought this would be the end of my experience, but both times they included bread with the gluten-free dish. It was seperate and wrapped in foil, but a little knowledge on gluten or common sense should have prevented this.

Although I am irritated I am not wanting to berate the restaurant as they made a mistake and fixed it, but I do want to point out that an excuse is not what a customer wants to hear. As well as if you are going to choose to have gluten free options on your menu please have all of your staff trained on the basics of serving gluten free items and use some common sense when including items (bread) or offering something to make amends as the last thing a celiac would like is to only be offered dessert they can't eat and have bread included with their meal that they can't eat either.

Overall the food was good and the portions were large, but please don't make an excuse when something went wrong, fix it, sincerely apologize and if necessary offer something to make amends, even if it...

Absolutely done with this place. We came in for dinner and a takeout for our kiddo. There was an abundance of servers and greeters there to seat us. We were sat by whom I found out later was the manager. The server took a little bit to come out but we stayed patient due to her having a few other tables. She came by and took our drink orders and I had to wait on my drink as they had to retap one of the soda lines. She came back with my drink and some rolls and took off again without giving us straws. I ended up having to ask the manager for straws. When the server came back to take our orders I clearly stated I wanted veal picatta NO red pepper. I also asked for a chicken picatta with no red pepper to go for later. I had to change the order to two veal picattas a little bit after. At no time when taking our order did she write anything down. So when our food finally came out with another server, I got the wrong dish and it was loaded with red pepper. I gave up and just shared wife's pizza. Our server decided to visit us again and asked how the food was. I had set the dish aside and didn't eat any of it. I told her it was wrong and she said she was going to have it remade. I told her to forget it and asked just to get my daughter's food made. When the check came I was charged for the wrong dish anyway. I asked for the manager and that never happened. I discovered it was the same person who I asked for straws from. He at no time acted like a manager, he was acting too much like a friend than a supervisor. I watched at least three people come in for take out have to wait on items that they failed to have ready with the respective orders. This is not an isolated incident for us. Every time we go (4th time now) stuff like this happens. I was given a discount and they finally took off the item. But that's not the point. I want them to fix their issues. There is a lack of leadership and it shows. Foundations of food service, good food, friendly service, and attention to detail. The manager should have come directly over to us instead of hanging out at the register when problems had arisen....

On Tuesday at 2:23pm I placed an online order for the Salmon and grilled vegetables, which I love from there. My order was received, I received back confirmation that it was received and my bank account shows it was paid for of $20.56. However, when I went to pick up the paid for order, I find they are closed. They were also closed on Wednesday. I did not check on Thursday as it was a Holiday. However , I did contact them in person today, Friday 7/5/24. I showed the manager my paid for order that I was not able to receive because of the closure. The manager told me that she could not refund my money or give me my paid for meal as she did not have the authority and the owners were in Europe and unreachable. They will return on next Wednesday she said. She informed me that there was a sign posted on the door stating they were closed. However, I ordered on line and there was no way I could have known as the site took my order and my money. Although the food is excellent there, I will never again place on online order . This is really not about $20.56, as that will not make or break me. It’s about service and correcting something. I’m not angry, but instead just disappointed in the way I’ve been made to feel as if I DID SOMETHING WRONG BY ORDERING! I will be contacting the owner once he returns and will post the end results. Like I said, the food is excellent there, as not only I, but my employer, frequently orders from there to feed our management staff. I’m just disappointed in the service. I feel sorry for the manager, who has been left in charge while the owner is away, yet she can’t or is not allowed to correct this issue. Why in the world would it hurt to just give me my dinner as I was able to prove I ordered and paid for it? Will I eat there again? Most certainly, as I have never received any food from there that wasn’t simply delicious and worth ordering again. Plus the portions are over the top.

THERE WILL BE MORE TO COME AFTER I SPEAK...