La Balena Ristorante — Restaurant in Lunenburg

A couple weeks ago my family and I decided to try La Balena Ristorante for a birthday celebration. It was a large party and they are new so we knew it may not be perfect, but we would rather try a new local place than a chain. I want to start by saying the food was very good quality. The waitstaff was REALLY friendly and seemed to know a good amount about the menu (even though it is a new place). We ordered drinks (wine and prosecco) and apps. It all came out in a timely manner. The salads followed and it was fine. There were 10 of us and we all ordered our own meal. After the salads were cleared, the meals were a bit of a wait. So much so that the chef came up to let us know that they were working on them. After about ½ hour the meals arrived, minus two meals. They said they would be right back up, with them as well as cheese for the table. After about 10 – 15 minutes someone from our party went down to check, it was clear they had forgotten the two meals, and cheese. They did bring them after another 10 minutes, everyone else was done their meals. We asked for the check, and boxes to go right away, and one person got a dessert to go. The check, boxes, and dessert (which was given to us for free) was brought up after about 10 minutes. We immediately paid the check, packed up our food (the two of us who didn’t get the meals right away didn’t eat much at that point) and left. The next night while going through the check we saw that the gratuity had been included AND a charge for using a credit card. We hadn’t been aware of either of these charges. It turned out we left a DOUBLE tip. Now the waitress was lovely, but that was not our intention. A phone call was made and we were told to bad so sad. It was pointed out that it wasn’t clearly marked on our copy or on the website or on the menu. Again, “oh well”. We have been out to eat with large groups before, and it is always pointed out that the gratuity is included, either by the waitress, or circled, or highlighted. It wasn’t. I will also say that we sat down at 7:30 for dinner and it was now PAST 10:30 at night (it was over 3 hours). We were treated like we were trying to pull something over on the restaurant or that we were tying to get something for free. Neither was the case, we wanted to give the new place our business. Buyer beware.....if you don't want to pay more than your meal don't use a...

We went there with anticipation that it was going to great to have a fresh cook Italian restaurant near by. That went south quickly. First after drinks were brought out (no alcohol just fountain) we asked the waitress for straws. She said that they were all out of straws. She took our order and as I looked to the bar area saw cups of straws. (Which one of us at the table went over and got ourselves) Then after waiting about an hour for dinner to arrive we mentioned something to the waitress about how we have seen people come in after us, get served and leave in the time we have been waiting. She informed us that the food is made fresh and their atmosphere is all about the dining experience (which we weren’t doing much dining and as of that night there is no alcohol due to no liquor license yet) and our food would be about another 15 min. Finally when the food came out some was luke warm (spaghetti and lasagna) while others were not fully cooked (the broccoli and ravioli) and at this time we were hungry and just didn’t care to stay. We spoke with the manager about our concerns stating that we realize that the restaurant is just starting out and we would like to let you know that not everything is 100% perfect. He apologized and gave us 20% off our meal (which nobody ended up eating or taking home) and a gift card to come back and try again. We thanked him for listening and hope that our next experience will be better. The next day we were wondering how much the gift card was for and after looking up that balance it said that the card could not be found. So I don’t recommend and I won’t be back due to the bad service. Don’t lie to customers and if you try and make things right make sure that it’s...

From someone that thoroughly understands restaurant operations and was a chef for quite a few years these guys are doing Italian right!

I can’t even come up with an area to improve on for the front of house. Which says a lot if you know me. The staff is friendly, attentive and knowledgeable. The drinks are exactly what you should expect! What more could you ask for?

The kitchen may be on the slower side at putting out food but when your meal comes out and slaps you in the taste buds you will realize the wait was due to the level of perfection they strive for. The bruschetta was literally the best I’ve had, calamari so fresh and tender, fillet seasoned and cooked to perfection, risotto ready to compete with the best in the north end, fresh pasta with a sauce that isn’t sugared to mask the aluminum taste and multi color carrots so tender you might think it was actually dessert and not just a vegetable.

Looking at some of the reviews from previous patrons, I feel like the area has come accustomed to the Olive Garden type Italian experience and is being shocked by quality and proper execution of high quality dishes mixed with the owners working out the kinks to ensure everyone has a 5 star experience EVERYTIME!

You can tell from the second you walk-in Lawrence and Josh take a lot of pride in the quality of their product and the experience. Thank you for bringing quality to an area with lackluster expectations! I can officially say we found our new go to spot and look forward to supporting this local business for many...