
Bacco Italian and Wine Bar is a single location restaurant located off the highway in Abingdon, Maryland. They serve classic Italian dishes as well as some Italian-American dishes. The atmosphere here is absolutely beautiful and stunning. This is definitely the place you take your date to impress. Food was good but service was lacking in attention and quality. They have a self serve wine bar here which was unique and they have plenty of food options for anyone to be happy with. I would like to come back here and try other dishes but management really needs to get their service straight here.
My wife and I started off with the Mussels Fradiavola which were cooked mussels is a rich spicy tomato sauce and served with garlic crosstini. These were excellent. Mussels were cooked perfectly and weren't chewy. The tomato sauce wasn't spicy to me but had loads of flavor and the garlic crosstini was the perfect compliment. Nice thick slices with herbs and garlic on top.
For dinner I had the Norwegian Salmon and my wife had the Fettuccine Zafferano. The salmon came on top of a bed of creamy parmesan polenta and roasted vegetable caponata on top which consisted of onions, peppers, zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes and was finished with a lemon butter sauce and garnished with chives. The salmon was pan seared and cooked well done and was cooked perfectly and was not dry. The polenta was light and complemented the salmon and sauce well. The vegetables were diced small and were also tasty. My wife's Fettuccine Zafferano was unique because the pasta was tossed in a yellow saffron cream sauce and topped with 3 pan seared scallops, 3 jumbo shrimps and lump crab meat. The sauce was light and complemented the pasta and seafood well. All the seafood on her plate was also cooked perfectly and was not overcooked. When our food was delivered to the table the server asked if we wanted parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper on our dishes and was a nice touch. We also got broccolini as an added side and that was the only thing that was disappointing with our meal. It was slightly undercooked and had no real flavor. It would have been nice if they had tossed it in lemon butter and sprinkled some salt on top to bring the flavor through. The server cracked pepper on it for us but it didn't really help it.
Now for the service. We were sat down and our server came by with water, said hi, and immediately asked if we wanted to get started with an appetizer. We had barely looked at the menu and this was our first time here so it was a little rushed. I told him no and said that this was our first time here. But before I could finish my sentence he was off taking care of another table. We waiting about 10-15 minutes before he came back to get our drink and appetizer order and we figured we would order food too because we didnt know when we would see him again. When he got back to the table we joking said, "we thought you died!" And he said "dying on the inside at the moment." With a rather monotone voice. Didn't seem like the guy was having a good time. It wasn't until I noticed him running around to almost 6 tables that I knew he was overwhelmed with guests and work.
If it wasn't for the poor service this probably would have been a 5 star place but it's obvious they still have things to work on. I give sympathy to the guy serving us but in the end this kinda falls on management for giving him too much work and expecting him to give top notch service. We payed over $30 per person but felt like we got service that you would get from Chili's. Service should have been more attentive and involved.
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   Read more-Got sat in between two couples on the bench. About 12 inches on either side. I should have requested a different spot. Every time someone got up someone else got a dérriere to the face. Employee came to shut the blinds, derriere to the face. Two blinds on either side so double the dérriere sweat aroma. Very appetizing for some, I suppose, but not for me, personally. The next set of blinds, she asked the patrons to close. I was unimpressed. -Didnt try the bread because it got to the table seconds before the blinds required closing and my appetite disapparated. -My food arrived 2 minutes before the couples' to the right of me. They were very upset about this and got the manager to explain to them the finer details of restaurant work. This was extremely nice and very cool because I was worried there would be no dérriere in my face while eating dinner and also worried I'd have to talk to my date. Thankfully, the manager and his dérriere were there to assuage those worries. -I managed to get a couple bites of the worst Chicken Parm I've ever had (dry breading, overcooked chicken, overcooked and soggy noodles, and a marinara that was too sugary sweet for my taste.) before the gentleman to the left of me attempted to squeeze by as he was being seated. He ended up getting marinara on his dérriere trying to squeeze by and this concluded my attempts at eating dinner. I did not tell him. Maybe he'll write his own review after staining his car seat. -I planned to send the food back but by the time the server returned with my drink refill, my date was finished with her meal. Very slow service. -Bacco features an outdoor patio so if you sit inside, expect flies to circle you for dinner as the wait staff has to frequently go in-and-out. -My server was surprised I didn't want to box up my largely untouched meal but also didn't ask if there was anything wrong with it. I just wanted to leave at that point and not spoil the surprise for the gentleman to my left. Had the server asked, I would have told him but I suspect he didn't want to deal with any more upset customers after having to be verbally abused by the couple to my right. -I won't be back and won't be recommending this establishment to any friends unless they explicitly ask for middle school cafeteria style Italian food with an atmosphere of several diversified dérrieres. -My server was pleasant even after the verbal abuse from the...
   Read moreMy wife and I are regular customers to acco. We are patrons that enjoy going out, indulging in food and drink, and have invited other couples and family members there as well. I am also an individual that has worked in customer service and is no stranger to the stressors that accompany it, including downright rude and belligerent interactions with clients. As a result, I am extremely sympathetic when a waitress has to inform us that they are unable to serve us another drink or bottle because there are time constraints due to preexisting reservations. If that were the case, we wouldâve happily paid our bill and tipped liberally like we always have, and left with no questions asked. Yesterday however, it was a different story. We arrived with our reservation in place, enjoyed a lovely dinner and drinks, and then asked the waitress if it would be alright to order an additional bottle to finish up our evening. We were told that this would not be a problem at all. At this point, we were enjoying conversation while finishing up our bottle of wine, before we were interrupted by the hostess that informed us that we had five minutes to leave before the next reservation would be seated. Not only was this unwelcome enough, but we then were subjected to the general manager, staring and pointing at our table, continuing to pressure us to hurry through the extremely overpriced bottle that we were currently consuming. At no point were we causing a scene or creating any adverse atmosphere in the establishment, yet we felt borderline bullied by the behavior of management and staff. I want to reiterate that, had we had been told that there was a time limit, we would have absolutely adhered to that. Instead, we were allowed to order, they happily took our money, and then we were made to feel as if we had wronged someone and were put on display in an extremely unprofessional manner. Up until tonight, we were loyal customers. I am sad to say that we will not be frequenting Bacco again. Additionally, we reached out to the restaurant directly after the fact, and never even...
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