Cafe Mezzanotte — Restaurant in Maryland

So disappointed in our experience @Mezzanote on this past Saturday evening. We've been there many times and always had great service and enjoyed dining there. We made a reservation earlier in the week for 8 people for 7:15. At the same time, there was a large party dining in a separate room.

The service was HORRIBLE. Our waiter barely spoke to us and did not seem to be on par with our previous experience. Our entrees were brought out on a large platter and were left waiting in the aisle for our waiter to bring them to our table. We had to ask for another staff member to find him to deliver our food which was getting cold, not to mention being exposed to anyone passing by in the dining room. Our waiter then disappeared, never coming by to see if we needed anything, or to refresh drinks.

After dinner he never came by to see if we wanted dessert. When the check arrived, again, we waited quite some time for our waiter to come back to collect payment. A 20% gratuity was automatically included on the bill due to the fact we were a party of 8.

The quality of service in no way deserved such a tip and my husband requested to speak with the manager. AGAIN he had to wait at least 10 minutes for the manager to show up.

When he finally showed up, he tried to blame the poor service on the fact that there was a large party at the same time. This was THEIR problem not ours! If they couldn't handle our group, they should not have taken our reservation. The was arrogant when my husband told him to remove the gratuity and WE would decide how much tip to include.

To add insult to injury, there was a couple who were clearly inebriated, seated at a table right behind ours. At this point there were many other tables available, but this is where they were seated. The woman was speaking VERY loudly and angrily. Our 2 young children were within earshot and became very fearful.

My daughter in law spoke to a hostess who explained that the couple had been in the bar and became drunk. They were flagged from the bar and supposedly were told they had to eat some food and wait before leaving.

This would certainly be the responsibilty of the restaurant if they were caught driving drunk, and would risk losing their liquor license.

Though I am glad they didn't let them leave in that condition, they had no business seating them so close to our table with 2 young children. Especially since it was late and the restaurant was emptying out.

As I said, we have had many enjoyable evenings at Mezzanotte. Sadly, we all agreed that the food was delicious, but the treatment by the waiter, and MOST importantly the arrogant demeanor of the manager had convinced us to cross this restaurant...

I love Italian food and this restaurant is always amazing. Service: You will be greeted by a very well dressed host or hostess who will offer you white tablecloth seating in the dining room or direct you to the lounge, whatever your mood is for the evening. I've dined in both areas and the service is excellent regardless. For a larger group of friends the dining room is good, more room. And if the weather is nice try the outside patio. For a smaller gathering, the lounge is great. Its crowded on weekends so go early to get a bar seat. All of the staff are observant, very efficient and friendly. I want to give a shout out to Kara, our bartender, who made us perfect Manhattans and dirty martinis. Once seated, you will be served delicious complimentary bread and olive oil dip. Dont fill up on it or you'll be taking your meal home in a box. Environment: The whitecloth tabletop seating is especially nice in the dining area. Business casual. The temperature is very comfortable, the tables are spaced apart appropriately, lots of windows. I do need to note that this would be a nice adult evening out. (Get a sitter). The lighting is perfect for the ambience intended, but low so bring your glasses. The lounge is fun! TVs for sports and other news, friends, plenty of seating (but again, weekends are busy). The restrooms are clean and nicely decorated. Food: After eating all I wanted of the bread and dip, I decided to order a pasta bowl. You get to choose everything. Your noodle. Your sauce. Your veggies. Your proteins. For around $16. And trust me on this, its enough to eat and take some home. Remember, you get all the bread and oil dip you want before you even order your meal so save room! Tonight, we had the oyster rockafeller appetizer: 5 big baked oysters, lemon wedge, cute little forks. Crispy and very cheesy. Tasted smoked actually, and were very yummy. Meal: For my pasta bowl, I ordered bucatini pasta, vodka rose sauce, mushrooms, spinach, and lamb meatballs. Ate every bite and will def order it again. Great italian choices to choose from on the menu. And also they will let you substitute some of the sides. They usually always have a Special that's not on the menu. Prices range from approximately $12-$38. The Specials can sometimes cost more but everytime I've ordered one it was well worth it. After my perfect dirty martini and a tummy full of yummy, I was relaxed and satisfied and ready to call it a night. Oh, parking is free and...

Had dinner here 2.5 weeks ago that resulted in an evening that ended in a very scary way. I still have not been followed up with as promised by management; I tried to reach the owner on my own and he also has not responded so I am writing this to caution others.

Our party of 10 adults had reservations in the lounge area. Our server, Mark, started off fine, but slowly stopped coming to check on us, get refills etc. His gratuity was already included and it definitely showed in the way he served us throughout the night. When one member of our party, a hospitality professional and professor in the field verbally requested attention from our waiter, he became annoyed and passive aggressive, never offered an explanation or apology or notified his manager. After we paid our check, we went for one round of drinks at the bar. The night ended with all 4 females in the group (6 other people were male) with sudden onset of symptoms including getting violently ill. None of the females shared drinks, or food or ate the same thing. All of the females made it home safely and then started to experience symptoms of what appears to be spiked drinks. By the time the four of us compared stories it was 48-72 hours later and I decided to make the restaurant aware. The purpose of my phone call to them was to notify management and owner of the incident so that they may document it in case there are similar cases that arise. The manager I spoke to first, Craig, was very kind and understanding and professional. He passed my message up to his manager and I receive a call back 24 hours later. The second manager started off kind but said and did nothing but assure me he checked his own cameras and talked to his staff, of course without a third unbiased party present; as if that should comfort me. He ended our call by saying he would follow up with me again after he spoke with the manager in shift that evening and I have not heard back since. This is a place of high caliber in our community and what happened was very unexpected and I’m sure not something they hear of regularly. That is how these things happen, so it felt like a civil duty to report it and instead I got questioned by management on what would’ve been the motive behind someone doing this? I am pretty disgusted and surprised at the lack of professionalism and humanity being displayed by such a well known restaurant in our community. Do...