Pines of Rome — Restaurant in Maryland

We have been to this restaurant 3 times. On our first visit, we had a very pleasant meal. They had osso bucco as a special, which was the reason we stopped in. The service was acceptable and we thought we had found another local restaurant we could dine in. On our second visit, disappointment started to appear. The food was ok, the food portion size decreased, and the service was not up to par. On our third and last visit, food and service were a disaster. We didn’t think it possible but the white pizza appetizer was cold and presented haphazardly on a 6” plate with no individual side plates. I guess we were expected to pull a slice of pizza and to use our napkin as a plate. We had a water glass spill and no one came to help us mop it up. We had to go find someone and use our napkins to help absorb the water. During the clean up, our entrees arrived and the server, #0005, just slammed the entrees on the table. For the life of me I couldn’t find my knife and the waiter disappeared as well. Halfway through our meal, the waiter reappeared and rudely placed 3 empty carry out/leftover containers on the table without us asking for them. It was obvious he wanted us to leave even though we weren’t finished. Surprise, my knife reappeared when the waiter removed my plate. How did my knife get under my plate. The horror of all horrors was the waiter giving us a slice of smashed rum cake on a 4” plate with 3 forks and saying it was compliments of the house. The rum cake looked like it had been someone’s leftover. We were appalled and shocked that the house would give such an unappetizing dessert. They should be ashamed of themselves. The rum cake looked so disgusting I asked the waiter to remove it from the table. Hence...

The only reason I am even giving this 1 star is because the food wasn't that bad. The reason for this review is because the service was absolutely terrible. From the moment we walked into the door to now, sitting at the table finishing my wine, the service was horrendous.

This was my boyfriend and I's first restaurant as a couple; this was 6 years ago. I was so excited to return tonight because of this wonderful memory. However, the moment we sat down at our table, the waiter was pushy, urgent, and unpleasant. When I asked for the specials, he rapidly repeated them. I did not and could not hear him, so I politely asked him to repeat the last thing he said, which he became very annoyed. I ended up walking downstairs, to the specials board, to be informed of the specials.

It gets worse. He rushed our order, rushed our eating, and never came to our table once during the "meal". Thats okay, because I ended up getting everything I needed from the service station behind me.

When he dropped the check, there was no "thank you have a nice day", nothing. Not even eye contact. I said "thank you, have a good night" as he was walking away. Every single thing the waiter did, or lack there of, is an example of things not to do as a server at a restaurant. My boyfriend and I have 15 years of restaurant experience. If training new servers, I would use him as the example of the epitome of a terrible server. He was that bad. That bad for me to waste 10 minutes writing this review. This was such a disappointment because this restaurant was such a great memory to my boyfriend and I. We now are left with the memory of one of the worst waiters ever experienced.

Thanks for that...

I'm vegan and was told by a waiter that the eggplant parm could be made as such. I specifically said no cheese, multiple times. They agreed and said that they understood exactly how to make it; that it was "no problem". I walked a mile to get there and a mile back. When I reached the office, I realized that they had covered the eggplant parm in cheese and had not at all listened to what we had discussed. Upon this discovery, I called them and asked if they could right their wrongs by delivering the corrected item. They said that they couldn't; they "didn't have drivers available" (note that they do deliveries and have cars to do so). I told them then that I wanted a refund on my credit card then. They acted like they couldn't do it at first until I came all the way back. I said I didn't have time because I was at work. They finally took my card number and assured me that it would be done by EOB. But of course, it's the next day and it's still not there. Terrible customer service - and the food, from my friend who ordered as well, was 'decent at best.' Needless to say, we won't...