Venice Kitchen — Restaurant in Memphis

I have always loved Venice Kitchen since my very first experience a couple of years ago. It was a very well kept tucked away secret from the delicious food to the phenomenal drinks to the simple ambiance of the restaurant itself. Last night’s experience completely missed the mark, and to say that I was disappointed is an understatement! First, while understanding that it’s summertime and very hot outside; the air conditioning was was blowing so relentlessly that I was freezing. I had to bring a jacket as well as a blanket and I was still dysfunctionally cold. We were sat at our table and were not acknowledged by our server for nearly 15 minutes. The restaurant was horribly loud due to one table of guests, who in my opinion tried to make Venice Kitchen since be the next restaurant ruined by let’s just say MY Skin Folks. (Yes, I am African American). They were so loud, obnoxious, and there were so many of them screaming at each other like they weren’t sitting literally sitting just barely 2 inches apart. I could barely hear myself think because they were so loud. I don’t think it would have been too much for the sake of the other patrons inside the restaurant for management to ask to quiet down and not be so rowdy. They were so loud that I couldn’t hear my boyfriend when he was trying to talk to me and vice versa. I also struggled to be able to hear our server when she finally showed up. The drinks were nasty! I ordered a Lemon Drop, one of my favs as well as my regular go-to drink at Venice that I have always loved and enjoyed! My boyfriend ordered a strawberry mojito. Both drinks were absolutely disgusting! I don’t know who was bartending last night, but they did not know what they were doing! They even supposedly “fixed” or “doctored” up our drinks upon our first complaint to no avail. My food order was lukewarm at best upon arriving at our table and also wrong. This made the experience even worse. A manager never came to the table to help possibly alleviate our concerns. The only solution was that we weren’t charged for those awful drinks. Needless to say, Venice Kitchen has fallen from grace like majority of Memphis restaurants and we won’t be back anytime soon,...

I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, worst family outing for my husband surprise birthday dinner ever, I paid and gave a big tip to the waiter Chris, he need to be fired ASAP. he came up to my truck as my family and I was leaving I am thinking oh wow, he was thanking us for the tip instead he accused us of leaving without paying, my husband suggested lets go inside so we can view the cameras. We have no reason to lie. Chris runs in the restaurant the back way as we go in at the entrance now all of a sudden as we walk back in Chris come and say to my husband and I. He magically found the money. What a joke! He had cause a scene in front of our kids in a parking lot And there was others there looking at us for NOTHING! That was very unprofessional! My suggestion to Chris If you are not able to keep up with your tables then being a server is not a choice of a job for you. It was not crowded at all. I ask to speak to the manager(Ben) at first he was rude until my husband told him let all step to the side and talk not in front of the entrance where there is people. He was getting loud with me, saying what you want me to do about it? and its his server fault not ours so since he was being so rude at that point I told him just give my money back or refund me of the tip I gave Chris before I call the police. I am trying to tell him what happen in the parking lot and he angry with us. Ben then was calm after I mention the parking lot situation and he touch my truck so he then gave us a gift card and said again I am sorry please come back. My husband and I never been accused of leaving without paying, ever. I been to many five star restaurants and was never been accused of anything and this is just a high priced Olive Garden. This was our first time and we will never go back. This could of easily went bad but I thank God it did not. I stop by a local store and gave the gift card to a stranger I rather someone else of whom I personally do not know can have it to eat there. Beware of the...

My family and I went to Venice Kitchen Saturday during lunchtime. It was kinda crowded so we just decided to order our food to go. We had 2 Rasta Pasta’s and one regular chicken Alfredo. Upon receiving my order I noticed that the Rasta pasta didn’t look like the same color as when I had it before. And all of the pastas looked like they had little to NO sauce. So I asked the young lady for extra sauce and to make sure that I had the right sauce for the Rasta Pasta. The young lady was the only African American person at the podium. She was very dry, ABSOLUTELY NO SMILE! Came off as very unfriendly. VERY BRASH, NONCHALANT AND NOT WELCOMING OR INVITING AT ALL. She said that the kitchen manager said that I needed to pay $2.25 for extra sauce for my DRY pasta. And that I did. She came back out with a half of a cut of the sauce. Not even enough for one pasta. I just gave up and said “Thank you!” And left. The Rasta Pasta was not Cajun at all and for some reason my husband and I felt like it tasted like something sweet was added to the pasta. Sweetness and Cajun Pasta DO NOT MIX AT ALL! This was not at all like the pasta we had upon our other dine in experience. My daughter said the Alfredo pasta had good flavoring but she threw it away because it was so dry. We were gravely disappointed! Just because we are not dining in doesn’t mean we don’t deserve your best experience as well. Also we did leave a tip for our server. Really wish I could get that back. But hey! Please have people up front who you want to represent what your establishment stands for. After all they are a reflection our your core values and what you reflect back into your neighborhood community! That young lady needs more customer service training. If I could put zero stars I most definitely would. THAT WAS DEFINITELY NOT IT!!!! DO BETTER...