Alicante Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Mendon

The entire experience ruined our anniversary. We had a reservation, but when we arrived, the host wasn’t there. We waited. She never showed. A kind lady helped us, apologized for the hostess, and seated us at a nice spot. We sat awhile, thinking we could finally order drinks, but the hostess arrived and immediately started talking down to us and badmouthing the staff who had actually done her job for her.

I asked our waitress if we had to sit at a table in the way back next to the only other occupied table of six with unseated yelling kids. She shamed the host but never moved us. Every staff I spoke to, except the first, the chef, and the bus boy, had something negative to say about others. I came for a romantic anniversary dinner, not drama. I asked again for a cozier table. She stated the cheap "fabric of my dress could be why” I wasn’t feeling cozy. As a model, I face harsh criticism, but I’ve never received a comment like that even in such a harsh industry let alone from staff working for tips! We were floored and considered leaving, but tried to salvage our night.

She brought one drink, told me the one I ordered was unavailable, and disappeared. The busboy brought our appetizer plate without warning that the plate itself had been cooked with the food, and I burned myself badly. It took over a month to heal, and was agonizing for a week. I was advised to report it to the health department, the Better Business Bureau, as well as informed that I could even sue, since the busboy was covering for absent staff, I haven’t done any of those things but serving food at a dangerous temperature without informing the patron is illegal. It should have been delivered safely by the waitress, who had only one other table.

Food took a while, my plate was wrong. She suggested I eat it as is. I said it's fine I'll skip it. She then against my wishes to skip it, pulls the chef from the kitchen like a dog and degrades him into retaking my order, instead of simply telling the kitchen to boil the missing pasta! When my food came back, my partner had finished, and my side vegetables never returned. Had a few bites but had honestly lost my appetite. I asked her for a box, she argued I “barely touched it after remaking it for you.” When we mentioned possibly going to O Ya in Boston to celebrate instead, she looked us up and down, and suddenly it clicked. We're a well-off couple intending to splurge on a special occasion, not broke kids as she assumed. Her entire attitude flipped offering desserts, drinks, nothing was too much NOW, after hours of resistance, and disregard. We left.

It’s obvious they judge patrons by look of wealth. My partner’s mother, who isn’t shy about her money, like literally girly brings her custom Birkin for Target errands, is treated like royalty here. We're equally well off but understated. I wear Tiffany’s but not the recognizable T. Gucci and Louis without obvious logos. Chanel fragrance but not the identifiable #5, and until it was implied we were here to spend on a special occasion, we were treated poorly. Honestly, the best part of the night was my little Julia Roberts “Big Mistake” moment when it clicked for her looking us up and down in a different light, watching her realize she was treating a cash cow that way but I just wanted a nice anniversary dinner. Everyone deserves respect regardless of wealth or occasion. It's a shame honestly one of my favorite things is compensating good service, like it feels so nice to leave a little stack on the table as a surprise to a kind person but I couldn't bring myself to tip her more than standard.

There’s more, but this is already so long. Overall, a flooring experience. I waited months to post so the waitress would be less likely to looks us up to offer more theatrics, like gift cards or refunds as she was essentially chasing us down to give us the free dessert we repeatedly declined. I’m not going to wear ritz logos to get average service in MENDON of all places. Give me a break.

If you contact us after all this time, I will put...

my review was initially one word but here we go. i can see exactly how our experience went the way it did by your response to my fiance. if my fiance and i's reviews are all a lie then why are all your other bad reviews so similar to ours and our experience? could it be because there's a pattern of behavior from you and your staff? no! we must be liars! every last bad review! what fibbers! get a grip. what reason would she or i or anyone have to lie about a busniess they've not been to? why would anyone waste their time writing a lengthy review if theyve never been? if someone hasnt come here, there's no reason they'd have something so negative and in depth to say about your business or anything at all for that matter because there's no connection between them and your business. use your brain. i dont usually speak up. im not the type to get into conflict but this behavior is grossly negligent. the what i can only assume is the owner, is in the reviews calling my fiancé a liar in response to her review about being burned at this establishment. and yes you are correct that the name you're looking up from her google account as well as mine, wont show us being there. the reservation was made by my mother for us for the occasion as she recommended it. her name was the name we gave to the fill in host who seated us. and no you i wont be giving you my mother's name as my fiance already specifically asked you in her review not to contact us because of how forceful your waitor was with her and yet you tried to track her down anyhow! she waited until today to post her review so our the crazy waitor woudnt look us up to reach out after essentially trying to keep us in the restaurant when she realized we had some money. and now the owner is attempting to track us down anyways instead of the waitor! after, i repeat, my fiance said not to contact us further! you should be addressing concerns of your patrons not dismissing them. these people are nuts dont eat here, they burned my fiance fairly badly as well as insulted her attire and the owner is now using google reviews response to call her a liar and attempting to track her and us down by looking back in the reservations! Telling her she's lying about the chef coming out but not addressing her burn from your staff is just a wonderful encapsulation of how our requests and concerns were brushed off at this establishment! the chef did come out, he was the kindest staff member we had encountered that night aside from the woman who played host for us. i assure you after the we experience we had at this location, we both definitely remember him coming and kneeling down at our table to genuinely listen to my fiancé and get it corrected. be careful of leaving reviews for this restaurant, the owner will try to track you down! absolutely unhinged! AND NO again we will not be getting in contact with you, so save the response. my fiance was assured you will on the other hand be contacted today or tomorrow by the department of health in mendon regarding the burn, who also advised us to contact the police if you DO successfully track us down and contact us after stating in writing multiple times to leave us alone....

I drive by this restaurant every day and have noticed the many cars in the parking spaces and valets. Yesterday, I decided to take a colleague to eat at Alicante. As she is from Barcelona and a foodie, I thought it would be the perfect spot. The highlight of this restaurant is without a doubt, the view. Upon entering, the hostess was no where to be found. After about seven minutes she came to the entrance and brought us to the table. Our waiter greeted us and prepared to explain the specials. At the exact same time, the waiter from the other table was doing the same. In order to be heard he leaned on to the table, resting his hands on to the table. While he was pleasant, it was very off putting; as though we were eating at a chain restaurant. Having dined all over the world, that posture and the remaining interactions with the waiter created a strong impression that the waiters had not been properly trained to work in a fine dining establishment.

We looked at the menu, and to my Portuguese eyes, there was a good mix of dishes. However, my foodie friend, fresh off the plane from Barcelona, was scratching her head. She mentioned there were many combinations that were very un-Spanish-like. I ordered the Pollo Parm and she ordered the Lobster Ravioli. The Pollo Parm has a sauce that was under-whelming, as thought it came straight out of a can. Her impression was that it was just 'OK' and laughed that she could make better. I think I have had better Pollo Parm at small little eateries. I think the chef's need to spend more time in Europe training.

We shared Tiramisu, and here, the dessert chef did a good job. It wasn't overly wet and had the right layer thickness.

I should mention that she was familar with all of the Spanish wines, and had traveled to most of their wineries. She did comment that the prices for the wine were much higher than what she thought they should list for.

Overall, we were disappointed. The view is great, but the food, while better than most in the Milford area, was very sub-par for the price. A better option for Italian would be Trattoria 89 in downtown Milford. Or even better, head to...