Lago — Restaurant in Meredith

I hate to say it but Lago has gone way downhill. Came here on a Thursday night around 730, place was very busy. There was a 2 top available in the bar. We were going to take it but I decided to check with the host desk to be sure it wasn’t reserved. I Immediately felt like I was a bother to the woman at the desk… she didn’t acknowledge my standing there for quite some time.. clearly the conversation she was having with some other people standing at the host station was far more important. Eventually, once other party walked away with a hostess, she told me there were 10 parties ahead of us but she would put us on the list and I gave her my cell. We moved into the bar where we stood for about 15 minutes before anyone acknowledged us. Eventually the bartender said “I’ll be with you soon!” She asked if we needed a menu and I sad nope I’ll take a sangria for my date and a red wine.. a blend, whatever you have… she brought us our drinks. One was the sangria, the other a martini of sorts. I didn’t want to be a pain … the two bartenders seemed too busy so I thought it was futile to try to correct the mistake, so I drank the random martini. Eventually we found seats at the bar. Meanwhile, said 2 top sat empty the whole time. We sat at the bar and there were plates and glasses where the two women had just gotten up to leave. Being in the service industry in the past, I tried to help by organizing the plates and glasses so they were easier to reach/take away. We still sat there for at least 10 minutes before anyone came over to take them. Now, with an empty martini glass (which I’d never ordered to begin with) and no menus, we tried to get anyone’s attention but could not. The bartender seemed like she was not having a goodnight… In fact once we asked for menus she said “oh you’re hungry?” Like we were a bother. 20 more minutes went by, the bar was mostly cleared out…It seemed the service bar / cleaning the glasses behind bar was more important tonight. Eventually the other bartender came over, I think she felt me staring daggers into the back of her head… I asked for a red blend… she seemed to have no clue. Brought me the menu and said “ummm I like this one…” but at least it was something.. she got me said glass of wine and took our order. Our dinner took, no joke… 45 minutes to arrive. I ordered the chicken piccata and my date ordered the risotto. I actually thought they forgot to put our order in at one point. Dinner was good. No complaints besides the insanely long wait for everything. We never got bread… barely any service. The empty martini glass sat in front of me, even after my second glass of wine, like a dead soldier wishing to hit the dishwasher. I’ll be honest, I always talk up Lago to my friends and family, always recommend it to people visiting the area, but after tonight … I...

UPDATE 10-9-18: It is my wife's birthday. I made reservations at another restaurant but later, my wife said she really wanted to go to Lago. It's usually a pretty big family affair. Her parents my parents all the kids Etc. Everybody loves(loved) Lago. The last few times that we have been, we have noticed a steady decline in everything that we considered to be excellent about the restaurant. My prior review of excellent food and consistently slow service has taken a turn for the worse. I hate to write this review, but in the interest of being honest with the readers of the review, as well as being fair and objective to The Establishment, I'm going to write exactly what the deal is:

It took us an hour and 15 minutes to get our food. The order was not correct. The water glasses remained empty for 40 minutes on the table. No steak knife? Seriously? The waitress, though very nice and I'm sure a great person, was horrific. Totally inattentive. She was nice when she finally came to the table but that didn't make up for the reality that we go to dinner at nice establishments because we want nice everything. We are willing to pay for it, but we expect a certain standard which we did not receive. The salad was limp and slimy it was not chilled at all. Nothing worse than warm salad. my steak arrived which was a slab of fat, it was tough, although it was technically cooked to the correct temperature it had no flavor, was not just charred but burnt on the outside and was thoroughly unenjoyable. I specifically asked for no potatoes due to dietary reasons, and I had a huge mountain of french fries and the French fry Grease covering my steak. The extra asparagus were not extra, there were 4 asparagus Spears on my plate. What a joke. I had to ask three times for what I originally asked for, which was extra asparagus.keep in mind we told the waitress that we want to keep the pace of this dinner up and moving and exactly the opposite happened. It was a horrible birthday dinner, every one of the table was frustrated, our children were impatient and Rowdy and it was getting late and past their bedtime. I think in one word, I would say that the experience sucked. And unfortunately this has not been a single incident, it has been a regression in quality for the past several visits.

Keep in mind also that my prior review was four stars. I'm very very careful about writing critical reviews about local businesses. But I feel that this review was earned and has been earned, as over the last several visits logo has gone down the drain and they have Rewritten their impression upon me.

All of us at the table decided that we would no longer be...

Lago is part of the Common Man group of restaurants that has stuck it out in the NH restaurant scene for a long time. Unfortunately this one seems to be struggling now on most fronts. The waterfront setting in lovely Meredith is a fantastic backdrop for a meal. However our dinner tonight amounted to one execution whiff after another. We came to celebrate good news with friends, and Lago’s service and food took a lot of fun out of what should have been a great evening.

We brought a magnum of a high end wine with us, knowing from past visits that Lago’s wine selection is very pedestrian. The wait staff informed us that management wouldn’t allow us to open that bottle, even with a corking fee. What a bummer.

But then the cascade of errors mounted. Three different times serving pieces came out dirty (two plates and a fork) over the course of dinner. Yuck. By dirty I mean bits of food stuck to it that were obvious to the naked eye.

Our flatbread appetizer took over an hour to arrive. While the restaurant wasn’t particularly swamped the kitchen was plainly struggling to keep up. That wait continued as we twiddled out thumbs waiting for our entrees. Unfortunately, this reminded us of prior experiences at Lago.

I saw a veal dish on the menu that looked great and asked the server to check with the kitchen to be sure they pound their veal thin. She ran off and quickly came back saying they told her it would be. When it arrived it was as thick as a steak or a pub burger. The flavor was okay, but total whiff on a specific request. My wife had to hunt all over her seafood risotto for a few minor scraps of lobster. This is New England people! We can go to Shaw’s or Hannfords and get live lobster steamed for