Stefano's — Restaurant in Morgantown

Seven years ago, this restaurant was where my boyfriend and I had our very first date, and for nostalgia’s sake we returned, dressed to impress—he in a fitted navy suit, me in a long-sleeved, high-waisted dress. Unfortunately, the only thing Italian about the place remains its name. I’m Italian, second generation American, with a grandfather straight off the boat, and my boyfriend has Italian roots as well. Yet when I gave my reservation, they couldn’t even pronounce my Italian last name correctly. There’s not a “U” in it, but one was conjured anyway, and I was left twitching before we’d even sat down.

The atmosphere is admittedly pleasant—dark, secluded, intimate—and our server was excellent, attentive without being intrusive. But the food, the supposed heart of an “Italian” restaurant, was a travesty. The bread rolls were unmistakably frozen bulk-bag rejects from Sam’s Club or Walmart, bland enough that even I, someone who could live on bread, barely managed one. Chain steakhouses serve far better for a fraction of the price. My gnocchi had clearly never met a potato, arriving as mushy lumps, while my boyfriend’s shrimp pasta was equally overcooked and limp. It seems the kitchen has never learned the meaning of al dente. As for flavor, it barely stretched beyond salt, pepper, and garlic powder—certainly no balsamic reduction, no herbs, nothing remotely authentic. For this culinary beige, we paid over $120 without even ordering dessert. That’s not expensive; that’s overpriced.

Even the clientele underscored the absurdity. In a so-called upscale restaurant, we were surrounded by families in basketball shorts, white socks, and worn-out slides. We were easily the best-dressed couple in the room, which is less a compliment to us than an indictment of the place’s lack of standards. If you’re going to charge fine-dining prices, the least you can do is enforce a dress code so I don’t have to eat pasta mush across from dingy athletic wear.

In the end, the only redeeming qualities are the atmosphere and the servers. This is not an Italian restaurant. It is an overpriced parody serving overcooked pasta, frozen bread, and under-seasoned food, all while failing to pronounce an Italian name correctly. My boyfriend and I had a wonderful date, but only because we made it one—certainly not because of what was on our plates. You’d be better off in the frozen aisle of Kroger or your...

My husband and I visited this restaurant for the first time last night. We've been talking about coming here for a while, so I'm very glad that we finally went. We ordered 2 appetizers: THE meatball and the calamari with peppers and black garlic aioli. My husband doesn't eat seafood, so I had the calamari all to myself! It was cooked perfectly, and the sauce paired well with the squid. I had a tiny bite of the meatball, and that was also very good. For our entrees, I had the parmesan crusted snapper with blue crab and butternut squash risotto and shaved Brussels sprouts, and my husband chose the penne alla vodka with chicken. Again, the fish and chicken were cooked perfectly, and all of the seasonings were on point. The risotto was delicious and creamy. My husband loved his pasta also. We had a bottle of Scarzello Barolo 2007 with our meal, and it paired very well with everything we ordered. Although we were full from our meal, my husband decided to get vanilla ice cream coated with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and candied pecans. I couldn't resist having a couple of bites. It was also delicious. My only complaint, which is a very minor one and based on personal preference, is that the Brussels sprouts were steamed instead of roasted or fried. I love caramelized Brussels sprouts. As for the service, our waiter was very attentive, and we did not have to wait very long for each course. This is a wonderful restaurant with excellent food, and we will...

I had dinner this evening at stefanos . The waiter we had was excellent. The food was very good. But the time between courses was ridiculous. It took forever to get appetizers. Then between appetizers and main course was even worse. I understand it is a high end restaurant and they give you time between courses but the the wait was way to long. But the worst thing was we were packed in like sardines. There was very little space between our table and the next table. When the waiter was at he adjacent table his backside was in our face. It was the same on both sides. I am not a covid fanatic but it made me feel uncomfortable sitting so close to the next table. When you are paying what stefanos charges you don’t want to feel crowded. The restaurant has a huge room in the back so I am not sure why they had to cram everyone together. The food and service was excellent but I didn’t appreciate being crammed into such a small space. One table next to us was loud and it was hard to hear the other people we were having dinner with. Not a...