Osteria32 — Restaurant in Muncie

Update: It's really funny, I guess he found a sucker. That's what they wanted cause had we taken over it wouldn't be closed now. Turns out they didn't even own the building they were lying about selling us. I guess it shows that he really didn't care about his place or his staff cause what do they have now? Looks like they made the right choice lol they just wanted to take the money, run, and leave somebody with less knowledge a mess. That wouldn't have happened to us and I hope their other places go backrupt. Can you believe he tried to tell me he owned the rights to Chicago style deep dish hahaha he knew I wasn't buying it. You don't own a shape dumbo. The more I think about how you spoke to me on the phone though....if you ever wanna get in the cage with me just let me know Danny boy. My number is still the same. Previous post -My wife and I were supposed to assume ownership of osteria32 from Dan and Summer. We were working there for 30 days as a transition period. Yesterday ( the last day of transition) Dan flips a fuse and backs out of the deal after my wife and I quit our jobs to be there and spent a lot of time and money that we didn't have. We had a meeting a couple weeks back and agreed we'd close down just before the 1st for a few days and reopen as our own. He calls me yesterday while my wife and I are there doing some work getting some last minute details in place and he says why are we closed? I said cause that's what we agreed on. He said oh your losing me money I can't believe you would close on new years and I can't believe you closed when the storm hit. Now mind you we'd been told repeatedly to make our own decisions because well, it was supposed to be ours mind you and today was supposed to be the transfer so how we were losing him money is beyond me. He was nasty with me on the phone and talked to me as if I were an employee not as somebody who was supposed to be making my own model and business decisions. I know he would never talk to me like that to my face but it's fine. I should have known his power trip by the way he constantly bragged about who he is. Now, I understand the tired look on his wife's face. Id look like that too if I had to deal with him everyday which is a shame cause she could do better by far. The staff liked our food better. I have been a chef and restaurant operater for 25 years, I ran a restaurant for one of the most famous chefs in the world, and successfully turned 2 failing restaurants around keeping them from closing ( both me and my wife did this ) I started them and brought her on after. It may not be illegal to back out on the last day but it sure does show a person's true colors he never even gave us the chance to show what we could do as he said he would. When you buy a business the former owner has no right to tell you how to operate it's a power trip as long as you pay the contract as agreed it's yours to run as you please succeed or fail because it's yours and you don't work for the person you're purchasing it from. He built us up, led us on, had us quit our jobs to be there, agreed on the closing and reopening actually it came out of his mouth shortly after my wife and I had the same discussion. It must be hard to deal with a relative or spouse knowing they're not good people like watching them ruin other peoples lives and sneaky. What a thing to do to two people who expressed that it was our lifelong dream to dangle it Infront of us for 29 days out of 30 and then pull out making senseless excuses. We were there early almost everyday, left after everybody else often, and he also expected me to take the business without taking time to do product list, inventory, menus, permits, licensing, contacting vendors, get the staffing it needs, business plan, or anything that's 10000000% the most important things that need done. Completely insane. It takes longer than a couple weeks to get all that stuff set up by far. I have all of our correspondence for anybody doubting the legitimacy of what I'm saying. Have...

We wanted to try something new for a date night and found this little diamond in the rough in Muncie, IN. For our first visit, we shared an Insalata Caprese, and then we both ordered Risotto: Risotto Milanese, and Mushroom Bacon Risotto. This was an enjoyable experience and we will certainly go back.

An interesting visit... We made an early reservation to fit our evening plans, so it was not crowded but was filling up by the time we left. The restaurant building is not upscale; it looks like a better fit for a dinner or deli, but good food makes up a lot for lack of ambience. The food was definitely more upscale than the atmosphere, but still, their dinning area was nice and very functional.

The staff was great - friendly, knowledgeable, and hard working. It appeared there were only 3 staff working, a chef and two servers. From the little bit of the kitchen we could see, the Chef was always busy, and it was clear the servers pulled a lot of weight as they managed the tables and spent some time in the kitchen as well - it appeared they were helping to prep or plate some of the food. Yet, even as the tables filled up, they didn't appear to slow down or get stressed. This was pretty impressive to me - 3 people running the restaurant at this level.

The food was good - we liked the Insalata Caprese - the balsamic reduction dressing was really great and together it was very fresh. The risotto was also very good - although we have never had a main course of just risotto. It was definitely hearty enough, although sides are ala cart with risotto, and next time I'll order a side with it for some variety. The risotto itself was very tasty, although a little undercooked in my opinion - slightly crunchy/chewy, although some may like it this way. We had leftovers, and it reheated the next night very well.

It was a date, so we decided to get dessert and shared Tiramisu, one of my favorites. I liked this, but found it had a different flavor profile than expected. I didn't really taste any coffee - the cake part of the dessert wasn't soaked in anything, which is a bit odd since the menu description was for a classic tiramisu which by definition is coffee soaked cake. It was still a nice dessert, just not tiramisu by my standards (or anyone's?)

I forgot to mention this is also a wine bar and they had a good selection of wines (with a variety of price points) if you're into that. I'm not a wine expert.

Overall, this was a really good visit with great staff and good food. The pros far outweigh the cons, resulting in a solid 4 star review. We are very much looking forward to a second visit! You should...

Update: The cost of the food in no way or shape is justifiable for the portions and quality you are served. Some items were very tasty and enjoyable, but should have been half the price. I understand your food costs need to be ~30% of what you charge in order to make a profit, but there is no way some of these items are anywhere close to that margin.

Small portions, big prices. Can't comment on the wines, but beer selection was ok.

Portion sizes isn't everything, but some of the plates were laughable when they were put on the table you realize what you are paying for it.

Plates were shared among a group to try more dishes.

First course was ok The pizza was good but pretty steep at $17 for a small pie, the meat platter had a good spread but the "crusty" bread looked and tasted like a $2 loaf of French bread from Kroger and they only gave a few measly slices. Would have loved a real rustic loaf or something similar.

Risotto was very tasty, but again the portions are miniscule. $17 for about a cup of risotto is pretty laughable.

The cotoletta was very tasty and reasonable for the price.

Saltimbocca was very flavorful and reasonable for the price.

The tuna was pretty bland, the portion size was decent thought.

Tagliatelle was underwhelming. Sauce was sweet but watery and the pasta didn't have much flavor.

The tiramisu was excellent. Nice size portion and very flavorful without being over sweet.

Final thought, for the price some of the food was very lacking. The lack of bread on the table to scoop up the sauces and the soft boring bread included with the meat and cheese platter put a damper on it. I wonder what the target market is going to be in Muncie when it's around $60 a person for a meal without...