PennePazze Murfreesboro — Restaurant in Murfreesboro

First time visit tonight, a Friday evening. When we walked in the restaurant was almost full, but there was a table and a handful of counter seats open.

The food was delicious. I really enjoyed the fact that they make their pasta fresh in-house. I had the Carbonara Pazza and my man had the Ragu & Funghi. Definitely the most authentic Italian food I've had in the Boro.

When we first walked in the door, we were greeted and the server cleaned a table for us. The table/restaurant layout in general looks good, but a bit unfortunate that all of the tables appeared to seat 6. We were only a party of 2, and there were a number of other small parties seated at the tables as well. It felt a bit awkward taking up such a large table, especially once the restaurant got busier and there was a line of larger parties waiting for tables.

Once we sat down, we realized that it was a phone ordering situation, and there didn't seem to be an option to ask for paper menus. We were instantly bummed, because one of our favorite parts of dining out is the service component. We quickly realized that there was basically none. No one came up to us to explain the details of how it all worked. It wasn't hard to figure out, but unfortunate still the same. We went ahead ordered our drinks through the app so we could take some time to figure out the menu. You have to put in a credit card or use Apple Pay to start your order, and then you are able to keep your tab open. The only time someone came to the table was to deliver our drinks and food. Both of the "servers" were friendly, but neither ever came back to check on us to see how our drinks and food were. We were also planning on placing a To Go order for our son, but there was no way to select To Go or add any special instructions through the app. We asked the food server about it, and he said we could either walk up to the counter to order To Go, or just let them know once we ordered the item. But since we weren't checked on during our meals (and he didn't come back to see if we did in fact place an order), we didn't know how long it would be to get their attention for that. We ended up just asking for boxes for our leftovers and brought that food home instead. And like a few other people have mentioned in other reviews, we weren't sure what an appropriate tip was since there was minimal service.

So overall I feel it was an experience that could've been so much better with more personal attention. If they had explained how it all works in the beginning, checked on us after we had tried a few bites of food, came over to recommend an item - talk about the menu, recommend a dessert, ask us if we wanted any more drinks, etc., we would have enjoyed it so much more.

Also in regards to the service in general: We noticed an older couple come in the restaurant. When they got there, no tables were available, so they were seated at the counter. We kept an eye on them because we were wondering how they'd enjoy the phone ordering system. After about 5 minutes, no one had come up to greet them or help them out. They ended up leaving. The server(s) appeared to just watch them walk out, didn't try to approach them and get them to stay. And on that note, no one said goodbye or thanked us as we left.

One more thing I noticed that I thought was odd: They had large trays of their fresh pasta sitting on dusty shelves against the front windows of the restaurant. I noticed that right when I walked in. Perhaps they had run out of space, but it seemed unsanitary to me. I imagine they could've located those trays in the kitchen or in the...

First impressions: confusion. Walked in, and there was a sign that states, please wait to be seated. The girl behind the counter said go ahead and sit. OK? Why the sign? Other than someone bringing you a cup and a pitcher of water, you serve yourself. The menu is a QR code, and you'll also use that to order. Which is quite annoying. I, for one like to look at the menu as a whole. The other issue is if you have multiple people in the party you either have to order everything separately or someone's phone has to go around the table so everyone can order. Quite inconvenient. The tables. Most tables are counter high, 6 person tables. IMO they are the worst. The seats were uncomfortable and the dangle of your legs causes fatigue on joints. Just my thoughts. Which from a business point of view would be great. As the guests won't linger. While I recognize that I am not a tall person the table top came to about 2" above my collarbone. If I relaxed, I literally had the plate in my face. I couldn't imagine having children in the seats. The food was good. I wouldn't go as far as amazing but not bad. We both left most of our meal as we got tired of eating it. You get nothing else with your entrée. It becomes overwhelming real quick. There was one big glaring issue. We were brought the wrong plates. While trying to tell the food runner it was not what we ordered, or correct order came out. The 1st girl picked up the plates and looked like she was heading back to the kitchen only she didn't. She turned and dropped the food off at the people at the bar. This is a health code violation. Food is to be disposed of the minute it hits the table. No questions asked. With that an obvious occurrence, what else is going on? The end. Remember when I said you serve yourself? The place where you ordered is where you pay. And wouldn't you know that they already chose the tip for you! When paying for your order you get a big tip box that chooses the 18% for you. This tipping crap is out of hand. For seating yourself, getting your drinks yourself (there's a soda fountain you get your own drinks) ordering yourself and paying yourself- what exactly am I tipping you for? It was pretty pricey for just pasta. Overall experience wasn't that great and if I go to sit down eat I would like service, but the biggest issue would be the health code violation. Just doesn't sit...

The food was really good. There wasn’t any service aside from food runners. We weren’t offered a water or anything. Everything is ordered off a digital menu (your phone) so there’s minimal interaction with the staff. We saw an older couple give up and leave after being seated assumingely because they didn’t want to do everything from a phone. No one asked how the food was etc. In the end maybe I’m just used to more of a tradition service model, but we also weren’t prompted to buy another glass of wine, an appetizer, or desert, which nets less money for the restaurant. We were intending to order another entree to go for a family member at home. I was able to ask someone passing by how to order a to go order with our tab. His reply was “What do you mean?” I explained and he essentially told me to place a separate online order. He did say he could take care of it for us, but since no one ever touched base with our table again we skipped ordering anything else and opted to just bring leftovers home. Of course payment was done through the phone, and naturally there’s was a request for a tip. It made me pause to ponder tip for what? Service was minimal, no one ever interacted with us while seated accept when we flagged them down, no one said good bye or come again or squat when we left. I did tip, but not 20%. Something else to consider before your visit is your group size. It’s not a big place and they have bar style seating facing the kitchen, and bar height tables that seat six along the opposite wall. There were plenty of people waiting because they were a party of 2 and the tables were taken mostly in groups of two. So there were a lot of empty chairs but also customers waiting to be seated. They were playing great music but quite loud making conversation, well…. louder. Again the food was great, like really good. Entrees are about $20 with most protein additions being $4. A glass of wine is $10. No beer or liquor. They did have a few agave wine based cocktail offerings. If your cool with paying $80 for two people for a self service type experience you’ll enjoy the food. But I wouldn’t recommend bringing someone expecting a normal sit down Italian...