Via Canaletto — Restaurant in New Smyrna Beach

This restaurant came highly recommended, so we were very happy to finally make it in. We noticed it was very dark inside and not very busy for a Saturday at 7 p.m. I got an espresso martini, Caesar salad, and Chicken Piccata Milanese. My partner got a bourbon, Caesar salad, and Chicken Marsala. The bread, oil, and Cesars were delicious. The bourbon was a VERY generous pour, like double a regular pour. My martini was only half full, it had no froth, and wasn’t cold. It clearly had not been shaken, making it very hard to drink. We speculated that the server was making their own drinks and was not trained to do so. The Chicken Marsala was too sweet, and the angle hair was over cooked on both dishes, however, all chefs have their preferences, and everyone’s taste is different. Chicken Piccata Milanese was not what I expected at all. When I see Milanese anything on a menu, I order it because it’s my favorite preparation. When my meal arrived, it was thin slices of sautéed chicken in the piccata sauce and was not prepared “Milanese” style. I thought it was a mix-up, like someone else ordered the dish and specifically asked for it not to be breaded and fried, and they served it to me by mistake. When the server came to check on our satisfaction with the dishes, I asked if there was a mix-up, and she said “no”. I told her I thought it would be prepared Milanese style, as the name implied. She said, “no, the Chicken Parmesan is prepared Milanese style, the Piccata Milanese is prepared scallopini style. Why would you call it “Piccata Milanese” then?!? Rather misleading, no? Anyway, I took a few bites but found the chicken dry, and the piccata sauce was overly tart and thin. When the server came to clear our plates, she saw that I hadn’t touched my meal, and she knew I was not happy with it because I spoke up when she asked how everything was. Why would you ever ask if you don’t intend on trying to find a solution?!? I can only assume she was instructed by the owner to not send back a meal or offer a replacement. Not a great way to run...

Update 1/31/25 Please everyone read the owners answer on Thursday 1/30/25 @ 10 PM and you will see why he has literacy issues.

This was our second time there I forgot about our first experience this is just a review of our experience at your establishment, not good not bad just what we experienced, food was Ok nothing great service was terrible we always eat at bar at any restaurant we go to it was a big mistake both times at this place. First encounter the bartender (older female) made us aware she was a professional bartender we have no idea why but we all know what it means when someone must praise themselves! She did not tell us about specials she was clueless about all the dishes. The second experience was worse than the first the bartender (younger female) did not know about anything on the menu my wife asked questions about certain dishes she actually took the menu out of her hand and had to look at what she asked about and still could not answer she did not have a clue, I then suggested she take home the menu and study it. Her excuse was she works two jobs here and the Waffle House, we ordered she got 2 out of 3 wrong dishes wrong. So it seems like the main problem the owner has is the help he hires that he does not train before he puts them in the trenches I wonder why? Now If he follows up with his usual defenses excuses of his employees he will post excuses that really make no sense he has quite a few complaints about service but It looks like he just doesn’t get it, which is a mystery you would think a person would learn by their mistakes but if they do not think it’s a mistake then they have nothing to learn in their mind very sad, so please you really don’t have to bother responding to our experience and make yourself look more ??? because we are out. By the way we eat out at least 4 to 5 nights per...

Quite disappointing - was excited to finally try this locally owned spot, menu looked lovely - made a booking weeks prior for our anniversary & requested a quiet table. Was seated right next to the door, felt rushed from moment we arrived.

Service: Our server was friendly, but didn't know the menu. She asked us to place our order several times, when we mentioned wanting to enjoy a drink & toast our special occasion. When asked for a wine recommendation, she replied "I'm not a wine drinker"! To top off the night, we were asked if would be 2 checks or 1 at the end of our meal - now that's a first for an anniversary dinner!

Food: Calamari appy was the only flavorful part of the meal, cooked beautifully. Ceasar salad was served with brown lettuce, the pasta fagoili was undercooked. Snapper special looked fantastic upon plating, after first few bites, quite fishy. Veal picatta was dressed with a bland brown sauce (no picatta??) Declined dessert.

Atmosphere: With creating an attractive, intimate aesthetic, the owners have unforunately missed the mark on ambiance, quality & training. It felt as if flipping the table was the servers goal. One of the owners was at the hostess stand/bar during the evening, but never engaged with any of the seated customers.

Taking time to adequately prepare the staff re menu options, wines & being able to offer a more welcoming, personal dining experience...