Maretta — Restaurant in New York

Many restaurants start out hot, then settle into the long fade. Maretta has done it with unusual speed. I’ve eaten there three times in the past few months, each visit terrific. Yesterday was different. The complimentary focaccia was the first tell. What used to be airy and fragrant came out dense and leathery. The panzanella, a salad I’ve never known to fail, somehow did. The bread was dry and mealy, the tomatoes watery and dull, the dressing a pucker of acid. Octopus carpaccio had a mushy texture and was unseasoned, draped with a green sauce that didn’t belong there. Fritto misto came with a thick fry that carried the flavor of old oil. Nothing suggested that anyone in the kitchen had tasted the food before serving it. Only the espresso martini, brightened with fresh espresso, reminded me of the place I used to recommend. By the end of the meal, I was taking back my endorsement in my New York dining group. It's too bad. I really wanted this to be my go to Italian in the hood. To answer- The service was great, I marked that, and never even mentioned the ordering mishap, so this was based solely on the food. Only two dishes were modified and I didn't mention the potato pave. The other ones were didn't have any items removed but unfortunately they were not good yesterday. I This was not meant as a public takedown of any kind, and just reflects the experience based on food alone. That's the whole point of these...

Updated Review: When I first dined at Lollo, I was mistakenly charged for something I did not order. I did not notice until I got home, so I reached out to them for assistance. It took some time to get a response, but they have since refunded me and sent a lovely email apologizing for the mistake, plus comped my dessert. This was such a great response from the owner and I really appreciated it, as mistakes like these happen and I did not remember to review my receipt closely before leaving the restaurant. The food was delicious, and as I live in the area I'll be coming back again.

Original Review: I dined at Lollo a little over a week ago, and when I got home I was reviewing my receipt and realized that I was charged for a Prosecco that I did not order. I immediately sent them an email from the email address listed on their website and included my receipt, asking for assistance remedying this mistake. I have since sent multiple emails and still have not gotten a response. I also tried to DM them on instagram, no response. I then tried calling and all that happened was some hold music played and then the call ended/I was hung up on, no person ever spoke/answered. I would love to leave a more positive review, but this unresponsiveness has been very frustrating. Make sure you don't make the same mistake I did and remember to review your receipt...

Had a 9pm reservation on a Friday night and when we got there we were shocked at how insanely loud the place is. We were asked if we wanted to sit outside or inside which were equally bad choice. Outside people were smoking at the tables and inside it was so loud and no AC but between the smoking and the noise we decided to deal with noise inside.

We ordered our food and drinks around 9:20pm. We got a glass of wine, a cocktail, little gem salad, pizza, and a branzino. The drinks came out quickly but around 9:50 pm we still had not received any food (not even salad) and asked our waiter about it. He assured us it will only be a few more minutes. About 15 minutes later we finally got all of our food at once which did not fit on the table. Very poor planning and an insanely long time to wait especially since we could see tables next to us that got seated later getting their food before us.

As far as the food, the little gem salad was fine but nothing special. The pizza was incredibly doughy in the middle and we ended up only having a slice each because it tasted like raw dough. The one redeeming dish was the fish.

The waiter apologized and noted that our food was accidentally sent to the wrong table which is why it took so long. I get that it happens but you can at least comp our wine or do something to...