Trattoria iL Gusto Wine Bar — Restaurant in New York

This was our fourth time here. I’ve given two stars because the food was still good as always but we had a big issue with the way our server treated us. I came with my fiance to celebrate my promotion at work, I had a great year so on top of my promotion some of our partners gifted me some large sum visa gift cards. I figured a celebratory dinner would be a good opportunity to use one. I asked if it was accepted when we first arrived and they told us no. Since Visa swears up and down these are accepted anywhere a visa debit or credit card is accepted, I decided to double check. Miscommunications are common and getting clarity shouldn’t be penalized. When our server arrived and asked if we were ready to order I said yes, but that I wanted to reconfirm acceptable payment options. I showed him the card just to be sure. He became immediately irritated repeating multiple times that they don’t and they can’t, all the while acting like we were incapable of paying for a meal. He then quickly left after we had started the exchange by saying we were ready to order. We had planned a lavish dining experience regardless of whether we could use the card- multiple courses, drinks, the works. The vibes the rest of the dinner were so uncomfortable, we were largely ignored aside from the staff bussing tables. We each ordered one thing and left. We’ve been here multiple times before, make good money, and have never been treated anywhere like we’re dining out of our income bracket. I have also never had a waiter just leave after we stated we wanted to order. It was so uncomfortable I had to wonder if my fiance’a race contributed to the treatment like we couldn’t pay, especially when considering the rest of the demographic dining that night. We were very polite and had traveled over an hour here to come celebrate. Had we not traveled an hour I would have left. We...

Their old menu is still active on many many deliveries sites. I have been eating here for years. When I lived on the east side I used to eat at the one on 88th and third Avenue delicious. They were close for a very long time and since your menu was active on many deliveries sites, I had ordered food two to three times being told over an hour later that the restaurant is still closed and that they should not have taken my order. I had called the restaurant numerous times to see when they're going to be open and I was told tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow. As a chef of over 30 years it was a very very poor transition phase. You should've been taken down the old menus, announcements should've been made that the name was being changed. It was simply handled very poorly. When the menus were still up and active I order food for eight people and again to be told almost an hour later that the restaurant was closed, or the items we had ordered were no longer on the new menu and we needed to change our order, yet there was no new menu anywhere to be found online to do so. Again I have gone to this restaurant for years and years and the way that they transitioned into their new restaurant was simply unprofessional and would make me never ever want to go back there again. It's a shame that all the newer restaurants in this neighborhood have made it very very difficult and very very uncomfortable for a lifelong resident of the upper West side to want to try them or even go there ever...

I was originally introduced to this restaurant by a client, who shared the secret of its house limoncello. Since that night, I've come back several times with several guests, and always tipped generously as the food and service was good. With all this as prelude, I really hope yesterday was an anomaly. I had a pair of clients who wanted to meet in mid-afternoon to discuss a difficult, sensitive topic. Seeking an elegant place that I knew would be quiet at that time of day, I suggested Il Gusto. When I arrived at 3, the large dining room was empty. Not knowing if my guests wanted lunch or not at that in-between hour, I sat down at the table to which I was directed and accepted the offered menus. When my guests opted to just have cappuccinos, our server looked at me, rolled his eyes, and said "You should have told me you were just having coffee." He then made a big show of removing the silverware and plates from our table. Keep in mind: the dining room was completely empty. I was so shocked that I stammered our an apology, but also asked how I was supposed to know in advance what my guests wanted. After they left, I asked to speak to the server, Matt. He offered a perfunctory apology after much discussion. My guests had earlier remarked on how nice the menu looked, and their plans to come back. Now, I doubt they will return, and I don't think I...