La Stalla — Restaurant in Newtown Township

I took my husband to la stalla in newtown for his birthday. We had reservations for 5:30 and were one of only three families there when we arrived. it still took the two ladies in the front about 10 minutes to seat us. they seemed confused or perhaps they werent fully paying attention when speaking to us. even though our reservation was for two adults, they gave us three menus, drink menus, and set the table for three. they seated us right in front of the kitchen-theres no wall there- so it was extremely loud. Right next to us, at least six employees standing in a group and having loud conversations. it just came off unprofessional to me considering the type of restaurant it is supposed to be and how expensive it was to eat there. We hadn't even been there for 30 minutes yet, and I was already wondering if we should leave and head to our second choice.

We ended up asking to be moved because of how loud it was where the table was located. I still dont understand why the ladies chose to seat us there when the entire restaurant was free and it was acknowledged that we were there for a romantic birthday dinner.

Another thing I noticed is how cold the restaurant was. If you run cold, i recommend bringing a sweater.

We were asked if we wanted water and when they returned they brought out a glass bottle of water. I am still not even sure if we were charged for the water.

My husband has worked in culinary for his entire life, and he always prefers to pick an appetizer to start, even if the table has bread to start. We started with the whipped ricotta appetizer, which was surprisingly tasty. It said it serves two, but could easily serve 3-4. It cost $17.

When our waiter returns, we were still mulling over the menu. We asked for a couple more minutes, which resulted in 10 to 15 minutes waiting for him to return. My husband ordered the carbonara and said it was fine. We were stuck between two options for my meal: the vodka rigatoni (my safe option) or the chicken francese. We ended up asking him to surprise us with whatever he thought was best. and my husband and I will often ask our servers for their opinions of the food because in our experience in the culinary world server should know what’s on the menu and be able to give their recommendations. He was unable to give us a recommendation, which was actually a first for us, so we said surprise us. He ended up bring the francese with a side of the vodka rigatoni. The side ended up costing us $14 (theres not even an option for side on the menu and the regular portion is $19). if i had known hed make one of the options a side, I would have just gone with the chicken. The vodka rigatoni was nothing special, and I just took two bites before we had asked for boxes. Overall, i would not order it again, even as a safe option. The chicken was decent, but still nothing to write home about. the serving size was two small-to-medium sized chicken breasts. Im not a big eater, but without sides for a meal, it really isn't much to go off. It cost $22. For dessert, we ordered the lemoncello flute. $9. It was a refreshing and light option for dessert.

All in all, We ordered an app, a drink for him, two entrees, and one dessert to share. The total ended up being $138. After tip, $170. We dont mind spending money on a good meal, but it was disappointing to see the check after realizing the prices didnt really mirror the quality of the food or service. The entrees were average at best. Not really memorable and again, we couldnt justify the price for what we got. We have received better service and quantity/quality of food at restaurants like bonefish grill, outback steakhouse, or even bertuccis. Overall, we probably wont...

First time I've visited here, drove over an hour to take my father here for Father's Day. Upon arriving we had reservations but they were slammed, understandably. The wait wasn't that long and we were happy to wait. Standing in the main dining room, I will say it is very crowded, Adorable and charming but they could do with a few tables less and it would benefit them tremendously in my opinion. My first sight when we arrived was the young staff, pleasant and well mannered but some not very appropriately dressed. I was thinking this when I overheard the family waiting behind me comment on the same. This is a family restaurant and I feel it's not appropriate for very young girls to have clothing on that barely and I mean barely covers the parts that should be covered, makes your guests uncomfortable. We had a show later on when the one girl bent over so I do feel this should be addressed. We sat outside which is very warmly and beautifully decorated, they did an awesome job providing a welcoming atmosphere. There's a Large water feature in the middle with a fountain during dinner little birds would visit and come get a drink. Fans were under the awnings that made for a perfect breeze and was very comfortable even at 80 degrees. Again the outside was very overcrowded, table's are close together and it is noisy to say the least. A few less tables would made a huge difference. We sat down at the table and unfortunately we're greeted with appetizer plates that were very dirty and I'm no just being picky here, they were bad. We checked the glasses and found they were dirty too. The waiter quickly brought us new and all was fixed. When we opened the menus, they were covered in food also. I'm sorry guys but these are very bad first impressions and I totally understand how busy you were which I take into account but to be honest when a customer gets that many things dirty it starts their mind wondering just being honest here. Our salad and pasta came quickly and even though our waiter, Rick was very busy, he provided excellent service. To those complaining about slow service, most of us know the difference between a bad waiter and a busy waiter. If they are busy you need to understand it is not the waiters fault, this is a huge team that depends on the others doing their jobs, the waiters are at the mercy of the bussers, hosts, bartenders and kitchen so cut them a break and stop complaining about how slow service was if the restaurant is busy. If they are a bad waiter you'll know it and it won't be because of your wait. The food was amazing, fresh and my father said the his dish was better then what we had in Italy which is a great compliment to a restaurant. My lobster ravioli was very good some of the best I've had. Dessert was good not outstanding but still appreciated. It was a nice lunch in a nice atmosphere for VERY reasonable prices. For an appetizer, two pasta dishes and 2 desserts it was exactly $100 I find that very reasonable. PLEASE tip your waiters appropriately, so many don't tip because things are tight and they don't want to spend the extra money, if you can't tip the standard 20% don't go out, these people provide a service and anyone that provides a service and works, esp these days deserves to be paid. Overall I was pleased but if I'm being honest I probably wouldn't drive two hours round trip to come back. The food was worth it but it's just really overcrowded and not quaint, it's really a shame because the decor is very quaint and they have a huge opportunity to provide a nice intimate environment but because of too many tables its not possible. If you don't mind that I would say it's worth it as they have so many things going...

When Google asked me to review this restaurant, I didn't see the need. There were already plenty of reviews. So I read a couple dozen of them, and I was surprised to see so many complaints from so many people. I don't really understand many of the negative comments. It's to be expected that on a given trip to a restaurant not everything goes exactly the way you wanted it to, but that's no reason to trash a perfectly good restaurant.

Here is my bottom line: This is a great restaurant.

Really. I've eaten here somewhat regularly over the past ten years. No, they don't know me, but my friends and my family and I are always greeted warmly by the hostess and treated properly by the waitstaff. Well, I do recall a few times when the waiter or waitress didn't handle certain things perfectly, or when the service was a little slow. But this is a very popular place around here - and it can get very busy. Sometimes it can take a while to be seated. Sure, there are plenty of couples going "out" who are dressed 'for theatre'. And most people DO dress very well to eat here. It's such a lovely place, you do want to dress just a little bit better to dine here. But you don't have to. Plenty of times we have gone there with plenty of children, all dressed in jeans and T-shirts, and we were treated just as nicely. A lot of people do bring their families, because it's such a nice place to eat.

Sure, it costs more than Bertucci's or the other chain places (where we do go more frequently, as it is cheaper). But the extra cost to come here is worth it. The food here is on a whole different level. Everything I've tried has been at least very good. Many dishes, such as the pasta dishes, can be ordered as a "half" plate for an appetizer instead of paying twenty dollars for a huge plate of pasta, but we rarely do this. The food is just too good! I always eat more than I should here. We always order the full sized plates so we can share half around the table, and eat half.

There are all kinds of delicious combinations, as other diners describe elsewhere. But I love the simple Italian staples that are so well performed here. My favorite dish here is their pasta with clams in white sauce. It is exquisite! Almost as good as my own. (OK; it's better. Much.) And everything I've tried has been very good or better, and since I usually get to taste two to four other entrees, that means something.

And the place isn't really pretentious. It's just the local folks being themselves. (LOL!)

When we want to go out for Italian food and want the best around, at a place that is definitely not overpriced, considering the overall quality, then this is...