Matteo's Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Noblesville

When I asked my GF what she wanted for our VDay date, she said Italian. So after reading some views online I booked a Valentine's Day reservation to Matteo's. The food was fantastic. We didn't care for the bruschetta (def mid/meh), but everything else was #chefkiss. The drinks, the entrees, on food alone would've had us come back.

On top of that, we were a 9:30pm reservation on VDay and our server Tina W. treated us like it was her 1st table of the night. She was personable, easy to talk with and really took interest in us and providing exceptional service. We loved Tina so much that we told her the 'saving grace' for us potentially coming back (even above the awesome food) was her. You rarely get a Tina as a server, and when you do - they keep you coming back.

And then it happened....

So the reason I'm giving it 2 stars (it should be 1)? There was a group of 'regulars' at the small bar area inside that were so loud you could hear every they said. Sometimes her laughs were so overwhelming & dramatic you couldn't help but look up. You know that level of audible your voice gets when you're 'feeling good' levels tipsy and you don't realize it? Bingo - that was them. We found out from staff that they were regulars and are ALWAYS like this.

It was Valentine's Day .... and the last 15+ minutes of our dinner was ruined by two loud drunks. It got so bad that I waved down the owner and asked him if he could ask the people at the bar to quiet down - it was ruining our experience. One look around the restaurant and you could see our date night wasn't the only one being ruined.

He acknowledged he would, but instead went over and, to the best of our vantage point, laughed it up with them and nothing changed about their loudness.

It was so disheartening because a place we definitely would've revisited is now a most likely once-and-never-again.

Updated Edit - The owner responded with blatant lies so I'm going to respond. Lie #1 - I did not request a booth. So not only did you NOT do something for me you didn't do for anyone else, you lied about it in your response to make yourself look better. Lie #2 - No, the restaurant was not uncomfortably loud - it was normal levels loud. Me singling out screamers at the bar, who were audibly drunk, is absolutely fair. It was not normal restaurant sound levels (these guests). Omission #1 - I brought it to your attention, I know I wasn't the only one who complained, and more than one of your staff told me "they're always like that" referring to those guests.

Please don't come to an honest review with lies - I will...

I want to start by saying that I always look forward to writing a good review for any vendor or service provider, but particularly for restaurants, as the experience of dining out with friends and family is one which we all anticipate and hope to enjoy. Writing a negative, critical review is never fun because it indicates that you have not had a good time. But reviews serve to inform other diners of what to expect at a restaurant.

My wife and I joined her sister and her sister's husband for dinner Saturday night at Matteo's Italian restaurant on the courthouse square in Noblesville. We arrived on time for our 6:30 reservation and were seated promptly. It was a busy evening, but our drink orders were taken and arrived quickly. After about twenty minutes of pleasant conversation, our waitress returned to take our dinner orders. We all ordered what I believe were pretty standard entrees for the restaurant - scallops in a pesto sauce for my wife and me, and pasta dishes for our companions.

I won't go into an extended blow-by-blow of how the evening went. Suffice it to say that we didn't finally finish and leave until 9:00. I'd like to speculate on what I think went wrong here. We suspect the waitress forgot to enter our orders after taking them, hence the lengthy wait time. There can be no other explanation. Everything we ordered was stuff that would have been prepped in advance, save for the scallops, which couldn't take long to steam.

Beyond that, she seemed incapable of remembering what we ordered. We sat waiting for items that never arrived, or were the wrong thing when they did arrive. We were disappointed to see other diners who had arrived after us being served long before our dinners arrived. And finally, we are all in our 60s. Two and a half hours in hard backed wooden chairs is torture on elderly backs.

Despite having dined at Matteo's on numerous occasions, we won't return. There are many other dining options in Hamilton County and we can find similar quality food at many of them. Service is the issue that separates a good or great meal from an aggravating, annoying experience. It only takes one meal like this to cost a restaurant the business of a repeat customer, and to possibly lose the business of prospective customers who might read Google reviews before deciding where to dine.

This has been a lengthy review, but I hope it is instructional for Matteo's wait staff...

My wife and I dined on a Saturday night at 6:00. While we had a reservation, it had been made for outside, which was not an option due to the weather. They arranged a table for 2 to the left of the host stand that was separated by a divider wall from the majority of tables on that side of the room.

We ordered Fritto Misto Italiano [$13.95 - 5 cheese ravioli and 5 Panzerotti (potato croquettes)], Penne Alla Ortolana [$23.50 - penne pasta Portobello mushrooms, onions, spinach, roasted red bell peppers, asparagus and white wine, tomato cream sauce] and Salmon Limone [$26.95 - Salmon, white wine-lemon sauce with capers, linguine pasta]:

PROS: -our server, Raiven, was excellent in her frequency of tending to our table and doing so in a personable manner -flavors of Ortolana dish, tomato cream sauce in particular, were very good -salmon was a decent portion size and well prepared -white wine-lemon sauce was very good (it is a strong lemon flavor if that is a turn off for you)

MIDS: -Panzerotti were interesting with their crunchy exterior and soft, fluffy potato interior, but felt they needed another note like cheese

CONS: -ravioli seemed very much like the frozen variety one would get at the grocery -while flavors of Ortolana were good, the dish itself seemed lacking in the quantity of advertised ingredients as the use of plurality for some of them seemed to be an exaggeration -penne and linguine were fine, but seemed like they were boxed as opposed to hand-made and the portions were somewhat stingy in quantity -atmosphere in the dining area is lacking as it is a cavernous space that amplifies the noise of larger parties from across the room and is decorated with an eclectic mix of art work on the walls

?s: -we had hoped to dine outside, but weather had prevented that, so perhaps that would have been an improvement to the dining room -there are 2 smaller areas in the front window areas with tables that might have been a better option if dining inside

So based on all of that, it wasn't horrible, but it was just OK, which doesn't match up with the menu prices. We probably won't return as there are too many dependable options available...