Leone's Italian — Restaurant in Norfolk

Leone’s was one of the first restaurants we visited when we first moved to Norfolk in 2021. And we’ve been back several times. Except for an unfortunate inhospitable and negative Christmas Eve experience a couple of years ago it was sort of a special occasion go-to place for us. So it was a natural selection last week for our anniversary. Let’s just say it was okay. Okay as in mediocre and a disappointment. That may have explained why the place was virtually empty at 7:00 on a Wednesday evening of our visit.

First the good news. Stacy, our server, was the bright spot in the evening. She was engaging and attentive. The cocktails were well prepared and the bottle of wine (a special for the evening) was nicely priced and a great selection. The peppers and sausage appetizer was just as we remembered it and was a great start. And at the end of the meal Stacy insisted that we select a complimentary desert. But after the appetizer things mostly ran off the rails.

The initial bread offering was obviously left over from the previous night. Or the night before that. Hard as a rock. Dry as desert sand. Almost inedible. When the appetizer came it came with toasted leftover bread. Just as dry and hard. Maybe more so.

The ribeye was cooked as ordered and was flavorful but a little fatty on one end. It was such a thin cut that one could have mistaken it for a piece of veal. The red snapper (an off the menu special for the evening) was very disappointing. It lacked flavor and seasoning although it was a nice cut. But for nearly $40 we’d expected more.

I’m not sure what’s happened here. This restaurant is part of a RZ Restaurant Group. Their companion seafood restaurant across the street Leone's closed without warning a few weeks ago. Maybe a sign of internal group issue? Who knows? And we had also found their signature steakhouse was another go-to option for holiday and pre-holiday dining during our time here in Norflok. I should have known things weren’t going to go well at Leone’s after a dining experience at Byrd and Baldwin didn’t go well for a holiday meal we had there. I offered my comments in a review and checked the box that asked if I wanted to be contacted by the restaurant’s management over the issues I cited in our $450 meal. Crickets. Nothing.

That sort of tells me everything I need to know about their family of restaurants. That’s not to say that you might luck up and have a good meal at one of the establishments. But based on our most recent visits they won’t be bothered...

Came with High expectations after reading numerous reviews and previewing the menu--unfortunately, not met. It started with seating--while we were in the very front and sat in a window corner, it felt crowded and was loud--perhaps the metal ceilings exacerbated this.

Specials looked good and wine list was impressive, although the initial selections that we chose were not offered by the glass. When asked, server was enthusiastic about the "very best red blend." It was good, although not a great value at $13.00 for a 3ish ounce pour.

Appetizers were below average. I ordered Caprese salad. The critical element here are good tomatoes. They weren't. In fact the tomatoes were not ripe at all, and grainy. If you cannot get quality produce, make it a seasonal menu item and come up with something else.

My Osso Buco was good, however I expected more than 3 small pieces of meat for $30.00. The polenta was actually very good--the saving grace of the entree. I don't know when broccolini becomes broccoli but regardless of what it was called, it was mostly stalks and cold.

My wife had a NY Strip with a side of linguini--she requested some tyoe of sauce, lemon-butter or SOMETHING, but was told that she could only get butter on it--strange for an italian restaurant. The steak was very tasty, although they did not have A-1--say what you will, if a customer has preferences, the restaurant should have the ability to meet that request--especially a simple one. The pasta was cold and see the comments above for the broccolini.

Finally my wife had the mixed berry napoleon. Same as with the tomatoes, the strawberries were unripened and not sweet at all. February is probably not the time to expect the best fresh berries.

All in all, an average meal at best with slightly above average service that cost $150.00 at the end of the night. No sure I can justify a return trip when there are so many great options--especially in this ethnicity in the local area. Very...

We were late for our reservation due to a play running longer than expected but we were seated quickly after entering. At the end of our dinner we decided it was okay but wouldn't be returning. Here's why:

We started with tiramiso and for me an espresso martini. The martini was tasty and paired well with the dessert. The piece of tiramiso was large! Glad we were sharing because that's a lot for one person. It looked a little sloppy and was missing something. I couldn't put my finger on what it was. Maybe it needed more coffee?

Next we ordered the bruchetta. The toasted bread were all different sizes and the onions were not uniformly cut. Oddly there wasn't any basil included despite it being listed on the menu. I got the attention of our waitress (who was very pleasant!) and asked for some basil, advising that it was forgotten from the dish. Basil was brought and we sprinkled it on ourselves.

For our dinners we ordered the lobster fettuccine (husband) and orecchiette (for me). The fettuccine had some lobster mixed in as well as a tail on top. The pieces that were mixed in ended up being overcooked and didn't add any lobster flavor to the sauce. The sauce was creamy and surprisingly spicy. I think the sauce could have benefited from using lobster broth to help flavor it as the lobster was really only present if you had a bite of it. Points for providing a spoon to eat the pasta!

The orecchiette was good. The sausage was a little overpowering and there wasn't a lot of the broccolini. I felt like the sauce was very thin and more soup-like. I still enjoyed it but it was one of those dishes where you keep taking another bite hoping it's going to be better.

We had been interested in Leone's for a while so I am glad we ate here. It's not a place we'd recommend though. It...