Fratello's Italian Tavern — Restaurant in North Charleston

Well, let’s see.....I’ll start by saying that we were looking forward to trying this place. My in-laws had been there and really enjoyed it. So, we decided to take them there and treat everyone to a great dinner with lots of wine and cocktails. We all had an early lunch so we would ensure big appetites for dinner. I went to their website early Saturday morning and was happy to see we could get a reservation for 5 people at 6:30pm. Made the reservation on their website (via their vendor, Open Table). Received both a text and email confirmation saying they looked forward to seeing us at 6:30. We made the 30 minute drive from Wild Dunes on IOP, and arrived at 6:23pm. We were excited. We walked in, and everything changed instantly. The “hostess,” instead of greeting us with a welcome smile, seemed oddly hostile from the get go. She asked our name and whether or not we had a reservation. I gave her the name and time of the reservation and she said “I don’t see it.” I said, “oh, that’s odd, let me pull up the confirmation email and double check.” So, I did. Sure enough, it was correct and accurate - and written as clear as day in the confirmation. She refused to look at it and instead flipped her iPad around and tapped her screen and said, “it’s not on MY screen!” It was the rudest, most confrontational exchange I’ve had in memory when walking into a dining establishment. I have a lot of family and friends in the food and beverage community in NYC, Richmond, Va, Washington DC, and Charleston - so I understand being in the weeds, or having a bad night, etc....However, the place was less than half full and here she was not only turning away a confirmed reservation of 5 people, but doing so in the rudest manner imaginable. I was taken aback. Literally, stopped in my tracks completely flummoxed (rare for me)! She didn’t say, “oh, I’m sorry, there must have been a mix up with Open Table, let me see what I can figure out.” Or something along those lines. She took the opposite approach - like “how dare you come to this restaurant with your stupid email confirmation!” Needless to say, there was no way I was going in at that point. If that’s the first interaction, I can imagine how the rest of the night would have unfolded. When you’re going to drop $500-$700, that’s not the experience you want. I gathered the group to leave and we went down the street to another establishment - not what we had in mind, but at least they seemed happy to have us.

In fairness, I will say that another lady came from the back as we were leaving - I got the sense she was either the owner or GM. She was nice and seemed to really want to figure out a solution. The problem was that the “hostess” had already thoroughly poisoned the experience, and there was no way I was spending my money there at that point. I felt a little bad because the other lady seemed to want to do the right thing. It’s just that the ship had already sailed. Scratched off my list, and mental note to never return.

There are way too many great places out there, with hard-working people making great food and experiences, and trying to do good things in their community. It’s an incredibly tough business and it takes a lot of hard work - but you have to get the basic blocking and tackling right, too. Greet people with a smile. Solve problems. Be humble. Be grateful. In summary, I can’t speak to the food as it never got that far. And it never will. But, I would recommend that they immediately move their “hostess” to the back of the house - far away from customers, and put someone less jaded up front to welcome their customers. Seems like a simple place to start.

Thoroughly...

The following notes were taken from the moment I walked in to the end of our service. I will not be coming back to this restaurant on account of the bland, burnt, and undesirably plated food. The service was good, but the food inspires only a feeling of a broken promise.

4:30 reservation, showed up 25 minutes early. Parked behind the restaurant, back door was open, glanced in as I walked by, couldn't see much other than three cooks, dirty floor. Nobody at the host stand, took 20 seconds to be noticed and greeted. Got seated wherever we wanted , 4 person party, took a 7 person table. Table had no silverware ready, server brought water instead of asking what drinks we wanted. Arrived at FOH shift change period, server notified us we would not be served by him. Table was wet and another table nearby has crumbs on it. Olive oil and salt shakers were clean. Menus are unlaminated paper in books, stained a bit. Got water (no straws). bread and silverware and plates were promised but have remained undelivered for about 15 minutes. Cold Bread was delivered about a minute later. Server introduced himself, brought bread, stated specials and his opinion on them, asked about drinks. Left for 2 minutes, came back and delivered the silverware and plates, piled up somewhat out of reach. Ordered appetizers, calamari and house pulled mozzarella with roma tomatoes, basil, balsamic reduction with parsley infused olive oil ($13 each). Mozzarella was presented nicely with tomatoes and the balsamic vinegarette and basil. Mozzarella was a bit bland, and overshadowed by the heavy amount of balsamic vinegar. Calamari was not overcooked, but not as crispy as it would be optimally. Waiter came back and refilled drinks, more bread. Explained fire alarm flashing as a systems issue, just switched to a new POS system apparently. Ordered the beet artichoke and red pepper goat cheese ravioli special. Greasy, but well seasoned and flavorful. Waiter took our entree order, manager checked on us. I ordered Veal Piccata and Salmon Milanese with a yellow tomato and spinach risotto. 40 minute ticket time at this point. Finally got straws upon request. Just noticed that the two owners (two men in suits who seem to have no particular job despite taking up space) have occupied two booths with bottles, plastic bins, and other objects. I sent back the Veal Piccata after recognizing the veal was unsalted, covered in capers, and both the pasta and meat tasted only of lemon. The Salmon Milanese was burnt on one side, which was aptly concealed with it's presentation on the risotto. The risotto tasted good, it was well seasoned, not too mushy, but the garlic cream was thin and unsalted. There was a puddle of olive oil on the other side of the plate, oiling up the rest of the dish for no particular reason. Tasting the salmon, the breading tasted burnt, and i flipped over the salmon, revealing the entire other side to be burnt. All in all, the server was hospitable and attentive. The food wait times were long and the food was not particularly great aside from presentation, and even that was bad, as the salmon milanese resembled genitals...

I searched this place online and tried to make a reservation. I was redirected to the open table app and the only thing they had available was 5:30 on wednesday, my preferred dinner time is 6:30 at a restaurant when i'm dining out.

We made arrangements and arrived earlier than I prefer. The restaurant was at about 15% capacity and throughout our meal, which ended at about 630, got up to about 50% capacity.

The service was exceptional. From the time we walked in until we left, we were waited on without flaw. I started off with a milon margarita the boyfriend had an ultra. That margarita was lovely.

We were both interested in the lasagna, and we inquired about the portion. Our server told us it was one pound.Individually, baked sounded perfect.We were going to split it, and each of us got a house salad.

We were brought a basket of bread. I am more used to being served on oil vinegar or type thing sauce to dip the bread in that was not the case. We did have oil and vinegar on the table, so made that work. I was hoping for something with a little more italian flavor to it.

Our salas arrived, nothing spectacular, but it was very fresh and what's exactly what I was looking for.

Our lasagna came out and to my excitement. It was served in individual bowl that had obviously been baked. The cheese was perfectly melted on top brown and crusty and bubbly, and it looked good, fantastic. Like I said, we were splitting it, so I took a portion of it and put it in my separate bowl, and it was steaming and looked divine. I wanted this to be as good as it looked but unfortunately it was not. It was dry, could have used at least another quarter of a cup of marinara sauce, it was overwhelmingly full of cheese and not very much sausage, and it tasted overbaked but that just may have actually been, because it was a bit dry.

The atmosphere was lovely It was in hey quaint little two block area down off Montague and there were several restaurants bars shops that made this place a bustling little neighborhood hang out. From the patrons that we saw walking down the road and filling up the restaurant.It seems to be a mixed bag of age groups.

We visited during winter and there's a large front door. I think they could benefite from a heat curtain on the outside of that every time the door was opwned, a cold gust wouldn't blow in and freeze the people that were sitting on either side...