Leo's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Oelwein

I don’t live in Oelwein. I traveled 35 minutes just to try something new. Turns out, I should’ve saved the gas and stayed local. The service was one of the worst I’ve ever experienced, and it wasn’t because they were short-staffed. Leo’s just sorely lacked the service one would expect, considering the over-inflated prices on their menu.

Our server barely checked on us. We had to flag her down just to ask for condiments after our food was finally brought to us. Not only did it take nearly 50 minutes to get our food, but patrons who came in after us, locals most likely, received faster service.

One of my table mates ordered a beer and was brought a mixed drink. Instead of taking accountability for the mixup, our server blamed the bar for making the wrong drink. That may have been the case, but she was the one who took his order. He ordered a beer and didn’t receive a beer. It only got worse from there. My husband ordered a bacon cheeseburger, only to be presented with a burger that was half cooked, half raw. It definitely wasn’t worth its $14.29 price tag. I ordered the Taste of Italy, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that what came out on my plate somehow managed to cost $21.99. It was bland and lukewarm at best. In all honesty, it tasted like a store-bought frozen dish that they just warmed up and haphazardly threw on a plate.

Needless to say, I will not be a repeat customer. Once was more than enough for both my tastebuds and my wallet.

As evidenced by my take-home box, I didn’t enjoy my meal enough to eat even half of it.

ETA (in response to the reply): We had two separate tickets for a total of four people. My table mate asked for a beer menu and one was provided. He chose his beer of choice and was brought a mixed drink instead. A double shot of some kind. And as far as I know, it’s illegal to leave with an open container of alcohol. So, no, he did not get it to go. Our server took no accountability, negating the fact that she was the one who brought him the beer menu in the first place and was the one who took his order. She blamed the bar instead and didn’t even offer to make it right. You may very well serve hot meals, but mine most certainly wasn’t. It was bland and lukewarm, as I previously stated. The burger had chunks of uncooked meat. It wasn’t rare. There’s a difference between rare and uncooked. It never should have been brought out that way.

And after reading the other reviews, it doesn’t appear that you are properly addressing the issues at hand, as this doesn’t seem to be a...

Honestly I would give zero stars if I could. We are new to the area, so when family came to visit we decided to try Leo's for the first time. We were a party of eight with three children on Friday night at 7pm. We were told immediately that they would not seat us. The restaurant was busy, but had four open tables. We were then told that we could go up to the bar, but wouldn't be able to order entrees. We came to have dinner and didn't want to sit in the bar with kids. I have never been turned away from a restaurant, and felt that we were turned away due to having children, not because they were full. Needless to say we will not "try" Leo's again. Update In response to the owner's post. We were not told that we would have to wait to be seated. The waitress asked how many people were in our party, and immediately told us that they did not have room for us and that we could go to bar. I had to ask how long it would take to get a seat, and her response was a hurmph sound and, "fine, I'll go check". After a considerable period of time, a different waitress returned and said they MAY be able to seat us in 30 to 40 minutes. As I mentioned in my first posted, there were four open tables, two of which were next to each other. If we had been treated better we would have been willing to wait. Neither waitress was kind or welcoming, both acted as if we were bothering them. We understand that restaurants are busy on Friday night and expected to wait for a seat with a large party, but the waitresses rude additudes were unnecessary. I have never been to a restaurant that, instead of giving an expected wait time for a table, told a customer that they would...

Incredibly overpriced for less than mediocre food. First and last time I will ever go. Salad was wilted & brown, food was bland. Nearly $100 for 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 1 kids meal. I ordered 2 kids meals, but the waitress somehow didn't hear me. The Alfredo had no flavour, was watered down and the portion size was very small, about the same size as the kids spaghetti & meatballs. The only thing that was actually good was the onion blossom which I would give 9/10. Everything else was 0/10.

Responding to owner - now you're calling customers liars? 🤣 honestly not surprised. The sauce WAS bland, the lettuce WAS wilted. In addition to the horrible food, the atmosphere was horrendous. Update your decor and maybe try cleaning. Bathrooms are gross, the booths had crumbs all over the seats, the walls, floor, booths, decor - its all old (and not in a charming kind of way, in a falling apart, dusty and dirty kind of way). I know in small towns people like to back locally owned, but be real with yourselves & get out of that small town mentality and go try a REAL italian restaurant that serves REAL italian food, cuz this place ain't it. This place is a joke. Alfredo from a freaking jar is 100% better than what this place serves, and...