Martin's Italian — Restaurant in Oldsmar

Had high hopes for a new Italian place to be another option close by. Disappointment started when we walked in and got seated. Friday evening and the place was maybe an eighth full and the host wanted to seat us all the way in the back corner right next to another couple. We asked to be moved to a booth, no issue there. Then we get to the service, our server came and took our order no issue, but that was the last of the acceptable and expected service. Drinks came and I asked do we get bread and the server, as she walked away said, yes you get bread and you don’t have to ask… I said I was asking because we usually like red sauce with our bread. She responded that it comes with oil and she will bring it that way and if we still decide we want red sauce she can do it then. as she walked away gave a look of disapproval. When she returned with the bread we said nothing but my wife cooks with olive oil but does not like bread dipped in it but we said nothing after what happened to start. We both order chicken parm as that is usually a safe dish. When it came the server was no where to be found and we waited as we wanted fresh Parmesan on it… the server was busy engaged with the booth behind us just chit chatting, my wife attempted to get her attention politely with no luck. we finally flagged down a staffer who went and got the parm and helped us with it but ran out so he had to get more. At that point our server finally acknowledged us again when she saw the staffer helping and she got the parm and refilled it and came back… again, mind you my wife tried to get her attention as she stood at the booth behind us having conversation in which we heard her say to them, as she was explaining the menu, that bread would come out first. Something that was never explained to us. Again ignoring us. As for the food, the chicken was a nice presentation in size but was very thin and very dry and tough. The red sauce was bland. More over it was Meh and we have had much better at other Italian places in the area. Finally to wrap this all up in a bow, We waited and waited for her to check on us and to ask for the check. My wife went to the bathroom and they cleared the table and my wife came back and the server still had not checked on us again. Finally she came by and we asked for the check at which time she asked if we wanted anything else. All we wanted was to get out of there. It’s a shame and I would say she was off having a bad day but we witnessed her giving great service to the table of four behind us. Maybe it is because that would bring a bigger tip, I’m not sure. All I know is, this is the first time in a very long time I did not tip at least 20%. So unlike me but I felt that this was an example of where a server can’t just give bad service and expect a good tip. Our experience was horrible and it was our ten year anniversary dinner. We wanted something new for tonight but that turned out to be a mistake. We will not be going back. If the food was exceptional we would have given it another shot but it was mediocre at best. Much better options in the local area. No need to go back. We read other reviews on yelp after the fact to see if our experience was an anomaly but found others stating the same things. Hate to be that person but it was about $100 and wasn’t worth anything...

I thought long and hard about writing the review you are about to read. As nearly all my reviews are 5 stars, (I like to find good in everybody and everything) I thought long and hard before I gave this restaurant 3 stars. The staff and the ambiance was fantastic. However I was so disappointed in the food after waiting months for the grand opening. I was really excited to try the meatballs that Chef Michael beat Bobby Flay with. We ordered it as an appetizer and they were mushy and not even as good as olive garden's. I'm not exaggerating. We had one and took the others home but my 3 adult children wouldn't eat them and we would up throwing them out. For my entree I ordered the chicken Parmesan. My favorite dish of which I can gauge the rest of the menu by how delicious (or not) they prepare it. When it came out it was a 3" by 3" piece with melted cheese on top. The chicken was a little over-cooked and was laying on top of a small amount of tasty angel hair pasta. The spaghetti sauce wasnt bad it was just bland. My wife ordered the mussels. Also she had the cheese and prosciutto plate. The cheese plate was the best part of dinner, along with the focaccia bread with the olive oil and herbs. On the plate was a small amount of delicious fig, (I believe) jam and the most delicious honey on honeycomb jam we've ever tasted. Unfortunately the rest was not good. The chef (we assume) accidentally overpoured a ton of salt on the mussels making them inedible. We had the mgr try one and he profusely apologized and got us another bowl but it was too late by then we were done. We had pre-ordered a dessert I believe was called the lobster shell. or something like that, another restaurant we visited in Orlando called a similar dessert the Cornucopia. A Puff pastry shell that looks like a large seashell filled with fresh cream and ice cream. Generally large enough for 2 to enjoy. This wasn't like that it had the look but a very small amount of cream and maybe a tablespoon of ice cream. My wife said the shell was a little stale and only had a few bites. This dessert, i will add, is a $15 dessert. When the bill came the chef was kind enough to comp the dessert for the salt issue and we couldn't have been more thankful. We thoroughly enjoyed nearly every aspect of this restaurant from the high energy, enthusiastic and eager wait staff to the decor. Everything except the food. Overall the dinner was so bad my wife cried when we got outside knowing how disappointed I was after being so excited to believe we might have found a new Casa Ludovico, (our favorite Italian restaurant), close to home. Not this time. This review was from my heart. I believe any restaurant, chef or wait staff can have a bad day. We all can however the bill came to nearly $100 with no alcohol and food that bad we aren't willing to try a second time your experience...

It was a soft opening. Our 6:30 reservation was running about 20 minutes behind. The manager apologized and said they didn’t leave enough time for each reservation, about 2 hours per table . We were seated in a booth which was comfortable. The wait staff was friendly and prompt, but often couldn’t answer questions about how a particular dish was prepared. We shared appetizers: artichokes with a pesto sauce, crispy eggplant that was served in a shallow bowl in a light colored tomato sauce so some of the thin eggplant strips were soggy. However, it was very tasty. Mussels, which I did not try but everyone else liked. We had to ask for a spoon and bowl to put shells into and for some bread so they could dip into the sauce. We ordered: mushroom and onion risotto, which needed salt, crab a la vodka, which was my dish. There were thin shreds of crab, but unless I knew it was crab, it could have been anything, There were peas sprinkled throughout. The sauce was bland and the massive amount of gnocchi were the kind you can buy frozen in Whole Foods. They were overcooked. Dish should have been called gnocchi sprinkled with crab. It was served lukewarm warm and the sauce was meh. The manager did offer to bring me something else, but then everyone else would be sitting around having finished their dish while I was just getting another dish. Someone had the branzini which they liked quite a bit, and someone else ordered Nona's meatballs, served on spaghetti. He said it was just okay. I forget the last dish. We were in and out in an hour and a half. No desserts were ordered. The restaurant was extremely noisy. At one point the manager did turn down the music playing, but it was, like most restaurants today, still too noisy. We probably will give it another try because they are still working things out and we knew that when we reserved a table. I would definitely not order the crab a la vodka again, nor would the other person who ordered it. I...