Oltremare — Restaurant in Philadelphia

I would give this place zero stars if I could. The food was decent, although portions were quite small. My major issue was the experience and service. We made a reservation for the evening in advance, but despite this, were seated right next to the door when it was below freezing outside, and it was frigid by our table. We asked to be seated elsewhere when we first got there, but were told that our table was the only one available. I kept my coat and gloves on for the duration that we were in the restaurant because of how cold it was. A quarter way through the meal, multiple tables behind us and farther from the door opened up, and we asked our waitress if we could be moved elsewhere. She said she would ask the hostess. I never observed her ask anyone, but she came back and said that the other tables were being held for other people. Less than five minutes later, the couple next to us asked to be moved to a different table for the same reason (the cold), and to our horror, the same waitress whisked them away to one of the tables further away from the door after quickly asking the hostess. Never have I felt so offended and slighted by a restaurant and it's staff. I felt as if I was discriminated against and I have no idea why. I was so angry that I walked out of the restaurant at this point. My fiance finished paying the bill and asked the waitress why this had happened and received a less than satisfactory explanation. It was enough that I was cold and uncomfortable for the entirety of the meal, but the unfair and unequal treatment was beyond humiliating and unacceptable. As I said, we came to the restaurant with a reservation and paid the same amount as everyone else there who was treated with more respect. This was supposed to be a belated Valentine's day celebration after several hard weeks at work, and we were truly excited and looking forward to it- the OltreMare staff succeeded in ruining the experience for us. I will never come back here and I discourage anyone from...

Townsend Wentz has done it again! A terrific experience in a new restaurant. The restaurant itself is an open and inviting space. I especially liked the lamp on the bar that made it seem more like sitting at someone's kitchen counter with close friends. An incredible playlist that had me humming and tapping my foot to the music. Patrick and Simra were so friendly and helpful with suggestions and really knew the menu. It was a true pleasure to meet them! Now the really good part- the food! We decided to go with the tasting menu started with oysters and the mignonette had such a unique flavor-the pear put it over the top. Next were the scallops they were cooked perfectly. The pickled fennel and lemon puree with the scallop packed a refreshing flavor so unique. The ricotta and peach toast was delicious. Second course was a Caesar salad my husband loved this and a beet dish that was so fantastic. The pasta dishes were incredible. A crab, corn, and pea cavatelli was so good we almost licked the bowl and a squid ink with shrimp and mussels that they accommodated our aversion to calamari. We actually sent a picture to our son in Oklahoma because it was so delicious and he loves mussels! Our entrees were the Bronzino and sword fish. The bronzino was light and flaky while the sword fish savory and meaty. Both dishes were fantastic in their very different textures and flavors. Desert was a dark chocolate tiramisu and pistachio gelato and the perfect ending to a fantastic evening. Thank you to everyone at Oltremare you made our date night a wonderful night! We'll be back the hubby wants to try the pork shank he saw at...

One of the best bites of food I've ever had was at a Wentz restaurant, so I was pretty excited to try Oltremare. But this was a fraught experience from beginning to end - unacceptable from a seasoned restaurant group. We weren't seated until nearly thirty minutes after our reservation, but the restaurant isn't set up to accommodate a wait. We were asked to stand in a busy throughway - with several other unsealed patrons - between the bar and tables where we felt constantly in the way of staff. We were offered a beverage while we waited, but I didn't actually receive mine until we were finally seated. It took another 15 minutes or so for our server to take our order. In all, we were there for almost 3 hours because of how long everything took. The food was hit or miss. We tried the oysters, burrata, fluke crudo, lobster pasta, lamb pasta, octopus pasta, sole, and two desserts. The crudo was delicious, and the octopus was the star of the show. The lobster was quite disappointing and cold by the time it got to me. I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt given it's their first week open, but we'll stick to Wentz's other...