Gravy — Restaurant in Raleigh

I have been looking forward to eating here. Being Italian and learning how to cook a lot of Italian dishes from my grandmother who came off the boat from Italy I was excited to hear of an Italian restaurant named "gravy". (Finally! Someone understood! 🥳 ) I sat down with my wife and 5 year old daughter. Ashley was our server and she was AWESOME! However that's where the awesomeness stopped. The gravy has a good tang to it but nothing else. 😔. I had the spaghetti and meatballs my wife had the chicken parm. There was very little flavor! The amounts were plentiful. But that couldn't help the fact the food was bland. I was deeply disappointed with that first bite. But, I was hopeful (being spoiled by my grandma's recipes) I tried giving it a more unbiased try. Nope it wasn't there. I tried the chicken parm.... again no taste but tangy. The breading was so thick it hid the small piece of chicken. I even had a lot...A LOT of parmesan cheese added to my dish and that was bland also. There was no "bite" to it and no flavor. Most Italian hard cheeses have a "bite" and almost overpowering flavor! I really was hopeful. The spaghetti is made in house you could taste that. (My daughter had plain pasta... the shame I felt) you could taste the flour from fresh pasta. The pasta was chewy...not al dente chewy but, like a gummy bear chewy. I was sure the golf ball sized meatballs were going to be a hit! I was hoping because they were small they'd be packed with flavor! Nope... again so disappointed. It's almost as if the chef (or whomever is responsible for what they pass for Italian gravy) thought the gravy would be enough to flavor everything. (The meat is supposed to flavor the gravy) The prices were what you'd expect at a quality restaurant with the food exploding with flavor. But for here? Way too over priced. However there were some good things. Our server Ashley was awesome! The huge garlic knots were so good I had to force myself from filling up on them. The cannolis were good but, nothing to rave to home about. The dark chocolate and mint Gelato was so powerful with the mint it was almost painful to eat. The atmosphere was quaint, small but welcoming and cozy. All in all if not for Ashley I would've given this place 2 stars. I highly doubt I will ever...

After hearing about it for years and knowing it as a staple in Raleigh restaurants, I decided to give Gravy a try. The plan was to grab some to-go food and enjoy a family lunch in a park. Thankfully, this experience didn’t fully ruin the meal.

I ordered online on a Sunday around 1:30 PM and arrived a few minutes after my order was supposed to be ready. The host told me to check back in five minutes. I walked around the block to enjoy the lovely weather that day. When I returned, my food was still not ready, so I sat at the empty, unmanned bar to continue waiting. As I observed the bar area, I noticed a lack of organization and general cleanliness, both behind the bar and in the serving area. Eventually, the bartender on duty showed up and greeted me. I let them know I was simply waiting for my to-go order.

The manager eventually came around the bar with my food. I thanked them both and left to head to my lunch spot. Thankfully, I checked the bag before driving off because I didn’t receive any utensils. I returned to ask for some, and the host greeted me again. I asked, “Do you have any to-go silverware?” They replied, “Yes…” I waited. “Are they up here at the stand, or do I need to go back to the bar? They look busy over there,” I said, glancing into the restaurant where I saw one server and one bartender bussing tables. The host kindly walked over to the server station near the bar to grab the utensils.

At this point, I was a bit bothered by the delay with my food, especially since the restaurant was clearly not busy. I was also somewhat disappointed in the overall tidiness of what I expected to be a proper establishment. The manager then approached the host stand where I was waiting but didn’t acknowledge me. It felt dismissive, especially since they were the one who bagged and handed me my order. They walked off again, just as the hostess returned with the utensils. I chalked it up to the staff just having an off day.

What really frustrated me, however, was that the “Italian Chopped Salad” I ordered was missing the main ingredients of meat and cheese. Instead, I was left with a bowl of lettuce, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, and dressing for $14. The kids spaghetti & meatballs was decent, and the chicken parmigiana was good and somewhat saved...

This is directed more at the owners of Gravy than potential patrons.

My wife and I ordered dinner online from the Gravy website. We waited until the designated time, and arrived to request our meal. After a delay, the manager came out and told us that they had no record of our order. I confirmed the location, showed her the receipt I was sent via text, and she reiterated that she had no record of the order. I requested that she cancel the order and she said that she had no idea of how to do that. She wanted us to wait while they made the food, and I said I didn’t want to wait any longer, and just wanted the order cancelled so we could leave. After a bit of back and forth, we agreed to wait while they made the food, and the manager said that she would also cancel the order. I told her that she no longer needed to worry about cancelling the order, and please just go and make sure the food gets made. She continued to escalate, rolling her eyes at my every statement, which I pointed out to her. At that point, she forcefully asked us to wait outside for our food.

So, ok, I ended up raising my voice when discussing the issue with this person. I did not, however, engage in any personal attacks or use foul language. Being asked to wait outside while they got around to preparing the food was a considerable insult. The real message to the owners, however, is that this “manager” was obviously blatantly lying from the very beginning. The evidence is that she did, in fact, cancel our order very shortly after, without me providing her with a single additional piece of information, using the exact same “technology” that we used to place the order.

I realize that it is difficult to get good help in the service industry these days. If you can’t, however, find someone to take adult responsibility for your establishment, and don’t have the time or inclination to do it yourself, then you should simply close...