Lomonte's — Restaurant in Richmond

I've waited more than 5 weeks before submitting this review, so that all 10 of us who visited on the evening in question have now calmed down. If I had submitted this review the next day, it would have been 1 star (or zero, but that is apparently not permitted). If you look at all my restaurant reviews, you can see that for 95% of them I give five stars. If it's not that good, I simply don't bother to submit a review. So why this, now? What failed here was not the server, nor the service, and mostly not the food. It was the kitchen, the management, the restaurant itself that failed. We had a large party (10), so we had an early reservation (6 PM). Nonetheless, after we were seated, at least three nearby, initially empty tables turned over twice, and one turned over almost three times. It took 15 minutes to get the attention of our waitress, and then 25 minutes for anything to be served (but only for four of us), and another 20 minutes before just two main courses were served, and then another 20 minutes before the rest of us were served their appetizers and salads and main courses. Four main courses arrived COLD. Two of our party who unfortunately had not ordered an appetizer or salad developed headaches, and were so sick they could not eat what they were served. For whatever of the various reasons for failure, only two of ten thought the food served was palatable. The poor waitress was embarrassed and could offer no explanation for why our meals were so tardy, and then, when finally delivered, more than half were COLD. I personally finished my entree 47 minutes before the last one of our party was served (COLD). By then, my 7 year old grandson was hangry, and then, full from eating the only thing on the table he could stomach, cold bread, he was ill and past his bedtime, so I paid and we left. The waitress was obviously embarrassed. It took more than 8 minutes for her to return with the check, after being asked. What went wrong? Other tables were served, some (a few of my party thought) with the same dishes that some of us had ordered, but had not yet been served to us. The FIRST set of folks at one of the adjacent tables noticed all this and asked as they left "You all haven't gotten your food YET?!" The SECOND set of folks almost immediately seated at that same nearby table were served, finished, paid, and left before the last of our party was finally served their entree. What went wrong? Something failed in the kitchen, I conclude. Why were we left in the dark? Why were our questions unanswered? There was a 17 minute interval during which we did not even SEE our waitress. We asked two people who were clearing tables near where we were seated and another waitress for help. Nothing worked. We stayed because we were hungry. Should have left. Two of us had once worked as waitresses, and one other as a buss boy, and another as a line cook, so we knew things can sometimes go wrong. We tried to be patient. We WERE patient. The pictures I uploaded here are the first three items that were served: a salad and two entrees. The other salads were served AFTER the first entrées were. I am convinced this was not the fault of the waitress. She got a good tip. Would love to know...

Great little find. Most of what I've tried has been good. One of my favs is the Ravioli Carolina, which they apparently run out of frequently (according to the waitress). Yesterday, being my birthday, my husband offered to take me out to dinner wherever I wanted to go...and I selected Lomonte's so I could have the ravioli. We arrive at 5pm sharp (opening time) since I'd been waiting all day for dinner, get settled in, have some cold bread (it would be nice if bread was warmed before being served), ordered some cocktails. Then, when it came time to place our food order, the waitress said they were out of chicken ravioli. WHAT@(*% You mean I waited all day for something you're out of. Very disappointing! Nonetheless, she suggested the Chicken Canneloni as a comparable substitute, so I tried it and complete fail. Very salty, big chunks of chicken, different flavor...nothing like the ravioli except for the sauce on top. Unfortunately, I couldn't get through the canneloni, it wasn't to my liking, so she boxed it up for me. To wrap up our meal, she said they give complimentary canneloni dessert for birthdays so she felt that would be a real treat. Oh my, more canneloni. Nonetheless, it arrived and I couldn't stomach that either. It's one of the top 5 worst desserts I've had in my life. This definitely is not the place to go for a birthday celebration. Most restaurants let you choose a dessert for a selection; however, not Lomontes. They give you 2 hard weird tasting shells stuffs with some sticky paste and put a candle on it. Laughable! This in no way will stop me from dining at Lomontes but it definitely has impacted the frequency I'll dine here. Bad experiences create bad memories...so I'll likely allow some time to past before returning. On a normal day, I'd give the restaurant a 4 out of 5. It's not a place you go to relax because of the ambiance and vibe, it's a place you go to eat and leave. I'm giving a 3 today because they were a complete fail for a birthday celebration and didn't handle an unsatisfied customer well. After not being able to eat the chicken canneloni, you'd think they'd offer to change it out or a free drink or something to compensate for not having ravioli and giving a poor recommendation as a replacement. But, they did nothing but further they pain with a horrible dessert and a full priced ticket. However, for those of you not going to celebrate anything and aren't seeking comfort and ambiance...know that the food, drinks and service are all better...

--- NK Score = 7.5/10 ---

8/10 = Furniture/Ambience 8/10 = Food Quality 8/10 = Service 6/10 = Price (Other Ratings Hidden) =( BASIC INFO )=

Medium Sized Restaurant Occasionally Busy, L/D Decent Foods ( $11.00 - $17.00 ) Italian Cuisine and Pizza Can Be Expensive Easy Access, Parking Lot = Atmosphere =

Modern and semi-romantic dining, the interior is dim lit with classy tables and romantic decor. The party room is in a separate building, although connected, has much more sunlight due to the giant windows. Ambience is usually calm and quiet with occasional tables being a bit louder due to children. = Food Quality =

Fettuccine Alfredo ($15.99): 3/5 Very smooth and rich alfredo sauce, the parmesan cheese blended nicely with the fettuccine noodles and created a nice dense texture. Although the dish was good, the portion size was rather small, especially when compared to the whooping $16 price. Other than that, I'd say the dish was well made.

Ravioli Dolce ($14.99): 3/5 Soft ravioli covered in a nice, tender-sweet sauce. The texture was decent and the filling had it's own unique taste. The only problem would be the small portion size, which was not very filling. = Price / Service =

As an Italian restaurant it's to be expected that their prices would be high, which it was, and the portion sizes were somewhat small too.

The service was good, had a generous waiter that brought a kind atmosphere with him. Miscellaneous (Other): Reservations for Big Parties Nice Restrooms, Kinda Dark Free Appetizer Bread (Groups)

Signed NK (July 2017) Images below by...