La Lanterna Cafe & Grill — Restaurant in Ridgewood

Absolutely, would not recommend.

It was so bad I want to give zero stars, but that’s not possible. So, I give it one star.

I wish I could base this review on the food, however I was not seated.

On January 17th my boyfriend made a reservation via Open Table for 6:15 on 01/22/2022. Upon arrival Esther, the owner, was struggling to find our reservation.

My boyfriend showed her the confirmation message from Open Table that showed we indeed reserved our table with hopes to make her search easier. “It was cancelled,” Esther said.

Of course we were confused because we just showed her the confirmation message and booked way in advance to be seated. Her next response was, “I hate Open Table.”

Instead of finding solutions to an error made through her systems she quickly dismissed us and told us to come back later in the night or give the staff her name at our next visit and she’ll help us out.

But why weren’t we being helped in that moment? Why were we immediately dismissed? Why were we being held accountable to a technical error that was not made on our own?

If you hate Open Table, find someone who can manage it for you or get a better system. Turning customers away without attempting solutions is NOT hospitable.

This is nonsense. NEVER have I ever been to a restaurant that did not accommodate me or other patrons. This entire experience was off putting and showed how much Esther truly cares about her customers- which is very little.

My only regret is not taking previous reviews into consideration before attempting to eat here.

If you value hospitality and customer service and being valued and respected as an individual then I would not recommend La Lanterna.

TL;DR: terrible hospitality. Deeply regret not heading to previous reviews that spoken negatively of Ester. I have never experienced such poor customer service in my dining experiences ever. McDonald’s...

My girlfriend and I were being spontaneous in Ridgewood trying to find places to eat for date night. She was in the mood for some Italian food and the first place we went to had rejected us because we didn’t have a reservation. So we googled other restaurants nearby and ended up walking over to La Lanterna. I did not realize they also required a reservation but understandably, it was a busy Friday night. So as we got ready to walk away from our second restaurant of the night, the owner (I think) Ms. Joanne (I hope I spelled your name correctly) said, “Actually, we can seat you guys at one of the reserved tables but you just need to be done by 7-7:15 before the reserved party comes.” That gave us almost 2 hours to sit and eat so I took her up on her offer because I did not want to walk back outside in the cold again. The vibe of the restaurant threw me off because I didn’t realize it was a “fancy” restaurant. However, she and her crew really gave us great service and made us feel cozy. I got the linguini which was super creamy and delicious. My girlfriend got the salmon. Both meals were spectacular. We made sure to be out by 6:30 so they could prepare our table for the reserved party coming in. On my way out I made sure to thank the hostess/owner Joanne who was super kind to us for letting us sit and eat when she could have easily turned us down like the previous restaurant. The food, the workers, and the ambiance were fantastic. I also noticed how Ms. Joanne knew all the customers names who came in and greeted them so nicely like they were real life friends who were regulars at her restaurant. I shared a short conversation with her at the end before leaving and she gave off mother/grandma vibes, she is an awesome lady and I will be back at this excellent restaurant. Thank you...

My family and I have been to La Lanterna on occasion, and enjoyed the food and service. We decided to take friends as well and requested 2 separate tables for children and adults. After seating we were told that we should have told them and they would have seated us at one big round table. This is not what we wanted, and the suggestion that you were losing business just doesn’t make sense. In any event the way the complaint came across was exactly as that. Customers don’t want to hear gripes from restaurant owners. With 4 empty tables on a Sunday night, I don’t think your fuzzy math made any sense.

Now, the fact that while socializing with your guests is extremely important, you really have to choose your words carefully. As you told us you have grandchildren as well not realizing, that the their were no grandparents sitting at any of the tables, we thank you for making us feel old.

Food and service amazing, unfortunately there are too many great places with great food and without the guilt or insults. Sorry, but instead of a mask the hostess should be wearing a muzzle.

Regards, Terribly...