L'Gusto Cucina Italiana — Restaurant in Riverbank

So I've been here now for my third time... this time however was unlike any other time I had been there. We got there sun at 1:47pm n sat down with the other two we were meeting there. Drinks were ordered and we got them and the bread, no plates were delivered nor straws, even though we asked. We had to go ask for plates after they weren't brought out the first time. N the straws we never had the whole time. No biggie tho. When we ordered the drinks we also ordered bruscheta. We could see the server was by herself n felt for her but there were some things she could've done to help speed up the situation for herself since she was understaffed. Why u were understaffed on a 3 day weekend was beyond me but I don't make ur schedule. More n more tables were coming in but nothing too crazy and the place is small. U had 2 tops n 4 tops max. But it was the time management that took me by surprise. This waitress would take an order of a table n then be gone for 5 minutes, help another table and be gone another 5 minutes, and the cycle just kept happening. She never came back. We asked for more bread, twice. At one point she said it was baking n the next time we asked 15 minutes later they were out n now had only pita bread to offer. Needed a coke refill and had to walk up to the bar to get that resolved. But while standing at the bar another girl who came in, didn't even address us at the bar top. No eye contact, no nothing. All this happened and we hadn't even had our entree order taken yet. It was now 2:51pm, mind u we got there at 1:47pm. I know this cuz I have a text from the person we were meeting. So over an HOUR had gone by without our entree order even taken. As a server myself, with over 23 steps of service I have to do per table, I was appalled by the straight negligence and the waitress doing singular table serving. And by that I mean, going up to a table, taking an order n leaving n putting it in and getting them started n repeating that process for each table. U don't do check backs n u started serving other tables faster all because we ordered an app the first go around. We shoulda been one of the first tables u went back to to get our order in. The problem with singular table serving is u run into situations like this and make more work for urself in the long run cuz u could just take multiple tables orders and u can still space them out in the computer if u want to take it easy on the kitchen, but u can take a tray n bring out everything for 3 or 4 tables at a time instead of just one at a time. Time management. Work smarter, not harder. After being there for 2 hours we finally were getting our bill. Needed it split even tho that was also mentioned at the beginning but again, whatever. I don't know if it's frowned upon to write stuff down n have a server book but that woulda helped out alot. Get alot more done n alot less steps done in the process. Didn't even bother with getting a dessert simply cuz we had already been there so long. Upon packing our food we found what looked like some plastic of some sort in one of the plates but again we had already paid n were getting ready to leave so we didn't fuss. Didn't even mention it cuz this experience was already one for the books. Just left the lil piece on top of the server book as a souvenir.

Normally I don't write anything this long or brutal but this experience needs to be talked about cuz damn, this Def made me rethink my...

Holy cow. This place is deceiving. Hubby and I decided to have Italian food for lunch. I Yelped and found the artist location for an Italian restaurant. It had really high ratings which got my curiosity. Told hubby and we both decided to give this place a try. Very quaint and very quiet. There was one gentleman seating people to which only took us a couple of minuteseven though the dining room was pretty empty. We ordered the bruschetta and ordered his spaghetti while I ordered my sandwich. Holy Moses… The bruschetta was……..the best I have ever had. I expect this quality of an Italian restaurant in a cosmopolitan area like San Francisco or New York, not in the middle of a dinky town. We decided to have tiramisu as a dessert to end an amazing lunch and omg…..I made the right decision of getting us the dessert. I am so looking forward next time. I can still taste the bruschetta as I write my review after leaving the restaurant. And the ambience was to perfection. Italian music playing in the background (not too loud or too soft), the decoration was just right, not too cluttered or gaudy. No sports memorabilia or TV screens. Hubby would call it elegant but I call it quaint. We both agree this place deserve 5 stars. Looking forward to come back. I’m definitely trying their chicken Pomodoro next time.

Price: $$ Quality: A++++ Service: A++++

Worth the price paid. I expect to pay this price at an Italian restaurant in the city and with mediocre quality. Those restaurant could learn from L’Gusto the meaning of quality...

First time we ate there was at lunch time and the waitress was amazing. Food was excellent. Then we tried it again for dinner and the waitress we had was the worst person ever. We sat down and waited 45 minutes for bread ( only because I had to ask for it since she served both tables around us theres and they both sat down way after us) The table ordered their food right when they were seated and about 15 minutes later received their dinner. And the said oh wow that was fast. Meanwhile we were there now 1 hour and still didn't receive our soup or salad or our dinner yet. I asked what was going on and she said that the table next to us got our food and she grabbed it from them and asked them if they touched it. And tried to give it to us. I laughed and said are you serious? "The man took a bite" of it. Anyways she was very unprofessional and our family will not be returning. Another table that was watching couldn't believe how we were treated. Good luck and I hope she gets the training so that they don't go out of business...