Montano's International Gourmet — Restaurant in Roanoke

I hesitate to leave this, as I have been in the restaurant industry a long time and understand how difficult staffing has been during Covid - but last night was legitimately the worst dining experience I have ever had. Ever. This is coming from a person who has a LOT of patience while dining and very low needs. We had reservations for 7:45 with 10 guests and promptly sat in a great semi-private area - the one highlight. Our server never truly greeted us, so I do not know his name. He never spoke to the table as a whole and would take drink orders for a few of us at random and then disappear before asking the rest what we’d like, despite trying to flag him and get his attention. What could have been one trip for him to put in our cocktails/wine took at least three. The wrong bottle of wine was brought (we found out later that they were out of that choice, but given this was a more expensive option it would have been nice to know.) Allegedly the $10 cocktail I ordered was supposed to come over a “rosemary-infused ice block” but arrived with standard ice. All of us wanted to order appetizers, but still had not seen him again to do so after 45 minutes had passed. He finally returned and took appetizer/meals at the same time at the 8:45/hour mark. Did not tell us they were out of one we’d ordered until they hit the table. More time elapsed, we were not asked if we wanted additional drinks (which we all wanted another round), and finally salads arrived. None of them had dressing, and he never returned with it…awkward. 10 minutes pass and other staff members arrive with our meals. They are auctioned off because he did not know any of what we’d ordered. He finally got some dressings, but several were out of stock and he neglected to inform us - so I have no clue what it is he finally brought for the rest of us. My meal did not arrive. He didn’t notice. We brought this to his attention and he shrugged and said “it’s probably in the window.” No, it wasn’t. Clearly they’d mistakenly not prepared mine - no big deal, just tell me. I don’t eat meat so all I’d ordered was the beans & rice meal. It came some time later and was cold and flavorless - the ‘collards’ were not cooked. He also spilled water on the guest of honor - which no biggie, stuff happens - but neglected to apologize or acknowledge it? Another staff member approached (Peyton!) and removed plates/brought refills/et cetera and was very friendly. We wish she had been there to assist sooner or was our server. They were closed and it was 10pm before we finally got checks, which were not correct. The manager did generously remove my meal and the bottles of wine in question. I know he was genuinely sorry. Overall, I just felt disappointed and let down by this experience. If our server was new or overwhelmed, he should have had backup. If there were staffing-related delays or issues - just come out and be honest up front. I recognize large parties can be challenging to take care of, but a little communication...

I give most of my ratings based on how well a restaurant meets the expectations that I have going in, from fast food to fine dining. From the television ads, word of mouth, and clear popularity of Montano's, I had high hopes for my very first visit yesterday (1-15-21). Those expectations weren't met, and that's why I'm giving Montano's a three star rating. We started with the Cheese & Charcuterie board which, at $18, you would think include everything listed on the menu, (notably absent was the Balsamic Bellavitano) or at least more than one type of cheese. Ours included what seemed to be a double portion of bleu cheese, which while very good, was too much. When I asked our server about the absence of the Bellavitano, they told us that the charcuterie board was more based on what they had on hand to prepare the order with. I let it go at the time, but for a place that serves a lot of Italian dishes not to mention deli style sandwiches, you can't tell me that they don't have more than one kind of cheese to put into an $18 cheese course. Next came the house salads that were included with our entrees. I'm can't remember being served a more meager house salad anywhere I've ever dined. One cherry tomato, and one piece of cucumber over some Iceberg lettuce does not a salad make. There are better constructed house salads in school cafeterias. The one saving grace was the Avocado vinaigrette, which was apparently made in-house and was absolutely delicious. Our entrees (I ordered the Veal Scaloppini, my date had the Fettuccine Alfredo with added broccoli) took quite a while to arrive. (The kitchen was slower due to it being Friday night was the explanation.) Flavor-wise my veal was cooked perfectly with a delicious sauce over a nice bed of angel hair pasta. The only real issue with my plate was that it was weirdly distributed/constructed, especially with the distribution of the sauce over the pasta is concerned. I sampled my date's Fettuccine Alfredo and found that the sauce could have been a bit lighter/less dense, though perhaps by that point in the meal it had time to set/"gel" a bit. She ordered her dish without any meat as she eats a (mostly) meatless diet, but at one point during the meal she found a single piece of sliced chicken. We surprised that the entrees took so long to arrive because the kitchen had actually made Chicken Alfredo and had to correct at the last minute, doing a rush job on the broccoli. She seemed pleased though, her only issue being that she wished they had cooked her broccoli a bit longer. One thing that would have been nice for both of these dishes is to have been offered some grated Parmesan. As we were incidentally here for my birthday, we perused the dessert menu, but passed. Perhaps one day we'll give Montano's another go, but based on this visit, I'm in no...

We went here today because we were at The UPS store which was in the same area. Which by the way the gentleman that took care of me there was awesome.

The people at Montano's are very caring. Our server was Joe. The first thing I said to him when I went inside, is that my husband is diabetic and he immediately needs a brownie and a diet soda. Joe immediately got those things that my husband needed, and brought them outside where we chose to dine rather than inside. Because of Joe's quick service, my husband felt a whole lot better very quickly.

From that point on, the service from Joe was spot on. He checked on us several times even though he was not only taking care of us sitting outside of Montanos, he was also taking care of a section inside and the bar area, and even though he was so busy, he made us feel like we were his only customers.

He was also very smart and quick thinking, as I asked him when we ordered burgers if they had gluten-free bread. He explained yes they do have gluten-free bread.

Which was quite good by the way.

We had also ordered an appetizer - the artichoke hearts which was a fried type of dish. Joe thought quickly on his feet and he offered since he knew that I wanted gluten-free bread, that they also could make the appetizer with gluten-free batter.

While we were dining, the owner Marty Montano came by.

He was very friendly and let us know that every dish at the restaurant that uses some kind of a flour - based batter that they have the ability to make those items using a gluten-free batter because they have the gluten-free flour there.

So for those of you who are gluten-free, this is the place for you to eat.

Marty also let us know if you are a Italian Sub type person, you definitely want to eat here, because not only is the bread fresh every day, they also use really choice cuts of meat and more of it than you could find on most subs that cost just a couple of dollars less.

And yes, they can do the subs on gluten-free bread, yay!

This place might be a little more expensive than others that you could choose to go to, but for me and my husband the food was so fresh and good that the next time we're in Roanoke, we definitely would stop by there again.

Happy dining...