Denovellis — Restaurant in Rocky Hill

Unfortunately I left the restaurant last evening feeling very disrespected that was caused by the customer service of the employees. Which was very unfortunate seeing the food was fantastic. Probably had one of the best Penne Vodka dishes I've ever had on top of the Apps and Cocktails that were also very good. Was just a shame I couldn't enjoy it while I was there. So it all started at 5:45 when my girlfriend and I arrived at the restaurant to eat. We did not have a reservation but figured we would see if there was a wait. The hostesses at the front deck checked there availabilty for tables and decided to put us at a table that was reserved for a party of 5 at 7PM. They asked if we would be done by then, and I said of course. We normally don't take long to eat, so we had every intentions of being out by 7. Well that was until our server gave us our great drinks and took 20 MINUTES, yes 20 minutes to return to our table to take our app and entrees order at 6:15. By the time our entrees arrived to our table it was 6:52 and we were not about to rush and eat our dinner. So about 10 minutes into our meals at 7:02, the hostesses and other waitresses started walking by our table and checking our plates to see if we're done. Just that alone, is very disrespectful. A few minutes later the hostesses began moving some tables and creating a table for the party of 5 that had reserved the table that we were sat at. Once the table was ready, the party of 5 walked by us, with all of them at some point looking over and giving us a look. One individual actually said "Oh nice, a table right in the middle of the room" as he walked by us in a sarcastic voice. This table happened to be located behind the wall directly next to the front deck. I caught the hostess multiple times creeping her head around the wall to check if we were done eating, again very disrespectful. We thought atleast now we could finish our meal and not have anymore mishaps.... we were wrong. As soon as my girlfriend was finished eating, like literally the second she put her fork down, a waitress who wasn't even ours, came to our table and swipped her plate off the table to wrap her leftovers. She didnt even give my girlfriend a chance to say she was still eating. So the entire experience besides the great food/drinks was just awful and have never felt so disrespected in my life at a restaurant. From our waitress taking shockingly long to take our order, to the employees and party of 5 starring and rushing us through our dinner. I'll definitely just be ordering takeout...

went to denovellis tonight for a delicious peaceful dinner - party of 2. we’ve been many MANY times to this restaurant and up until tonight would give it 5 STARS. not tonight, though. we will NEVER be back here all because of the OWNER. we had a reservation at 6PM. when we arrived and walked in, the owner was at the check-in and put his finger up towards us to be quiet almost as though we were interrupting him to be seated in his restaurant. finally someone came to help us and seated us. a very large party had been seated in the main dining room and we were seated near them. they were laughing and screaming across the room at each other so loud that even the wait staff was frustrated. it seemed like this party had been there a while. we mentioned the noise to our server (mostly to see if they would be leaving soon) and we could tell our server was also frustrated, hoping they would leave soon as they already paid their bill. it was so loud another couple was seated near us (after we were seated) left before their drinks were even served. we went to speak to the owner on the way out about our experience and he dismissed us, was rude, and couldn’t care less about our experience. although the food is delicious and the servers are sweet, we will NOT give another penny to a dismissive rude snide owner who doesn’t care about their customers. good luck to the denovellis staff - you were wonderful. for everyone else, there are far better restaurants out there with owners who will care about you...

First - from a business point of view, sending good paying customers who wanted a dining experience..to the bar (because you had full reservations for dinner) was more than disappointing. More than half of the customers complained to each other..how they did not want to eat in the bar area. DeNovellis needs to expand and use the room for private parties, when its not used for spill over dining. The 3 bartenders cannot be in 2 places at once. We had to wait for menus, food, dessert. I should of got back into the car and went to Casa Mia or Portofino.. They wouldnt have sent us to a bar to eat.

Second- I brought my 4 month old baby in a carriage to the restaurant. Eating in the bar area with my baby, and a 90 yr old was not ideal. 4pm turned into 5 and then 6. We tried to enjoy dessert but couldnt. It was a loud bar at this point. There wasn't enough room to redress my baby for the cold, We moved as quickly as we could to the doorway and just decided to get out of there as quick as we could after we paid. The bar was no place for the extreme elderly and young infants.

DeNovlis is putting the mighty dollar in front of its patrons.

I hope they rethink where they should put customers without reservations who came...