The Place — Restaurant in Roseville

This was one of the worst restaurants I have ever had the misfortune of experiencing. My friends and I went here thinking because we had seen many great reviews, but I'm seriously concerned about how that restaurant could ever receive the kind of positive attention it has. I'd give negative stars if I could, but I have to settle for one.

When we arrived, about half the tables in the restaurant were full, but there were still three small parties in front of us waiting to be seated. We waited (standing) for about 20 minutes before anyone even came over to greet us. It had been half an hour before we were seated. Another ten minutes before we were brought menus and silverware (there were three of us and they only brought us two sets of silverware, we had to request another set twice before the waitress actually delivered). We all received a small glass of water, which we finished before the food even arrived, and they were never refilled. We asked multiple times for more water, but none was brought, ever... Ever.

The restaurant was out of mozzarella, which can be overlooked, I guess. They did have other cheese. Just strange for an Italian restaurant. The food was absolutely terrible. I ordered the Chicken Marsala. The chicken was under-cooked and rubbery. It was placed on top of plain pasta, no sauce or salt or anything. The "marsala" part of the meal was almost non-existent. About four mushrooms were placed on top of the chicken that tasted of marsala wine, but that was the extent of the meal. Absolutely terrible. I expected enough sauce to at least lightly coat the pasta or the chicken in order to give anything a flavor, but I guess I ask for too much.

My friend experienced something very similar when he ordered the Chicken Parmesan. Rubbery chicken, on top of tasteless pasta, with very little else.

My other friend ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccolini. The Alfredo sauce was decent and the pasta was cooked at least, so I can't complain about that. But they did not bring out broccolini; they brought out broccoli. (Yes, there is a difference!) In contrast to everything else they managed to screw up, it seems like a minor offense, but I expect restaurants to understand the difference between two different kinds of vegetables. If the menu advertises broccolini, then I expect broccolini when I order it. Not broccoli. The waitress did not seem to know the difference between the two either. For shame, The Place, for shame. Understanding the vegetables is pretty basic to cooking and you couldn't even manage that.

Ridiculous prices for what you end up getting. I'd rather pay $20 to avoid this place at all costs. The service was awful, the food was awful, just everything was awful. They weren't even busy. I wonder how much worse it would get if they happen to actually be busy and unable to provide even this level of "service." The only nice thing I can say about this place is that the actual structure of the building was sound and the decorations were nice.

Other than that, I'd literally recommend any Italian restaurant other than this. Olive Garden, Strings, google "Italian restaurant" and pick literally anything other than this place.

Save yourselves the...

The food is consistently good the employees are great, but let's talk about "THE DOOR" this has almost become a psychological study in people's reactions to it closing properly. It's cold in winter and this summer was often unbearable even with the owners donated free standing air that just blows the paper setting up and your hair into your mouth. Then add insult to injury they have the gall to raise the corkage from $15.00 to $25.00 for a small noisy sweltering restaurant in the summer and leaves, wind and "THE DOOR" that doesn't close for your delight in the winter while you dine in your coat if you are anywhere near that nightmare of an entrance. Dear cheap owner at least apply the added $10.00 exorbitant corkage to the purchase of a decent door, to the delight of your employees and patrons. However we are forever grateful for the free ice water, since it's so hot, but as a faithful weekly / biweekly customer we are very disappointed in your charging more for a not very comfortable climate and are boycotting the bar and any beverages other than the ice water UPDATE 10/06/22 Came back with our family we were greeted by the hostess then she walked away and didn't come back not one server would look at us. Then a man I've never seen asked if I was Tess then proceeded to ask me to step outside which I obliged. I said he was welcome to address the group. BOY DID HE! He introduced himself as Mike the owner and proceeded to tell me he didn't appreciate my Yelp review. We were all in shock and felt ambushed, but explained candidly that the heat inside and "THE DOOR" has been an issue for years. This is also a complaint as well as charging for tomatoes $4.00 extra basket of bread $6.00 etc. as well we told him when we were presented with the new $25.00 corkage that we were blindsided. This fell on deaf ears he started yelling that he's spent $10 000 over the years to fix a door he claims is a historical landmark. He was yelling, using profanity and told us to get off of the sidewalk. He accused me of threatening him. This quickly escalated when I finally called him "a little man ". for treating seniors like a bully. My husband told him to get away from his wife as he stepped in my personal space with fist clenched.This odious piece of work got so angry, because I obviously hit a nerve calling him a "cheap owner" in my original review. You ambushed the wrong patron. The pen is mightier than the sword. I would never recommend even the staff at this point. I was pointed out and then accosted over a bad review about "THE DOOR". Careful folks it's not even Halloween and "THe PLACE IS THE SCARIEST THING IN ROSEVILLE!" I wonder if he eats small...

We were really looking forward to our first visit here tonight, but that excitement turned to disappointment immediately. We arrived shortly before our 6:30 reservation. Restaurant was pretty full. By the time we placed our dinner order (6:30-6:40) the one special my husband wanted was already sold out. Uh? We just got here. Atmosphere was great, old Italian crooner in the corner was entertaining. While we were waiting for our appetizers and drinks to arrive, my 8 year old had to use the restroom. Turns out the ladies room was out of order. We waited patiently for the men's room to become available only to find out from the gentleman exiting that the men's room was now clogged as well. I asked the hostess to let someone know, only to be told that they were sorry and that we were to exit the restaurant and use the restroom at the deli 3 doors downs the street. REALLY? At $20 per meal (not including drinks or appetizers) you'd think there would be a proper restroom for patrons to use. Anyways, upon awkwardly arriving at the other establishment to use their facilities, I was informed that the bathroom issues at THE PLACE have been ongoing for a while. By 7:45 we still had not received our dinner order despite the fact we had inquired about the slow service a couple of times prior. All our waitress told us is that "we make everything fresh and it takes a while especially when everyone arrives at the same time." Um excuse me, but isn't that the point of a RESERVATION? Finally, we had enough and asked for our check to settle up for the drinks and appetizers we purchased..At that point the head chef/maybe owner emerged and told us that he had a water pipe break and was busy dealing with that. Mind you, this was the first we had heard about this, although we did observe many other tables being served. When my father-in-law who has been in the restaurant business for over 40 years said that this was unacceptable service, the gentleman who I believe is Mikey, told him "Well, if you've been in this business you'd know you can't cook without water." Interesting reply considering that once again we observed other food being served. At that point, he told us that he would pick up the check for what we did eat, and then we left. It's really a shame because if this hadn't happened, I'm sure THE PLACE would become a favorite place of ours. Sadly, we won't be back and will not...