🍝 Le Colonne - Sarasota Fl — Restaurant in Sarasota

In my opinion & experience Le Colonne poses a Public Health Hazzard.

This Restaurant may actually be a danger to the safety of the public. We should have known better because they have two very small bathrooms next to each other and when taking my daughter to use one as I waited outside the door a staff member went into the other and you could not hear any water run after the flush, and his hands were completely dry upon exit - yes, this food preparer did not wash his hands! You can better understand the safety risk as there are no proper soap dispensers or paper towels in the restroom either, just a bulk hand pump sitting on top of the toilet that barely dispenses some foam, and a generic dryer plugged into a wall outlet that has to be plugged back in and giggled to work at all.

Additionally, on a night when the restaurant was mostly empty indoors the service was painfully slow taking 47 minutes from when our order was placed to arrival. During that time the servers did not check in a single time, not even to refill our empty water glasses (one of which had a dangerous crack though it but was still being used in service).

When our food did arrive it was cold and bland. To add insult to injury the waitress said "wasn't it worth the wait?", no ma'am it most definitely was not!

The Dover Sole was full of bones and both overcooked and dry on the edges, while soggy and cold in the middle. The veggies served on the side may have been boiled as they were mushy with zero flavor. Not what you would expect from a $45 entree at all...

The Minestrone soup was nothing but hot water and bland vegetables, no rice or pasta, no beans, but it did have cauliflower... Who puts that in minestrone? My grandmother, God rest her soul, would have hurt her heart to see the heritage of her homeland disgraced in this manner.

My daughter's cheese pizza had human hair in it - disgusting!

Within hours of the meal I became very sick, followed shortly by my wife and daughter. All three of us developed severe food posting and as I write this the next day are all still very ill. Le Colonne did not just ruin our dinner, it ruined our entire family vacation!

I wish I had taken pictures of the bones, the hair, the broken water glass still being used, and the unkept little restrooms to show to the health department, but I was trying to be nice and give this place a chance. Big mistake, Le Colonne does not deserve your compassion, it deserves to be closed as a health and safety precaution so the unsuspecting people of Sarasota do not fall victim to this awful establishment as our family did.

If you see Le Colonne, please keep walking as there are so many better and safer options in beautiful St. Armands circle.

UPDATE: In response to the owners, I have posted 74 reviews and this is the only 1-star ever because I believe your establishment poses a genuine safety Hazzard to the public. Please install functional soap dispensers in the restrooms and ensure your staff adhere to routine hand washing. Remove the broken glassware before it hurts someone. Safety first! Then address the quality of food and service. This is not a malicious post, it is factual, heartfelt, and genuinely written out of concern for your future patrons. If you care as much as you say in your reply go into your business and look for yourself, you will see these problems first hand and please take care...

My family comes to Sarasota every year, St Armands is usually a place we frequent. This evening when we were looking for dinner we typically go to the Columbia , but while shopping the owner of the shop pointed us in the direction of La Cologne .It’s stated on the map of Saint Armands to have gluten-free options. Once arriving to the restaurant the hostess did let us know that they had gluten-free pasta and pizza as well some of the entrées that could be made gluten-free however they did not have a gluten-free menu. I inquired if they cooked there pasta in separate pots as my children did have allergies . The hostess said it is cooked obviously in a shared kitchen , which we are well familiar with , but she reassured us that they were very careful. After sitting down and waiting quite a while for a waitress to come and take her order. When she arrived she said that we could not order the pasta as it was not safe, She did not seem very knowledgeable about gluten-free items which I found very surprising considering it states on the circles directories that the restaurant has gluten-free options. I’ve never been to a restaurant where it has stated that and the serving staff was not familiar with what would be gluten-free. It took a long time to sort out a couple things in the kitchen , we ended up ordering three entrées. One of my daughters ordered the Shrimp my other daughter ordered the Salmon and I myself ordered the Grouper. I inquired if their fish was frozen or fresh as I would never order frozen fish in Florida, I would just order a salad . I can get frozen fish in Michigan . I was told that their items were fresh. The waitress was not sure if the shrimp could be served with a vegetable?? As she thought it came with a side of pasta ? She excuse herself again to go check but did not come back to our table so we actually didn’t know whether our order was placed and continued to wait another 15 minutes. When I flagged her down she let me know that it was fine but when our meals arrived about 30+ minutes later My grouper was clearly frozen it was overcooked and the vegetables on the side of my plate were clearly Not fresh either. A $37 meal is not horribly expensive but I am in a more upscale area in Florida and when I buy the most expensive thing on the menu I expect it to look appetizing into taste appetizing. Honestly I should’ve not eaten it at all and returned it. To top that all off I’m having severe stomach pain so apparently my dish was not gluten-free because I feel incredibly sick. If the Columbia that is covered with Cuban bread can serve me something and not get me sick I would expect the same from a restaurant that actually claims they have gluten-free options …but apparently that’s not the case. I would not recommend this restaurant to anybody that is gluten-free!! Quite frankly I think it is overpriced and I would never spend that much for pasta to get frozen vegetables and probably premade sauce dumped onto a plate. This was not the quality I expect at all when I come St Armands!! Very disappointed in...

I have been a regular patron of Le Colonne for a few years now. If you are looking for an authentic Italian food, this is by far the best choice in Sarasota. In other words, this is not your typical americanized Italian style food that one would expect from somewhere like Carrabba's or Olive Garden. If you have ever traveled to Italy then you know what I mean. Sorry, no bottomless garlic bread stick baskets here guys.. But if you if you want to get a taste of the real thing, then this is it. Le Colonne is owned and operated by a first generation Italian family who can often be heard speaking Italian while sitting at a big round table towards the back of the restaurant. This is the real deal. That being said, if you haven't eaten traditional Italian food, then this may not be exactly what you expected. Reading through some of the other reviews here regarding the food I am getting this sense. This is disappointing for me because Le Colonne is my favorite restaurant, so I feel compelled to do my part to rectify this in some small way.

The first time I came across Le Colonne I was walking around St. Armands circle around lunch time on a week day with my fiancé. We decided to give the restaurant a try and were surprised when we entered. The owners of the restaurant had about 6 marble tables set up in the center of the restaurant and they were making their own pasta and ravioli by hand (which is delicious i might add). That day we ordered a pizza which was cooked in their brick oven next to the bar. Suffice it to say, we have been going back about twice a month ever since.

Some of the traditional dishes you can find include Osso Buco and Dove sol. I recommend these HIGHLY! You can't go wrong with any of the homemade ravioli, pasta or lasagna. Also they make an amazing Cappuccino that will bring you as close to the Italian cafe experience as possible. I am not a huge wine drinker, but I know many people go there for the extensive wine list.

I recommend this restaurant to everyone I know. Go check it out! Dick Vitale is also a regular so you may get lucky and catch him there on a weekend night. But like I said, don't go here expecting americanized food, go here to get a taste fort real Italian food in a romantic atmosphere. Price wise, for St. Armand's circle this is the best value...