Ferrante Winery & Ristorante — Restaurant in Saybrook

I'll start by saying the 2 stars are not for the lack of quality in food or ambiance, it is for the service received. We are from the Cleveland area and frequent Ferrante several times a year with our friends. Last night we stopped in for dinner. The place was very busy as the genva area was having it's ice wine festival. We were seated and after awhile began to place our order . We placed an appetizer and then before the other couple we were with could even order theirs the waitress walked away . No problem maybe she thought we were ordering one app for all of us ? She returns later our friends order their app and ask about what soup was available. She replies "" I don't know oh don't ask me that "" she finds out and returns. They order the soup and their app. My girlfriend placed her order and asked about the house dressing. She was told it was balsamic. I placed my order and I asked for Italian. The waitress who's name was Tonya replied oh you want the house dressing too ? I answered that I was not a fan of balsamic and asked if she had any italian dressing or if not what they did have . She replies oh no we have a house italian ...so that's what I ordered. An hour goes by and we still have not received our apps , salad or the soup. Having worked in the service industry I understand that things get busy . My friend asks the waitress to perhaps cancel his soup if it hasn't been plated yet because he is rethinking the corn chowder . She comes back 30 minutes later , now an hour and a half with his soup anyway , our salads and finally some bread . Low and behold I had balsamic dressing too. At this point I didn't say anything because I was just happy to have food . I eat my salad and go to ask the waitress if they have any beer . She says in a rude tone "" exclusively wine"" . I say ok , grab the wine list and start to say I'll take a glass of ...and she just walks away. At this point my patience is thin. She returns , I tell her I will pay for the salad but she can cancel my pasta . I walk down to the bar get my own wine return . 10 minutes later the waitress returns with our food . She gives me my pasta and I tell her she can have it back I will not be eating or paying for it . Meal ends she brings the check and sure enough still includes the pasta . I go to the front ask for the manager who was very personable and removed the item . I've never had an issue here before but this was one of the absolute worst servers I have ever experienced in my life . It amazes me that she has a job in such an establishment. That being said the hostesses were very friendly and the bar / gift shop employees are excellent and knowledgeable. We will be back as we have had pleasant experiences in...

I probably could have given this place a fifth star if their menu wasn't so bad. I don't mean that the selection was bad, but the physical menu itself left a LOT to be desired. My wife and I had never been here before, so when my parents invited us along, we checked out the menu online before going. Once we were seated, I noticed right away that the descriptions on the printed menu were different from and less descriptive in some cases than what I had seen on the website. Why would this matter you ask? Because my wife has allergies and you couldn't tell what was safe for her to eat without asking the server about each dish she was considering (and a few times the server didn't know or wasn't sure and had to go ask). An example is on the printed menu one dish just said "mashed potatoes" under it, but online that same dish listed "garlic mashed potatoes". That's a big problem for someone with an onion and garlic allergy. There was also some confusing wording on the dish she was mainly interested in, the gnocchi. On the menu it was "filet tips, demi-glace, mushrooms, onions" but online it said "Tender Chunks of Filet Mignon Simmered in Our Cabernet Wine Demi-Glace with Mushrooms & Onions". To me, it was unclear if the mushrooms and onions were in the demi-glace while simmering. Turns out they are separate and completely optional. It would have been much clearer to say "served with" rather than just "with". Like most places, this restaurant needs to do a better job making sure there aren't undisclosed allergens on their menu

As far as the food goes, everything was delicious and portions were generous. I almost never have to take a box home with me and I still had about half my bowl left over when I tapped out

Our server did a good job of keeping an eye on our drinks throughout the meal, and we never had to look for her or wait for her to come back around. She was very friendly and was extremely accommodating with all the questions we had to ask and our special requests. She even made sure to let the cooks know about my wife's allergies so they could be extra careful while preparing her dish

I'm not a wine drinker, but amongst the three that were with me, they enjoyed the bottle of American Riesling...

We've been to Ferrante before and enjoyed. Went there tonight and probably will never return. They do not take reservations... ok no problem. I understand the issues with covin. We put our name in at the outside hostess stand, there were only 2 of us and requested a table in the dining room. We were told we had a 2 1/2 hour wait and we could wait outside or in our car ! Really ??? You mean to tell me that in 2 1/2 hours, 2 other people would not be done eating and leaving their table? It was 5:30 PM, they close at 8:00, so 2 1/2 hours after 5:30 is 8:00. We left, drove to another area winery, had a very nice dinner and bottle of wine, inside, and then sat outside with a glass of wine enjoying their entertainment when we received a phone call from Ferrante an hour and 45 minutes later if we still wanted our table. In that time, we had driven to the other winery, ordered our dinner, ate, sat outside with a glass of wine all the time we could have been "waiting in our car" at Ferrante before ever having been seated. And to top it off when we initially arrived and put our name in, the hostess did not inform us it would be over a 2 hour wait, we accidentally overheard another customer mentioning it. Before we left, I called Ferrante, a man answered, I wanted to confirm that it was a 2 1/2 hour wait for indoor seating for 2 people. He said "yes" and I said but that's when you close, 8:00. He said well we would serve you. I said that is ridiculous and he hung up on me - not even "I'm sorry for your inconvenience." No way to...