A'tera 519 — Restaurant in Scranton

This place is a solid 3 stars, decent, but for sure not fine dining.

The seating we where given was terrible. Our table was up on a balcony that is about 8 feet wide. On one side of the balcony is a long hard, very uncomfortable bench. The balcony itself is not wide enough for tables and staff has to squeeze between the railing and seated customers, bumping into and brushing up against them every time they pass. I saw two different women hit their head on the low hanging chandelier's in the area when they stood up. It was so small / cramped up there it felt like eating in a airplane. There was plenty of other seating so the staff chose to give all of us up there that terrible spot.

The wine list is lacking, they had no Port, did not have a Sommelier to suggest a paring and the drink menu was very limited. The wait time for a drink was a bit long.

My wife ordered the pork chop and said it was quite good. I ordered a steak medium well and it came out undercooked (was medium rare to medium). Honestly if you cant cook a steak you are not a chef.

When our food was delivered it was just dropped off at our table by the staff, who then quickly ran away. No waiting for me to cut into my stake to ensure it was cooked correctly. No asking if we needed more water or anything. I actually wanted salt for my potatoes but never got a chance to ask for it as the staff ran away as quickly as possible (the restaurant was at about 50% capacity). One of the sides we ordered was missing.

The desert my wife ordered was good. She enjoyed it.

The bill was $265 for two without tip and after giving my card they add a 'service fee' for using the card (this fee was not stated in advance). This is ridiculous as 99% of checks will be paid with a card at a establishment like this and as such, is just a way to pad the bill. It also made the place feel cheep / desperate. McDonalds does not add a service fee for a card. Does this place have less class than McDonalds? Also I am pretty sure this is illegal. You cant provide a check with one amount and then charge the customer a different amount without their knowledge.

While we will probably give this place another try and for sure do not mind paying for quality, this place, from our first experience, is, while acceptable, a bit lacking...

UPDATE: I texted the owner/manager Gabe as requested by him below and got NO response!!! I promise I am a reasonable person who knows good food and service and live in an actual food town (Philadelphia), the food and drinks really were not good that night and obviously the manager does not care nor lived up to his word.

I am usually never one to complain but this place is far from the fine dining it cosplays to be. If your claim to fame is a big city vibe - you truly missed the mark bc I’m from a big city and know good food and management. First off - most of the drinks at the table were awful tonight! The espresso martinis tasted like stale coffee. I sent mine back twice. The cosmopolitan was very watered down and just not good. Got there at 6:15pm and didn’t get our food until after 8:30pm or later. The cacio e pepe was just upgraded buttered noodles, linguini with clams was extra spiced & the carrot side dish claims to have brown butter and they were just boiled carrots essentially with no flavor. Their facebook listed a short rib pasta as a special for this evening which was WRONG. I actually complained to the front of house for the long wait time and terrible drinks and we were just offered more terrible comped drinks (the nutty espresso martini) instead of just comping something on our bill. I honestly am so upset about this experience - not even a manager to come over to check in after complaining (we were there for a birthday and spent a lot of $$$). What an awful experience & even more disappointing the lack of accountability - not a manager in sight perhaps because it was the GMs birthday downstairs? Still no excuse to give your customers a terrible dining experience. Shout out to our waitress though - impeccable service but the food and drinks were less than subpar and so was the management. $111 for me to come home to eat Nardone’s...

Update - Met Chef James who creates magic with the food! He's a modern day alchemist who converts regular mundane stuff into something magical! He did give us a few tips to improve the stuff we cook and we can't wait to try them!

Another fabulous experience!

Call me a fanboy if you will, but I can't stop talking or thinking about the experience!

We were greeted as we walked into A'tera and taken to our table which overlooked the courthouse square and downtown. It's aptly called the glassroom (and you can reserve it online) and provides you with a view of the electric city that will only add to your experience!

The staff that looked after us while we were there, Grace and Crystal had exemplary professionalism and courtesy. We didn't have to wait for a second during our three course meal, for anything. Timing was impeccable!

Coming to the food, I have attached the pictures of the main courses we had. For those who know their steak, you would know how difficult it is to grill a steak so that it's rare but also seared on the outside! Well, the chef managed that without any issues! To add to that, the steak was so tender that cutting into it felt like cutting through cheese! My wife has the pan seared Halibut and the look on her face told me how good it was!

Dessert was a classy affair too and this is the first time I had tiramisu with earl grey instead of the usual coffee!

Oh and did I say that our friend Gabe (also the General Manager) came down multiple times to check on us and that the owner Mr John Basalyga (Basalyga Hospitality) came down to meet with us and talk to us? Now something like that doesn't happen often or everywhere! So don't wait, reserve your table and try out the "A'tera Experience" trust me you will...