Visaggio's Ristorante, Catering & Events — Restaurant in Silver Spring Township

I am very, very, very sad to write this review... But I'm afraid it must be done; my intention is not to drag the new owners, but as a long-time Visaggio's regular, I feel they need to be made aware of what they're doing wrong before they destroy this beloved establishment. Now, I have been frequenting this restaurant for many years; it was always the first choice for date nights, anniversaries, birthdays, everything. Never have I come here that it wasn't a 5 star experience. Everything about Visaggio's was always fabulous, from the service, to the decor, to the food, to the dessert. Each time we would leave after dinner, we'd feel satisfied and like we had not just a meal, but a full experience. This was not my takeaway from last night. My partner made the reservation before we were aware of the new ownership... Luckily I found out from a coworker before we actually went there, so we knew not to expect our standard Visaggio's experience and we weren't going in blind, but goodness was it more disappointing than I thought it would be. I tried to be optimistic, but I just wasn't impressed. And speaking of the new ownership, that takes me to my first issue... Neither the website nor the hostess who took our reservation made mention of the new ownership; that, to me, feels deceitful. My partner also informed me that when making the reservation, the hostess was rude. That would have NEVER happened at the old Visaggio's. But I digress... We were still willing to give it a chance. Immediately upon entering the restaurant, the entire atmosphere was completely different. Nothing about it was the familiar formal vibe we'd grown accustomed to. They seem to have done away with the formal and casual sides, which was strange... Hostess didn't give us our choice on the phone when reserving as normal. The staff were awkwardly milling about and it was clear they didn't know what they were doing. Our server was also extremely frazzled, did not explain the menu well, and also did not inform us that certain menu items were unavailable until AFTER I had already ordered one of the unavailable items, so I was left disappointed right off the bat. Servers should let guests know immediately if something on the menu is unavailable. As for the staff's awkward behavior, I can cut some slack knowing that they're still working out kinks and they're likely all new hires... But I feel they should have had previous fine-dining experience. My mother used to work here; she told me Rosemary wouldn't even hire someone who wasn't up to her standards. She would have her staff polishing silverware that was already clean to make sure it was spotless and gleaming. She was so proud of this restaurant and had everything running like a well-oiled machine. Tablecloths were wrinkled, glasses were smudged, my partner wasn't given a steak knife NOR the side salad that came with the meal... The hot pepper oil is gone, the bread had the consistency of hardtack, the carbonara I ordered was nothing like the carbonara I'm used to from the Zia Maria (no longer available on the new menu). The sauce was overly thick and there was too much of it, my partner's dish was too briney and the steak was overdone and the peppers underdone. The food was decent, but just not Visaggio's quality or worth the price. When it came to dessert, our server didn't explain what a single one was... Not that any of them looked appetizing. This is the first time we've EVER left Visaggio's without a dessert. My beloved cassata was gone... It was just all in all a disappointing experience... It felt more like a casual quick bite rather than fine-dining, and that's not what Visaggio's is. I'm normally not this critical, but it's hard not to be when knowing how great this restaurant was. I wish the new owners would change the name so I could properly mourn Visaggio's; because last night WASN'T Visaggio's. It was another Italian restaurant in a Visaggio's skin coat and now its legacy is going to be tarnished... Very sad. I likely won't be back. The restaurant I loved will have to live on in...

I am not sure what the reply to this says from the owner, so I will list my experience so hopefully they understand in English why I would be disappointed and hopefully do not give others the same experience.

This was our first visit and we were not sure what to expect.

Positives: Food was great.

Cons: Experience is lacking. We received a text from the restaurant saying the water was flowing and they would be open. Awesome, we decided to go.

We enter the building, which is beautiful, to be greeted by..... no one. We are standing there, awkwardly, questioning if we are at the wrong entrance, are we supposed to seat ourselves, there is no sign stating please wait for the host to seat you or seat yourselves. Minutes go by, we are deciding whether we should just leave or not, I decided to walk to the bar to ask someone if we can have a seat, because these are the only employees I see. Customers are staring at us. Someone brings out food, visually acknowledges our presence with a head nod and we head back towards the host stand and wait. Another couple comes in after us, and the host greets us. She says to follow her (we asked for casual) but then walks to the formal side. I stop following her, realizing she didn't mean for us to go that way, after asking us to follow her. We wait, she comes back, seats us.

Great, now we are ready. We get menus, order drinks, and she brings out the cheese, spiced oil, butter, and proceeds to tell us how good the oil is but not everyone likes it. Cool, we love spice.

We order appetizers (haystacks is plural, but you only get a single one), she brings it out and I ask if we can get bread for all the bread accessories she glorified. "Oh, you want that now?" I glance over at a table that was seated after us, enjoying their bread and butter while waiting for their meals. "Yes", I wanted it when we were first given the bread oil and butter. I'm not sure why I had to specify that, its fairly common place to either ask or bring out bread in this waiting period. We are very hungry, but trying to be patient to order our food because we are hoping it is worth the wait.

She brings out the bread and we are ready to order; she interjects "you are not in a rush are you?" We weren't in a rush to leave, no. I tell her this, so she tells me "Well I am going to bus their table and get their check and then I am going to take your order." This did not make any sense to me when you could put our order in first and then complete those tasks while the food is being prepared. I was not there to argue with the waitress, so I tried to enjoy my fought-for bread patiently.

We order our food, it comes out, its great, small portions for the cost, but we understand everything is freshly made and were willing to pay the cost for that.

We wait for our check, and a chef comes out and speaks with customers at a nearby table, we overhear him telling them that many people called off because of the snow, so they are short on employees. We paid our bill in full and tipped 20%.

The weather was bad, but it was them who reached out for customers from the text list.

It was not a great first impression. The food was good, but not good enough to hold its own, because it was really the experience that failed us and would deter me from trying this...

The very first and most important thing you must understand about my review of Visaggio's is that they promote themselves as a "high end" establishment. So instantly, the bar of expectations is set higher. This is where they fail. Just because you had a big bill, doesn't mean you came away with a worthy experience.

Red flag #1.. Our reservation was for the formal dining room. Sitting down, we realize a sweet 16 birthday party is taking place in the room directly attached to the dining room. No door, no curtain, no extended hallway away. 12 sixteen year old girls laughing, giggling complete with non-stop selfies all during dinner. I ask you, what high end restaurant puts a party room right next to their formal dining room ?

Red flag #2...A half filled water pitcher that was used to fill the other tables glasses was forgotten about and left on our table. As we are seated, this is what we were greeted to. Not exactly high end atmosphere. Did our hostess take it away...no. We sat there until our waitress came to the table before anyone noticed it.

Red flag #3...The food is averagely good but not nearly worth it's price tag. My appetizer was garlic bread with cheese. What it amounted to was 4 slices of toast with melted cheese on top. My wife's calamari resembled nothing high end. No tentacles, no presentation, no hand breading. I apologize if I'm wrong but it certainly appeared to just be frozen and deep fried small little rings lost in a bed of lettuce. Again, nothing that resembles the words "high end."

Red flag #4....The service. Our waitress was attentive and did her job. She smiled, was courteous and got our food right. But it ends there. Admittedly, my experience of impeccable service comes only from fine dining in the Cape May area, maybe some of you are familiar. It is impressive to see their level of service. Dishes and cutlery disappear without noticing, by someone who isn't your waiter or waitress. Glasses are filled without asking and proper cutlery is given for your next course. At Vissagio's, I finished my dessert and coffee with my dinner plate sitting on the table end, complete with used silverware, for the last 15 minutes. Several waitresses walked by but none took it away. This simply doesn't happen at a "high end" restaurant. Am I being picky, yes, but remember Vissagio's doesn't want to just be an Italian Restaurant, they want to be a step above. If their bar is raised, so is mine. Am I qualified to make these decisions, yes, I've experienced impeccable food with impeccable service. Vissagio's has neither. Plus it's my wallet. Nobody gets to decide more if my 1st visit is worthy of a return trip. In the case of Vissagio's it's a once and...