Buona Vita Restaurant — Restaurant in Somers Point

NYE was a nightmare…. Extremely excited to try this restaurant. I was able to make a reservation the night before on OpenTable. Open table did not specify that there would be a prefix menu. Google and their website also did not specify that there was a pre fixed menu. At almost 90$ pp. when heading to this place we placed the address in our maps both google and apple and both sites said the restaurant was closed. I called the restaurant and spoke with the very unpleasant hostess. She asked me numerous times if I had a reservation I explained to her I did I was just making sure that they were open as I made the reservation on OpenTable. She explained yes we are normally closed but again do you have a reservation for this evening with a snippy tone? We arrived to the restaurant and we were Immediately seated two pieces of paper were handed to us, which were the menu for that night. We sat at the table for a few min before a waitress came over she asked if she could open our bottle of wine and if we were ready to order, I then asked her if this was the only menu for this evening she said yes I said OK. Well, we will start with And. My husband ordered his starter and I ordered mine. She then cut us off and said everything needed to be placed at the same time. She came back. Since our options were limited and the price was set I asked if I could change a sauce on one of the items she said no substitutions are allowed OK at this point this nice evening out turned into more of a chore and for over 200$ I wanted to be relaxed and enjoy a dinner with my husband . Unfortunately, this was not happening. She came back we placed our order gave her starter ,entree and dessert at that time she said oh we didn’t need to order dessert right now. Restaurant was getting busy entry area was standing room only we were jammed in a table very close to others. And the feeling of being rushed was an understatement. The food was dropped. She checked back and asked if we need a boxes and then dropped the desserts, came back with a little black book with the check all within 5 min . We entered our credit card ahe ran in and we signed I could not get out of the place fast enough with that being said, we left the credit card in the little black book. I noticed when we got on the parkway. I called the next day and left a message. No one ever returned my call, which I figured was OK being that they were closed. I followed up a few days later and the gentleman told my husband there was nothing in the lost and found call your credit card company and just get a new credit card in two days. Oh well thank you your hospitality and customer service it has been exceptional….. NOT !!! I am in the food and beverage business and would never make any customer feel uncomfortable rushed and or not valued in spending their time and or money in the establishment I work at. This was definitely a turn table night and unfortunately left a bad taste in the my mouth from the min I spoke with the hostess. We will not be returning . I wanted to love this place but with the way they handled a busy night was rude and no one seemed like they wanted to be thier at one point my husband and I noticed the staff even seemed uncomfortable. Like on edge not a happy atmosphere at all. Very...

Good food and ok service, but: Ridiculously misleading pricing on the website (and posted on the menu outside of the restaurant which I just noticed in someone else's review). My husband and I ate here in the summer and thought the restaurant was good. In choosing a place to have a large party, cost was a consideration. We do not live local to Somers Point so I looked at the online menu for budgeting purposes. When I got the bill, I was shocked! The online price for each entree is understated by as much as $7.00 for pollo parmigiana to 3.00 for Penna Alla Vodka. The antipasti is listed online as $9.95 and is $13.95 at the restaurant. Calamari is $9.95 online and $11.95 in the restaurant. Between the price changes and the built in 20% tip my bill was $100.00 higher than expected based on the online menu. If I had ordered take-out, I would have refused to pay anything other than the online price. Guys - be honest in your advertising: update your online menu and the menu outside your restaurant. I was told that our party could not fit at one long table and we would have 2 tables. I was fine with that until I saw that the 2 tables were placed one behind the other with literally no room to walk between the tables so there was no way guests at one table could talk to guests at the other table. We were packed in like sardines and I made my reservation weeks in advance. The could have easily given us some welcome extra space by not seating people at the 2 tables next to us (2 people at each table). I'm sure those reservations weren't made weeks in advance. Price of the specials was ridiculous at roughly $39.00 for fish of the day. It's back to Crab Trap and Anchorage for us. The portions here are small, the food takes way too long to be served, everything is ala carte and they pack in as many people as they can. Repeat customers can't...

We had been here almost a year ago and had a terrific experience, but unfortunately that was not the case this evening. We were seated upstairs where they were still actively cleaning up from a private party and the entire time there, we were not actively attended to by the staff. There was no olive oil in the carafe on our table (for bread dipping) and our waters were not refilled until long after they were empty and we specifically asked. My husband's lasagna was cold upon delivery, my daughter's shrimp scampi (which was $34) had only three shrimp in it. Her boyfriend ordered the meat special "veal chop" which was also served cold yet ended up costing $54! Our concerns could not be addressed in a timely manner because no one came back to check on us until much later when we were almost finished eating. We were honest with our server when she finally asked how everything was. She was sweet and apologetic and gave us a complimentary cannoli to split among the 4 of us. However, nothing was comped on the bill and no one other than the server herself came to see us or address our concerns. For food at this price point, we expect a much better overall experience. We will...