Quartiere — Restaurant in Stamford

My husband, 2 daughters aged 20 and 22, and myself were driving back to New England from JFK airport when we hit traffic near Stamford. We were all hungry from our long trip so decided to stop and get some food instead of sitting on 95. The reviews looked good so we stopped here for dinner. We were seated promptly and ordered a couple of pizzas to share. Pizza was good I thought and my daughters agreed, although my husband wasn't very happy with it. The place was bustling, but we had a quiet meal as we were all exhausted from our trip. My husband had an espresso and we asked for the check. Upon receiving the check, instead of a "thank you for coming", the server was sure to inform us that this was an adults only place "for future reference". What?!? An adults only pizza place!?! I responded, my daughters are age 20 and 22 as I noted. We were all sitting there quietly eating our pizza. If they didn't want us in there, they shouldn't have seated us in the first place. It was just like an advance notice to not come back or something and I surmise that management put our server up to saying something as she seemed very uncomfortable. After I noted that my daughters were OVER 20 she apologized and mentioned that they looked younger. It's not like we had 2 screaming three year olds in there or something. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief, never again! We fly in and out of JFK often and are often looking for places around that area to eat. Now we know where NOT to go. I guess that's what they want. "Neighborhood" restaurant, that's a laugh. Can't sell liquor to kids to boost the check price, maybe that's the...

Ordered chicken parm open faced sandwich and a Bloody Mary. Sandwich tasted like it was made with old oil- it was not good. Also, the plate is this flat board which isn’t big enough to hold the food so it falls all over the counter.

Bloody Mary: this shouldn’t be difficult especially because it’s called out on the brunch menu- the bartender didn’t know how to make it and had to Google it. She made it and it tasted like shrimp cocktail- it had floating chunks of horseradish in it. It made my stomach unsettled for the rest of the day…

Our bartender server was very friendly but slow, all the employees just stood around talking and she didn’t really know her job. She might have been new which would have been forgivable if it wasn’t for the truly awful food. So I paid my tab, gave her a 30% tip and vowed to never return. Which I advise for anyone else.

My general take was the restaurant was long on faux style and short on execution. Maybe I caught them on a bad day but I eat out nearly every day of my life and can usually tell if it’s just an off day or the place has problems- I lean more towards the latter. Hope they figure it out.

Responding to owner: yes it was you- I live around the corner and specifically went there because I read about your place. As for the review, it is accurate about what I experienced and as I said maybe it was a bad day but I’m not exaggerating that the food and Bloody Mary made me sick for the rest of the day. You have a bunch of good reviews so you seem to be doing fine, just wasn’t my experience at all- and I wouldn’t review if it was just mediocre....

Really disappointed – not worth the 4.6 rating. I had high expectations for Quartiere in Stamford based on the reviews, but unfortunately, it fell short – especially on a special occasion. I had made a note in our reservation about celebrating our wedding anniversary, but no one acknowledged it when we arrived. We were seated right next to the kitchen, which felt thoughtless for such a celebration.

I ended up having to tell our server about the anniversary myself, hoping they might do something small to recognize it. While they did eventually offer a complimentary dessert, it only happened after I reminded them again — which took away from the gesture.

The only bright spot of the evening was our server, Mary. She was attentive, kind, and tried her best to make up for the experience. Sadly, the rest of the staff seemed more interested in their phones or chatting at the bar than paying attention to guests.

All in all, it was a letdown. Based on the ratings, I expected a much more polished and welcoming experience.

P.S. – I initially rated the experience a 2, but downgraded it to a 1 due to the pasta. It was extremely salty. I thought it might have been because they custom-made the Alfredo sauce for us, but after going through other reviews, it seems this is a recurring issue. The restaurant really needs to pay attention to the feedback in its reviews.

All in all, it was a letdown. Definitely...