Venetian Restaurant — Restaurant in Torrington

The waitress made great eye contact with my boyfriend and spent time talking with him. You would have thought he was the only one there! She brought him his mixed drink. She completely forgot the wine for me and only showed up with that after he had drunk most of his. I’m pretty sure our drinks should have been brought together. She brought him what he ordered and wanted to make sure he loved it and spent our time on that. She didn’t double check with the cook that my food was gluten and soy free (and brought out an entire plate of food I couldn’t eat). I was asked by the manager/owner if it was okay for them to replate the same vegetables despite that the mashed potatoes had soy and both had been exposed to the flour based sauce poured over the fish. I’m not sure when that would ever be okay? After my guy was done eating, the waitress then brought me a new plate of lukewarm food consisting of overcooked plain salmon, potatoes that I’m pretty sure were just boiled - no indication they were roasted, and everything was void of any seasoning. Not even the capers listed on the menu made it to bring a little zest. I asked for gluten and soy free, not food void of Italian passion, effort, life, and flavor. And finally, the waitress spent all kinds of effort coming back to our table to interrupt just about every conversation we were having. Ugh. There was no consolidation of trips and she should have guessed that my boyfriend wasn’t there for her. For future reference, when a COUPLE visits your restaurant, I’d say that spending all your attention on the man means that they won’t be back because he’s there with and for his girl, and she influences purchases. The point of a couple going out is to have an enjoyable evening being entertained together. A good waitress understands the importance of spending more time to make sure the woman is comfortable because it’s incredibly important to the man she came with that she is. As an Italian and a GM of his own high end Italian restaurant, getting the food right for me is extremely important to him for many reasons. We go out for the high quality experience not just to fill our stomachs. And not paying attention to what the cook is doing (or not doing) for special orders is just not good service. The apologies were nice and the environment is definitely iconic but it’s not nearly enough especially for the money we spent. So disappointed. We...

Extremely disappointed, got there pretty early for dinner 6:15 ish, maybe 3 tables & 2 servers, get seated pretty promptly. Order 4 oysters for an an app. They came out pretty quickly , we then place our orders , I order the penne Al a vodka w/shrimp & my for hubby “veal Marsala w/a side of pasta w/red sauce…salad & soup come out after about 20 min… mind you the people next to us came in about 15 min after us & already have their meals?!! How is this possible when when placed our orders first ??! after waiting probably 40 min our meals come out & my husband gets served veal parm?! 🤔 I said to young girl, we ordered the veal Marsala w/a side of pasta & red sauce & she says “ no you didn’t you ordered the veal parm” um, I Know what we ordered & it wasn’t this, he doesn’t like this… so after some hesitation & a an attitude she takes the plate back to the kitchen and comes back to tell us they will make the veal Marsala, we said it’s okay no worries we’re not waiting another 30 + min for another entree, she like no it’s okay we’ll make it quick… okay sure… 15 min later she brings out a plate w/“veal Marsala” and that’s it!! No pasta, no side , nothing! I said where is his pasta? She proceeds to say, he had it with the other meal! Mind you it want even touched! The whole plate went back! I said “huh” so you’re going to bring out a slab of meat & call it a meal , cuz u decided to place an order for “what you thought you remembered the order that you forgot to place , when you went the other table & placed there order first then finally remembered we placed our entree order , but put in the wrong order?? and then give us an attitude for correcting u? Terrible service, and we actually felt discriminated against because of my skin color… it’s a damn shame that in 2024 you can’t go into a restaurant and expect the same service as everyone else… shame on you Venetian Restaurant, smh 👎 do not waste your time, money or energy…. Hence why it’s so empty on a...

Where to even start with this little gem!?! Stepping into The Venetian is like stepping back in time. From the neon sign, to the Beaux Arts architecture, the white linen table clothes, to the staff (who could never imagine approaching a table and exclaiming "Hey guys"). My friend and I ended up here, quite unexpectedly, after a rather underwhelming experience at another Torrington establishment. Suffice it to say; the moment I walked in I knew I was in the right place. Greeted promptly at the door, without reservations, we were quickly ushered to a table for two. Our server, Ivy, approached the table within moments, and offered menus and water, and was immediately prepared to take cocktail orders, which I was more than happy to indulge in. Pleasant and personable, she made a perfect evening even more enjoyable.

For dinner, we decided upon for starters the Caesar salad served table-side. What a lovely, old-school experience. Michael, who turned out to be the owner, rolled-up along the table with his cart and fresh ingredients, and whipped up a traditional Caesar salad right before our very eyes! With over 5 decades of experience, rest assured, it was phenomenal! We followed it up with the Linguine Carbonara. Cooked perfectly, it was not too heavy, but rather a pleasant dish; creamy but not salty as pancetta can sometimes make things.

To finish off the evening, we ended with a rum cake a couple of espressos. Biscotti was brought out, and by that time the restaurant was starting to empty out. We were able to visit a bit with the owners as well as Ivy, and we both left knowing that we would be back, and with friends.

Bravo to everyone who works so hard, during these times, to maintain the standards that we enjoyed at The...