Lombardi's of middle island — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

My husband and I have been trying to go out to dinner for the longest, and finally, we got the opportunity. We chose to go to Lombardi's because it was local and the menu was extensive. This is like a hidden gem in the middle of Long Island. When we got there, we could see other patrons were enjoying themselves. Thankfully it was an older crowd, and we fit right in. No loud drunks, no loud music - the music was perfect for the atmosphere - think Frank Sinatra and the like. This place has a cozy and upscale vibe, with friendly and helpful staff. I would call it a very traditional Italian Restaurant. Let's talk about the food! We were offered a selection of plain or garlic bread. We got the garlic bread and WHOAH. SO SO good I had to control myself because I didn't want to fill up on bread before the food came. I would go back just for that bread lol. The salads that come with dinner are generous and have a nice variety of greens in them. The dressing is chef's kiss! DELISH! They are not small portions either. For dinner my husband got a pasta dish that he devoured and barely spoke because he was so into his food. This is a rare thing my husband is picky about food. I did snag some broccoli rabe off of his plate and I can say now that I want to go back and order what he had next time! I ordered something that actually wasn't on the menu, and before I even finished asking if they could make it, the lovely waitress was like "he can do it" I was astonished because in many places the chef will be a jerk about special requests and some flat out refuse. IT WAS THE BEST CHICKEN PICCATA I HAVE EVER HAD, I was so happy. The portion was huge, the flavor knocked my socks off. This is my all-time favorite dish and I order it everywhere. Lombardi's definitely made it the best. Lastly they have AMAZING coffee lol. The kind of coffee that has a quality taste to it, I suspect it might have been a 100% arabica blend. I drank it black and it was smooth with no bitterness. My hubs had a cannoli that was the size of a house, but I skipped desert because I was too full. There is a 100% chance we will be going back there very often in the future considering we...

I would give 0 stars if I could. Every aspect of my dinner was HORRIBLE. It starts off with giving the table a large jug of water, which looks like it wasn't cleaned( there was oregano in the water which the waiter told me was lemon). Then shortly after this an elderly customer began choking. Every staff member stood by and just watched with smirks, it took another customer to come up to the guy and ask if he was choking and said he would attempt the Heimlich but has never done it before. Absolutely horrible that a restaurant would not have a single staff member trained in the Heimlich. The rigatoni alla vodka was absolutely horrible, the sauce was one shade off of white and incredibly creamy-- almost tasted like a alfredo with a hint of vodka sauce. After taking one bite and realizing this did not taste anything like a typical vodka sauce, we sent it back and asked for nothing else. We were told that the owner will not be taking this off the bill. We asked if they had a kids menu and they told us they had chicken fingers and french fries... the "chicken fingers" they gave us were just cut up chicken cutlets. We asked when ordering the Chicken parm if the penne pasta side dish could be swapped out for spaghetti, all to be told "it was premade" so we could not swap that out. And to top this all off, the ASSUMED owner(he told me his name was Tony and that there was no owner or manager there and they left) was discussing taking the rigatoni alla vodka off the bill with the waiter about 15 feet away from our table and refused to come over. Once he finally came over he was EXTREMELY rude. He would not talk to any of the males at the table he would only talk to the females, and not to mention he clearly had NO respect for women. After all of this I can guarantee you that I will NEVER be stepping foot into this restaurant. I'm not sure maybe it was a bad night with the food, but the service is enough to make me never want to walk into this restaurant again.

Since comment: THIS RESPONSE FROM THE OWNER SHOULD BE ALARMING! DONT...

I haven’t been to this restaurant in over 15 years since I moved further away. I’m very disappointed in how old it is. I can’t believe they haven’t renovated since I have been there. First off it was Mother’s Day we thought it would be crowded it was very quiet only 3-4 tables with diners. The restaurant was very dark we could barely see the menu it’s was not romantic just too dark. The waitress took a long time to greet us and take our order. We asked for diet soda, and we got regular, which was flat and asked for diet again and the waitress told us they were out of diet…. I have never heard of that in any restaurant or any establishment! The bus boy brought us bread without butter or anything we had to wait intill he finally brought it over. There was only one waitress. The food was good which surprised us considering everything else. My hubby went to the men’s room which was old needed updating and the urinals were broken. The waitress took forever to ask if we wanted dessert and a long time to bring us the check. I’m sorry to post this negative review but I feel it’s necessary. Very disappointed I’m surprised they are still in business. I remember this being a very nice restaurant I hope they can turn things around. I tried answering to the response so I’ll do it here. I’m not in the habit of adding reviews for restaurants, but this is one time I had to. First off you spelled my name wrong it’s MARY not Marry lol Whoever Responded mentioned that you canceled 500 reservations this week and that’s how you like it? I would think that the restaurant would want business not empty tables and then the rest of the response was totally ridiculous. I’m very surprised by this very unprofessional.. Sorry, but I definitely won’t be back. That’s for sure. Good luck with everything. I hope...