Medford Pastaria — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

This should really be 2.5 but I’ll give it a 3 before a 2. My wife and I decided to try this restaurant based on feedback from her friends. I can only assume our experience was abnormal, but am not certain.

The good: The food was very good. I had Veal Parmigiana and my wife had Chicken Parmigiana. I had pasta as a side which was good. My wife had the vegetables and potatoes which were excellent. The potatoes in particular stood out. For dessert we had tiramisu and a cannoli both of which were good. The bread was also excellent.

The atmosphere was impressive. The work put into making what is a small space feel much larger was excellent. The decor really stood out and it was clear a lot of work was put into it. Sadly their is a big screen TV over what should be a family dining area. This is NOT a sports bar and there is no need for a television in the formal dining area. Move it as it is a major distraction to the half of the dining room facing it.

The Bad: Service was a complete let down. It started with an observation upon entering, there must be round table up front for people getting slices but which aren’t in use due to Covid I assume. One is turned over on the other which is perfectly normal for the times. What isn’t normal is for the very first thing you see being 20+ dried chunks of chewing gum on the underside yet now upturned table. Seriously, it is the first thing you see in the door and tells you what attention to detail will follow.

Then began a long wait for a hostess to arrive for the couple ahead of us and then us.

From there we learned that the reservation we called and made was never written down. We had called 20 min earlier to see if one was needed and was told to be there by 6. I gave my name and we were there just before 6 but no name was in the book. Luckily there was one table left right behind the hostess.

Water and bread were brought to the table. We never saw the water again for the next 1:20+ min despite leaving my empty glass at the end of the table. At least I had a glass of wine. The cloth napkin had stains from sauce on the end which look like they had never washed out and were clearly visible before unfolding the napkin for the bread. One more sign of an owner not paying attention to presentation and upkeep. Food came and then dessert but again, service was a rare sight.

Because of our seating we were in a direct line from the front door. It is a double door entry to prevent cold air from blowing in but the interior door was propped open. The sun had gone down though and with the temperature dropping every time someone came through the door freezing air would blow directly on us. Given it was evening plenty of people were coming for pizza take out and this happened a lot. I asked a waitress/hostess to please close the door and she appeared to agree. I found out soon after she didn’t and the wind continued to blow through the restaurant. Chewing gum stuck to table “tops” as a welcome, dirty linen, missing water service, and help which gives lip service to stopping the arctic blasts but does nothing... not going well.

Finally we have paying the bill. It came fast enough and then it sat there, at the end of the table with credit card projecting for almost FIFTEEN MINUTES until I could finally get the attention of our server. Seriously how hard is this? We are literally trying to give you money and it is the LAST experience you will have with the customer whom I assume you want a tip from and you leave them there for nearly a quarter hour?!?!

At least we got to see some man from the kitchen come through several times with his shirt pulled out and unable to cover his bare stomach. Yum, appetizing.

This all comes down to OWNERSHIP. The owner is responsible for setting the standard. The employee who flips a table over and sees stuck gum should know to SCRAPE IT OFF. The linen wrapping the food should not be stained, etc. We may try this place again pending future reviews but I have a hard time thinking these issues were new.

Update: ...

I visited with my mother and two of my young children this month (March 2025), and unfortunately, our experience was nothing short of appalling. First and foremost, we waited for over 45 minutes for our food, with no clear communication or apology for the delay. This was frustrating, especially since we had already placed our order quickly. Adding to this issue, we had to reorder our food a second time because the first order seemed to have been lost or forgotten. However, what was most troubling was the behavior of the waiter. Originally, we were taken back when we inquired about the soup options and the waiter responded in a very rude and dismissive manner. Later, he reprimanded both me and my child in a way that felt threatening (my son was slumped a bit in the chair but not playing or laying or anything). As a parent, I am deeply concerned by the way we were treated, and I cannot express how uncomfortable and upset this made me feel. I tried to escalate the issue to management, but rather I was met with complete dismissal. My expectations were that this never happen again to another family and to make management aware of the indecent wait times. Unfortunately, the manager’s response only added to my frustration. He was dismissive and rude, explaining that the waiter’s behavior could be excused due to the fact that “it was his father and he suffers from hearing loss” (I have been an active member in the deaf community and it is a shame that anyone would use hearing loss to excuse treating a child and mother with disrespect. The waiter blatantly told me “well I might hurt him” about my child not sitting 100% upright—this has nothing to do with impaired hearing). The manager refused to take any accountability for the situation and seemed entirely uninterested in resolving the issue. The manager also refused to believe that the waiter had been nasty and instead brushed off our concerns by stating that the waiter was his father with hearing loss and that it was unfortunate that we had to wait for our food because the restaurant was busy. This experience left me feeling disrespected and unvalued as a customer, and I’m extremely disappointed in both the service and the lack of accountability from the staff. I understand that restaurants can become busy, but that should never be an excuse for poor customer service or threatening behavior. My hope was that they took this matter seriously and would take the necessary steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again—but my concern seemed to be ignored. As a person who’s worked in both customer service and the restaurant service industry , I believe that every diner deserves respect and a positive experience, and I was deeply let down by this establishment. This experience was completely unacceptable, and I would never recommend a sit down dinner at this establishment to anyone. The lack of professionalism and basic courtesy is...

I made reservations for xmas eve (we had been going the last few years for xmas eve) - made them 3 weeks before Xmas - they called and asked to change my reservation from 6:30pm to 7:00pm - we said OK - We arrived at 6:50 - the place was a mad house - they did not have our table ready until 7:45pm - then they shoved us into a table that was smack dab in the middle of a traffic area - every waiter, waitress, and patron would have to bang into our seats to get by on the one-side and we were crammed against other seats around the rest of the table - back to back with other patrons - then we waited a good 15 minutes for service - the table had no silverware and a bus boy handed us a pile of wet forks, knives and spoons - they finally brought out some bread - but it was just cheap sam's club dinner rolls - in the past we would get nice fresh bread, garlic bread, brushetta bread, etc. - not this night! The sprite and coke was almost flat, and the whole pre-meal was a disaster. I ordered a house salad and was rewarded with a pile of lettuce, with 2 cucumber slices - all for a price of $6.00 - we all ordered our meals (6 of us) - and then waited a good 25 minutes for the food to arrive - My Chicken Parmesan arrived, it was 2 small pieces of chicken (looked like it was made from frozen) and a clump of spaghetti that must have not been stirred during cooking - my daughter was served the same fare - My wife ordered chicken sorrentino and wound up with a slab of leathery veal, hidden under some sauce and cheese - my youngest daughter ordered kid's chicken fingers and fries - the meal had more salt embedded in it than the dead sea. My son's Shrimp Parmesan made him ill - the only success of the night was my other son's baked ziti - but at a price double that of a diner, so it should have been good! - with food, tip and beverages (just soda's) the bill came to $180 plus - what an incredible waste of money! I did not have the opportunity to complain - since I was never asked how was my meal! so, I'll keep posting reviews and letting everyone know how bad this place...