Di Prinzio's Kitchen & Cocktails — Restaurant in Town of Clayton

My significant other and i chose to eat here for father’s day dinner with our newborn. the host had explained that there was two tables outside that were in the sun and one inside. we chose to be seated outside. we were seated directly in the sun. we waited 20-30 minutes before the server came out to ask us what we wanted to order for our drinks. she explained the soda machine was out of c02 which we brushed off and told her was fine. she then went on to ask what we would like to get started, we chose fries as our appetizer. while waiting for the appetizer the sun was beaming on us, which was understandable considering we did choose our seat to be outside. the issue with the seat wasn’t the problem it was the fact we had been sitting there with no drinks in the hot sun for 15-20 minutes. after seeing our server come out to serve another table we asked to move our spots due to the sun. she told us it was fine and she would need to wipe down a table that was slightly out of the sun. we moved and then waited another 5-10 minutes before she came back with the fries we had ordered. after she put the fries on the table she walked away. this entire time of waiting we had not had drinks nor were we asked if we had needed anything. my partner and i started to eat our fries, but never got anything for sauces because our server was either too busy or had forgotten about us. after our fries were finished and we had waited another additional 30 minutes another sever came out to give us waters, however they never had once up to this point asked what exactly we had wanted to drink. so we were left with a water cup with no straws. we waited yet again 15-20 minutes without a drink before she came out and finally asked what we were going to have for our drinks. after ordering our drinks and receiving them out pizza had came out. she gave us our pizza and asked if we had needed anything. at this point both i and my significant other were ready to just leave after waiting for so long. the wait wouldn’t have been a problem but as i had mentioned in the beginning of my review we had also brought our newborn along with us. so not only were we in the hot sun waiting for our food but our newborn also had to wait in the hot sun. my significant other grabbed a slice of pizza took a bite and told me that our pizza was halfway burnt at least from what he had seen on the half he could see. the server came back and asked if we were all set. she asked if we would like our check or anything else. i told her we would like a steak also but asked what the time frame was for it because after dinner we had the 1000 island sunset cruise we had booked the day before at 6:3pm. we were under the impression that showing up to the restaurant at 4:30pm would give us more than enough time to eat and still walk around clayton a little longer. we were terribly wrong considering the restaurant we had chosen. anyways so we get to a to go box for our ENTIRE pizza minus a slice and the server bring out the check and the steak in a to go box. she walked away. 5ish minutes after giving the check she comes back to collect it. i had told her that we didn’t really want the steak because it didn’t look how we wanted and it was $38 with fake mashed potatoes. we did not want the steak but understood that we did order it. she told me that she would check with a manager and get back to me about taking it off the bill. at this point i was just over the whole restaurant. we waited and she came back explaining that since it was a high priced item on the menu they can’t take it off our check even though we hadn’t touched it nor opened the container it was in. i then explained how the pizza was completely untouched minus a slice and the fact she had given us terrible customer service. she took the pizza box off the table and gave attitude when telling us that she could take it off the bill but the steak was non refundable. i didn’t even care anymore to argue with such ignorant people considering i have also worked in the...

As a food critic for websites such as Saveur, Eater, Buzz Feed Foods, Huffington Post Taste, Gothamist, Zaget and Food & Wine, I have been in the region visiting restaurants for an upcoming issue highlighting the best places to eat in the Thousand Islands. I always arrive unannounced and dine under an alias so the owner is unaware of my review. I never accept free meals, compensation, or special treatment of any kind from any restaurants because my goal is to bring you the most honest and trustworthy opinions on where to eat.

Sadly, I was shocked by my experience at Di Prinzio's Kitchen, on Riverside Dr. in Clayton, NY. It was an exceptionally poor experience from the start.

First, the owner herself sat my party and I at a table and never told the server! After waiting 20 minutes to be greeted on a rather slow Thursday evening, no one appeared. I finally approached the owner/hostess to ask who our server was. She replied that she forgot to tell him she sat us! Rather than send him right over, or take our drink and appetizer order herself, we waited an additional 10 minutes for our sever, making our total wait time to order drinks and cocktails 30 minutes.

At this point we chose to also order our meals. 20 minutes later for our appetizers were delivered and we were shocked. They were both overcooked and badly burnt! The salad arrived drenched in so much dressing it resembled soup.

I asked for the appetizers to be recooked and once again, they arrived burnt. So we munched on the stale bread they brought us and dipped it in a tiny side of olive oil, that was never once replenished.

Our entrees finally arrived 30 minutes later. By this time we were starving and dug in. Again, we were quickly disappointed! The brick over pizza we ordered was cold. The angel hair with red sauce I ordered was by far the worst pasta I’ve ever tasted in my life, and as someone that dines at Italian restaurants frequently this was highly discouraging. The noodles were so overcooked they were soupy and the sauce was sorely lacking the flavors you would expect from an Italian red sauce. Complete fail.

I immediately returned the pasta, munched on the cold pizza and sipped my cocktails while the server whispered to the owner, reporting the problems. The owner’s response was quite alarming. She did nothing! She simply sat at the bar for the next 15 minutes, chatting and giggling with a waitress as the restaurant emptied out. It was 9pm at this point.

Just when my party and I didn’t think anything could be worse, we were abruptly scolded by a long-haired blonde server after stepping outside the patio onto a path overlooking the river with our wine. This was after our server had give us the go ahead! She yelled at us across the patio to “return immediately, wine glasses are not allowed to be taken from the restaurant”.

Ironically the party next to us said they complained to the owner about her because she was very rude to them as well. Not to mention she hadn’t secured her ponytail properly so her dirty hair had fallen out and into one of their meals! Last I checked this is against food safety laws in New York State.

All in all, I simply cannot recommend Di Prinzio's Kitchen in Clayton, NY to anyone dining in the Islands. The owner clearly is having trouble choosing quality cooks and a proper chef, not to mention an adequate hosting and serving staff. It’s extremely clear that the management is desperately needed and sadly neglected at Di Prinzio's Kitchen.

I spoke to my editor and and we will be writing a further review on the website which you can read in the upcoming issue next month highlighting the best places to eat while vacationing in the Thousand Island region. Until then, if your in the Clayton area, I suggest you go to Bella’s, the Clipper Inn, the Wood Boat Brewery or the 1000 Islands Harbour Hotel. Each has exceptional drinks...

I had eaten lunch here with my friends once and thought this place was amazing, so when my family came to town to visit me I wanted to bring them here. I made a reservation for a table of 14 people. At this time no one had mentioned that we had to either pay cash or put the entire bill on one card. Thankfully we arrived early because that's when we were told by the hostess. I had to quickly inform all of my guests that they had to stop on the way to get cash, which was a HUGE inconvenience at the end of the night because all parties had to look at the long $465 check to put in their proper amount, and I had to constantly count it to make sure we were giving the correct amount. In addition, myself and three others had to walk to three different locations to find a WORKING and open ATM machine to get last minute cash. No one knew how much to bring since we didn't know what our bills would turn out to be. The insane part about this entire thing was that only one person (the original host that did not serve us at all) was tracking that we were paying cash all on the same check, and not splitting the bill. So in fact they could do it, but for some reason the one person decided not to give us the option when they saw us come into the restaurant, and make all of our experiences worse. I will never be returning to this restaurant again, and I will tell everyone I know about my experience. Which is lots of people seeing as though I'm stationed...