Carmelo's Coat of Arms — Restaurant in Town of Lewiston

Carmelo's is the best fine dining restaurant, in the Niagara Falls/ Lewiston area. Hands down! The restaurant is small and the decor is a nice older rustic look. The lighting is somewhat dim. Our hostess/ waitress Alicia was absolutely amazing. If every restaurant had a person like her working, they would never have complaints of bad customer service. She did have a very capable helper as well, unfortunately I forgot her name. But she was very good as well. After allowing us time to settle in and look over the menu. Alicia answered all of our questions, and even made a few accommodations for us. The night was very good and I was so impressed with everything. That I plan to bring others back with me, to enjoy the place as well.

Complimentary bread- The bread is really, really good. Loved how crusty the bread was, but so chewy and soft in the inside. Comes with a side of oil, and olive mix.

Candy cane beets- I thought this dish was good. I did expect a sweet salad, since the name was candy cane. But still, the salad was very refreshing.

Filet mignon- Now I have come across many restaurants, that serve filet mignons. Everytime I see it served with a sauce, I absolutely hate it. I never felt a steak should have sauce on it, now I’m reading a blueberry sauce on this one. My interest was peak, and I have to say Wow!!! Now not only was the filet perfectly made. But the blueberry sauce, was a great compliment to the entree. I didn’t see that coming.

Spaghetti Nero- Now this is one of the accommodations Alicia did for us. Normally this entree has a marinara sauce. I'm not into red sauce, so I ask if they could substitute for a white cream sauce. Alicia talk it over with the chef, and they were able to accommodate me. This dish was amazing with the cream sauce. I honestly hope they make this a permanent change. I also would recommend, for the seafood in this dish not to be chop up. But if they could make this entree, maybe with 3 whole seared sea scallops, and a few whole shrimps.

Sticky toffee cake- Omg.. omg... nice warm dessert to finish off the night. I really like the sweetness of this dish, especially the cream on top. I can say if I had ice cream with this, I probably would pass out from how good that would taste.

Drinks- they have a wines and beer and a full bar. I ask for a black Manhattan. Alicia made it happen, and...

I wondered if they were understaffed or just too busy. But then as I watched I didn’t think that was the case because there weren’t many full tables, especially considering the kind of restaurant this turned out to be. We sat down after some awkward vibes from the employee.

Expensive menu, lets say an average of 30$ a plate, that kind of place. I don’t mind paying for good food and if you go over some of my reviews 30$ a plate isn’t a big deal. But when you set that price point then my expectations are the food is that good and not just “were telling you its good so like it.”

We had to ask for a fork and napkin because our setting wasn’t done right. The vibe continued through out the meal, it was awkward to ask for the missing fork and napkin. Not once did the waitress ask us how the meal was or make any attempt to see if there was anything we could do.

My water glass was empty 80% of the meal. For the meal we got a calamari salad (the fried calamari was soggy), sword fish and clams (over cooked but the sauce and clams were great), double cheese burger and potatoes (burger was great but the lettuce wasn’t crisp, potatoes were perfect). That being said the food was ok but not at all worth the pricing. The food should be really good and this is coming from someone with world wide experience in food.

It seems like one of the places that charges a premium just so people can brag about how much they spent. The attitude of the waitress confirmed that. And that is the worst part of the meal, we weren’t supposed to be there and that was made pretty clear. Looking around, it wasn’t because of what we were wearing, their were other patrons dressed casual like us (and im familiar with black tie places).

To finish it up, I asked for the check, no dessert was offered and when I awkwardly put the tip in the hand held device while the waitress watched. At that point, she was happy we came in….Ill let you figure out what that all means. Im more upset about the comfortability created than the food being less what once should expect at that price. That’s mainly why I am giving it 2 stars. 2.5 is fair with that kind of service, with good service 3 is fair because the atmosphere is really nice otherwise. Even if the food were good we couldnt have enjoyed it, with the clear vibe that we...

If you’re thinking of going here DON’T. We had made a reservation At 7:15 and weren’t even allowed in the restaurant till 8! We didn’t even get an apology or compensation for 45 minutes of waisted time. Not only that but my appetizer (the me at balls) was cold and the sauce was too watery (solid 50% was water and the other 50% sauce) My chicken was worth at most $5 but cost $28 just for low quality breaded chicken and a small salad. Not only that but our server was very lazy (we would ask for things 2-3 times and never get them and other things of that nature) for such a high quality restaurant the service was abhorrent. And then there was the matter of my dessert it was the tiramisu and it was made with coffee and water instead of alcohol and still partially frozen!!! And the lady fingers were soaked beyond recognition it was more of a mush than anything else. I had gone a previous time and ordered the lamb ribs and was told they only had enough to make a half serving but still got charged full price. I would not ever go back there no...