Otto's — Restaurant in Town of Liberty

First, the good:

I am high risk for covid and my family wanted to eat here for a graduation celebration. They don't have outdoor dining so I called ahead and asked how busy they thought they'd be that night. They said not too busy (it was around 5:30 or 6 pm on a week night). I told them about my covid concerns and they said they'd place us at a table far away from everyone else. Which they did and I felt safe. It was awesome!

The service was good and everyone was very friendly. They had fountain soda and they refilled our soda and water several times.

The appetizers we had were good. We had the meat and cheese board and the fried zucchini. The fried zucchini was divine. It was thin and had a delicious dipping sauce. The sauce was a mystery to us, but we loved it. It had a hint of some kind of Indian spice, but none of us could figure it out.

And now the not so good:

First, the bread - they brought out a little basket of hot bread. The bread was fine and it was nice that's hot. But for an expensive Italian restaurant, I expected a little bottle of olive oil, salt, pepper, and maybe even parmesan cheese to be served with the bread so we could mix up a little dipping sauce. It's what I've experienced at similar restaurants. We did ask for a bottle of olive oil and they brought one out, but we didn't have the tasty extras.

Second - the burrata caprese - I'm a vegetarian. I looked at the menu and figured out what to order before we even got to the restaurant. I ordered the burrata caprese. I didn't know what that was so I googled it and it looks great on Google. Here's what Google taught me: the tomatoes are sliced, about 1/4" thick, and placed around the burrata cheese. Then basil leaves are individually placed on top of the tomatoes. The whole thing is drizzled in extra virgin olive oil and either balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze. Finally, kosher or flaky salt and freshly cracked pepper are sprinkled on top. Sounds good, right? Go ahead and look it up on Google. The pictures delicious.

I was expecting this expensive, Italian restaurant to pull off this simple dish with ease. Alas, they did not. The tomatoes were cut into wedges - they were basically the tomatoes you got in your school lunch salad. Sliced just like the school lunch. Depressing. The basil was a little branch, plopped on top of the cheese. The dish was garnished with four olives and a random pepper. And then - nothing else. No ground black pepper, no hint of salt, no olive oil, no balsamic. It was sad. I didn't eat it. I left the sad tomatoes and brought the ball of cheese home as a treat for the dog. The cheese is a mild, soft cheese and it really needed that extra flavor from the pepper, olive oil, and balsamic.

Third - other people in my group liked their food enough to eat it, but said it was just ok. They had the chicken parmesan and the cheese tortellachi. Each dish was $23 and the problem here is that the quality and tastes of the food did not match the price. They tasted like they were $16, not $23 if you know what I mean.

Fouth - the desert - it was fine. Not great. Which, again, we expected great from this restaurant. My tiramisu had so much powdered cocoa on top and around it - it made my throat dry. Someone else in my party had vanilla ice cream and the tiramisu ended up going well with that because it added needed moisture. So if you're craving tiramisu, I suggest you ask for ice cream as well. The raspberry lemon drop cake was lovely and presented nicely on the plate, but it was mediocre.

All in all, I will not return to this restaurant. The food is the quality of a restaurant whose prices are about 1/3 lower. It would be worth going if they dropped their prices by 1/3, but even then - the food is solidly mediocre at best.

This would be two stars for me, when combining the food and the prices. But they get an extra star for friendly service, taking covid considerations seriously, and a lovely,...

As a long-time patron of Piccolo Paese, I had always been impressed by the consistently excellent food, which never failed to delight. However, my recent visit to their new location left much to be desired in terms of service and quality.

To start, the wait for our courses was over 30 minutes, which is simply unacceptable. When the food finally arrived, several dishes were incorrect, adding to our disappointment. To make matters worse, the dishes were not prepared the way they used to be. Everything came out cold, a stark contrast to the hot, flavorful meals I have come to expect from Piccolo Paese. Specifically, the Clams Oreganata, which is traditionally baked with a flavorful breadcrumb mixture, was served in an entirely different manner. Instead of the expected baked clams, they appeared to be broiled with just lemon and chopped garlic thrown on top. This is not the Clams Oreganata we have been used to at Piccolo Paese. What made the experience even more frustrating was the complete lack of apologies /acknowledgment throughout the ordeal. It's clear that the staff at this new location could benefit from additional training to ensure orders are taken and delivered accurately and promptly.

Another major point of concern was the pricing of their beverages. I was shocked to see that they were charging $11 for a bottle of sparkling water. Having spent years in the restaurant industry, I am well aware of wholesale prices, and this markup is exorbitant. A reasonable charge for a bottle of sparkling water would be around $6.00, which would be more palatable to customers.

Furthermore, the lack of a designated bartender significantly impacted the efficiency of service. The waitstaff constantly running behind the bar to mix drinks not only slowed down the overall service but also led to frequent interruptions and a lack of focus on attending to the dining area.

The service issues at Piccolo Paese, at their new location are enough to deter me from returning until improvements are made. Investing in proper staff training and hiring a dedicated bartender would go a long way in enhancing the dining experience and ensuring that customers leave satisfied. Until then, I cannot see myself revisiting this...

Very unassuming exterior to this restaurant. Absolutely delightful ambiance and mood. Wonderful experience, food, staff, an overall winner. We were in Liberty, NY on business, this was our celebration meal for concluding a project build. We were unsure, but there were enough positive reviews to venture out. As I noted, the exterior of the building was unassuming, but pleasant enough.We we're immediately put at ease upon entering to find a well appointed and cozy atmosphere. The staff were quickly responsive to our presence. They asked about our reservations, which we had none, to which they replied that it was ok. We were graciously seated with a smile and met our server Natalyi. She is a seasoned veteran, who knew her menu well. She gave us our menus and took our drink order efficiently. When she returned with the drinks she asked if we had any questions about the menu, which we did, and she quickly dispensed answers. We placed our orders, and off she went. Never did we feel abandoned or left alone, we felt perfectly attended to. She had a helper on the staff named Kaylee who was equally high spirited. Both were a pleasure to interact with. I ordered the Caesar salad, which is made table side. It was quite the show, and very interesting. So delicious and full of flavors. There were seven of us for dinner. We had a variety of entrees. I enjoyed the shrimp scampi, we also had chicken marsala, Branzino, and Tortolache Pomodoro. (See pictures) The desserts were excellent as well. We had a few hiccups with our order, but the true sign of good customer service is how the team handles it when something goes sideways. They did a wonderful job. (Our issue was that the kitchen forgot an entire dinner. They recovered well) The food was delicious, hot, zesty and fork tender. It was everything we had hoped for. The pricing was right where we would expect it to be.... based on what we were looking for. We DEFINITELY...