Vigneto Cafe — Restaurant in Town of Lloyd

I’ve been to this restaurant before, but my recent visit on Wednesday night was extremely disappointing. I ordered the shrimp scampi and chicken Marsala, both of which were bland and completely lacking in flavor. I’ve worked in restaurants all my life, so I understand that some nights are just off, especially when the place is packed as it was that evening. That’s why I didn’t initially complain, thinking they were just rushing.

However, the person I was with decided to voice our concerns the next day. The staff said the owner would call me, and he did—but what followed was shocking. Instead of accepting constructive criticism, the owner was incredibly rude. When I mentioned that the food didn’t taste good, he responded by saying, “My wife and I cooked this,” and then insulted our taste, implying we didn’t know what good food was. When I suggested he simply acknowledge that the food wasn’t great that night, he aggressively told me not to return to his restaurant.

I’ve never encountered such a lack of humility or customer service from a restaurant owner. How this place still has customers with that kind of attitude is beyond me. I definitely won’t be coming back, and based on the owner’s immature response, I’m expecting another rude reply here. But honestly, it doesn’t matter—I’ll never return.

REPLY to your Answer:

Lies and more lies. The only one lying here is you.

Disrespectful to your staff? How is that possible if, according to your own response, I never spoke to you or your staff after placing my order? What part of “I wasn’t going to complain, but the person with me decided to call the next day” did you not understand? The person who called you (who was with me that night and also tried your bad food) spoke to your staff. They told me that you would call me to address the issue, which you did. So how are you claiming that I didn’t speak to anyone after placing my order? I still don’t get it. 🤣 Not my first time at your restaurant (yet another lie).

When I spoke to you on the phone, I made it very clear that my intention wasn’t to get a refund or money back, and here you are (lying again) saying that was my purpose. My only intention was to let you know that the food wasn’t good. But when you started being rude, I decided to end the conversation.

It’s funny how every person posting a negative review here is labeled as a liar. I see a pattern. Why don’t you take accountability for the fact that sometimes your food isn’t up to standard instead of making a big issue out of it? And maybe stop treating people like they’ve never tried Italian food before.

I won’t be replying again; there’s no point when someone is so unaware of their own...

To the response below, this is a completely honest review of the plates that were ordered, neither unfair nor negative for the sake of being negative. It is opinion-based, as are all reviews on Google.

Sorry for the "meh" review, but this one is for the Italians who struggle with eating out. It's tough to appreciate the food at an Italian restaurant when no one can make it like Nonna... except for me, but I didn't want to have to cook on my birthday. 🤷

Maybe puttanesca is one of those dishes that can be very different from chef to chef. Overall the dish had a lot of flavor but no finesse. I didn't care for the large chunks of anchovies (imo they should be cooked down to a paste and used in the base of the sauce... boyfriend actually ordered this dish but traded with me because he couldn't handle the big fishy chunks). They used whole black olives (imo should be green or grey olives finely chopped, and not chopping the black olives made it feel and taste like an afterthought that just got tossed on straight from the can) and diced carrots in the sauce (I kind of hate carrots in sauce, feels like a cheap filler, but maybe necessary to keep costs down there days?). Not enough herbs but very generous with the capers, which is a big thumbs up for me. Garlicky and made spicy as requested. Made with pasta aschiuta (dried), would be much better with pasta fresca (fresh), not to mention more appropriate at this price point. (Very easy and affordable to make it in-house by the way... Hope you will consider it, Vigneto!)

My (not Italian) boyfriend ate my "safe pick" order of penne alla vodka and liked it. He also liked the side of meatballs in marinara, which I honestly really disliked.

In the past, I tried the pizza here, which I found to be equally "meh." Would I eat here again? If someone else was paying, I'd try another dish but would keep my expectations relatively low.

I got take out, but Vigneto has a nice cozy atmosphere from what I could tell. Hope...

There are not a lot of delivery options in the highland New Paltz areas, so I thought I would give Vigneto a try one night really hungry. Now everyone knows bruschetta is made without cheese. I ordered a bruschetta pie and they took a cheese pie and dumped chopped up tomatoes and onions on top.......the most disgusting pizza i ever ate and the most expensive. I was looking for the dairy free bruschetta.

I tried again another really expensive pasta dish one entree 16.95 gnocci with pea and shallots portobello mushrooms and light cream sauce. thats not what i got. no peas, heavy pink sauce no light cream sauce, the mushrooms were deep fried and thrown on top whole chunks...not even chopped up, the chicken was rubbery like it was microwaved and thrown on top....nothing about it what worth the price. nothing was cooked with each other, they didnt take on any of each others flavors....the oil used for the mushrooms wasnt olive oil its was nasty deep fryer oil...vegetable oil..tasted like i was eating cheap finger foods and felt like it in my belly. the worst quality ever. Dont waste your money on crappy fake italian food you are better off opening a box of pasta and a jar of sauce, tastes better, much healthier, and costs way less and closer to italian than Vigneto. If you stay a motel in the area, its better to starve if you have no other options...i felt so sick from the grease, or something...i spent 29.00 on a dish of greasy deep fried food......who'd a thought? wish this review existed before i ordered.

nothing about this review is false or...