La Fontana Cucina — Restaurant in Town of Orangetown

It was immediately apparent upon walking in that they couldn't accommodate our reservation for a party of three. We waited 30 minutes to be seated, and it went downhill from there.

The three stars is because the food was good, though overpriced. It would have been four or five stars if the service matched, but the service was a total disaster.

We had to flag someone down to ask for a server. I believe it may have been the owner or manager who responded, and he took our order. Well-intentioned as that may have been, I also think it was the kiss of death, because we still really had no server. Everything took too long. There was no follow up to see if we needed anything else or wanted another round of drinks or anything. We had to flag someone down for dessert menus, and then it was a long wait first for the menus, then to order dessert, and finally for dessert to arrive.

We asked for the check when dessert arrived, and that was another production. The server who took care of dessert said he was going to comp one of the three desserts because the whole experience had been so rocky. We didn't ask for that. In fact, we hadn't complained at all, he just volunteered it. First, he had the wrong check and we had to tell him what we had. Then he and a female server were obviously having a hard time finalizing our bill in their system. We watched them fuss with it for some time, and suddenly the scene we'd witnessed earlier with another couple and this same female server made sense.

We finally received the check and found that they'd added a 20% gratuity on it - for a party of three. That's a lot of nerve, in my opinion. They had no reason to suspect we would stiff them on the tip and I very likely would have left 20% in spite of the chaos, but to have it added onto the bill, especially after admitting that it was not a good customer experience? Unacceptable.

Update: we gave the place another try. This time, there was a private party in the loft again, but only three tables on the main floor and a busy outdoor patio. Same experience with terrific food and poor service. The support staff is attentive, but it's the main server who pushes things along and does follow ups. She was MIA a lot and everything was...

We've been repeat customers over the years. We've had private events and it was the ideal place for us to meet because my mother still lives in the area; but after last night's (11/11/23) experience, we will definitely not return.

Problems began with our server, Kiara. Her timing was completely off. First she wanted to take our order when we barely had a chance to sit, and when we were ready, it took her forever to return.

I asked if it would be possible to order Chicken Francaise, though it was not a menu item. She went to check with the chef and returned to inform me I could.

When the meals came out, the assistant server brought me veal instead of chicken. I sent it back and waited while the rest of my party ate. When they finally brought my "chicken" it was so tough, I could barely penetrate it with my fork. It had a rubbery consistency and was completely inedible. I ate the side of pasta, but returned the meal and mentioned I was not interested in ordering another.

When dessert time came, Julie and I ordered cappuccinos while the rest of our party ordered lava cakes and coffees. Everything came out except our cappuccinos, and after some time, I told Kiara to cancel them because the rest of our group was nearly done. She unapologetically stated that the cappuccinos take longer to prepare than the other items, so I mentioned that in the future, it might be a better idea to prepare these before the other items, not after. Eventually the cappuccinos arrived, though we we no longer interested.

When the bill arrived, it included a 20% gratuity, which in my opinion was undeserved. Apparently this practice for adding the gratuity is standard, because just 8 months earlier, we dined with another couple and the same thing occurred. It was as though the Kiara knew she was getting her tip anyway and made no effort to remedy our situation. A visit from the manager would have gone a long way, since we did nothing to hide our dissatisfaction.

Apparently quality and service mean little to this establishment, and that's a shame, though not too surprising, considering the sparce number of diners in the establishment.

We...

Was very excited to come here. Decided on trying their famous brunch on Mother's Day with my infant son and sister and niece. Aside from the expected busyness, everything was going well. Unfortunately, our experience was eventually spoiled by our server. We sat outside in the patio area and was served by a woman with a heavy European accent. My niece had asked for a lemonade and the server immediately said no without an explanation. So I asked her a second time for clarification and she repeatedly just said no, we don't have it. Several minutes later another server was walking by and I asked her for the cocktail menu and proceeded to ask her about the lemonade drink and she said yes they had lemonade. Very confusing! Our original server came back to our table several minutes later with an attitude and asked me if we were complaining and what was the problem? I simply explained to her that we were inquiring about the drink menu. Her tone and delivery was extremely rude and confrontational. The energy was off after that. We felt uneasy to even ask her for coffee or napkins. It also took over 20 minutes to get our check and even longer to receive our change back. While we were waiting for our change, the server asked us if we were waiting for change with a condescending tone. Very awkward and uncomfortable. We ended up leaving the restaurant and let them keep our change because of how ridiculously long it was taking to get the change. It was only around $10 but still. It was unnecessary....