Villa Verona Vineyard — Restaurant in Town of Verona

So I just want to say that I had heard wonderful reviews about this place and am just so saddened about how the annexed building with live entertainment had been a great disappointment. Not sure if it has to do with how management handled the influx of restaurant goers or if it was the bartender and her lack of attention to detail. I get it’s hard to find good service nowadays, but if you are in the service business of entertaining and food preparation then shouldn’t the comfort for the patrons be YOUR number 1 priority? My husband and I ordered and paid up our tabs half with cash and half with debit card. What I find perplexing is how is it that after we settled our bill at time we ordered and being the first couple to order two salads with chicken add on, not only got served last, and way after the meat orders were served, but at least 1 hour 1/2 after we ordered?? Throughout the time we saw all of our friends order and have been served and have eaten their meals, we asked about our orders. We were told by the waitress/bartender, our order was coming two times. The host of the party also inquired in the bistro restaurant. A few times we got it’s coming, it will be 15 min, then a few minutes, and then the main excuse was you had gotten at least 20 people arrive at the bistro. So you own two buildings, to be filled to capacity you would need to accommodate for the patrons and have enough food for the accommodations; we know because my husband used to manage and run a restaurant premiere in Niagara, near the marina. You as a restaurant should be able to handle all situations at any given time, and have the right amount of servers, waiters and staff at hand. That is your responsibility as what you are selling…a good time and food. We were a reserved party and had the amount of people at hand already! Two weeks prior to our event that night. So I am writing this review to alert others that if you make plans to have a party and have a good time don’t expect too much from this facility and don’t expect to be served right away. They are very short staffed and depending on the type of event you expect to have; don’t expect much regarding service. The bartender was very short staffed and left to her own volition which I’m sure she is not the owner and was doing someone a favor that night. She was not dressed like everyone else which should have been black which gives me the conclusion she was called in as a last resort. Villa Verona, get it together, this was extremely unprofessional and tasteless as a business in this area, expectations are high and you should be aware of this. Lastly, you restaurant may have people looking to hook up. If that is your thing fine, but while I was sitting there waiting for my husband to come back from smoking, someone was trying to ask me out. Didn’t think this was that kind of place, considering I was with my party. But needless to say he waited for myself and husband to leave before leaving. He arrived alone. He left in a Mercedes. Very odd behavior. Just so you know I am a mental health therapist before you decide to defend yourself, and gaslight this whole review, I know what I’m talking about. I study human behavior for a living that incident and this service was definitely off. You’re getting 2 stars because I celebrated my friends birthday, and the food after we got home wasn’t that bad. But had some wilted lettuce. And a much smaller order than what was served on actual plates. Wow!! Maybe I should cut back to one. But...

I want to love this place so badly, and it pains me to say it, but I just can't. First, the hours they're open are minimal and the execution of what they do is limping along, at best, even after having been there a couple of times with varying ways of carrying out business.

Last summer I didn't write a review because mistakes happen and it was so bad, I didn't want to share it. I was sick a few days prior with salmonella poisoning and finally feeling somewhat decent and wanted to sit and listen to music.

They have great talent available all the time and the performers are always hit and never miss. I took the safe route and ordered a grilled chicken sandwich but taking so long for it to arrive, it was dark and they were literally closing. After my first bite, I knew something was amiss but disregarded it and took a second bite. My chicken breast was RAW. Not slightly undercooked or a little pink, either. The kind of raw that the second bite was cold, slimy, and I could hear it, which did not help my stomach. Using the flashlight on my cellphone I opened the sandwich and confirmed that it had been cooked for no more than about a min because the surface was barely white. I didn't review it because they addressed it in a way I found very satisfactory. They didn't downplay it or try to sugarcoat it. The server was horrified, followed by a second server. A manager apologized profusely and wiped our entire bill away, more than I expected. They made an appropriately BIG DEAL about it. Then the owner came over with a gift certificate asking if we would come back. I told her the gc wasn't necessary but she insisted. That's why I never posted anything. They didn't deserve to be trashed for it.

I finally used the gift certificate a few days ago because it was going to expire. Everything was the same, yet different, and not different in a better way. It's weird.

You seat yourself outside after waiting inside to be sure you're supposed to seat yourself but no one tells you that there's no table service. Food and drinks are purchased in the building like a cafeteria, then a server delivers it, (if you're lucky).

Roasted beet salad, medium wings, and poutine took 45 min to receive. We got there at 8, so again closing and music ending by the time the food arrived. I found the salt the girl in a previous review was looking for; it's in the poutine. All of it, every grain of salt in the restaurant was in our poutine which is probably why her food needed salt. Roasted beet salad with CANNED BEETS? Seriously? Served with a poorly made lump of mozzarella in lieu of goat cheese? Just, WHYYYYY? Wings were pretty good but be prepared to go to a, "vineyard" that is always out of half the wine selections.

I ordered the tasting which at $5 for 6 samples was really fairly priced and about all I would drink anyway but apparently they don't offer that menu item, "when there's live music"...say what, now? Isn't there always live music? If not, then perhaps notate that on the menu because the other option for a flight is $16 and too much to drink for me. 5-6 wine selections of the approx 15 listed were sold out.

As sad as it is to say, that was my third trip there, so three strikes. Maybe narrow down your focus instead of offering parties, music, dinner, a spa (?), and several other things and focus on a few things to excel at before diving into the abyss and failing. For these reasons, they've...

Service was very poor. First, we had reservations for 5 at 7PM on a Friday night. The restaurant was not full, however we still were not seated for 10 minutes beyond the reservation time. The waitresses were overwhelmed and flustered the entire time we were there. It took approximately 30 minutes after the reservation time before we finally got drinks of any kind (including water).

The bartender disappeared for 45 minutes and during that time, the waitresses struggled with suggesting alternatives for beers. Most of the beer menu was unavailable and the majority of the beers they had on hand were not listed. The “maple bacon Manhattan” one person ordered was the special of the day and we were informed after ordering, that it wasn’t available because they had not prepared the bacon earlier in the day.

We ordered the Poutine and Caramelized Brussels as appetizers. The poutine was average, at best, with soggy fries and gravy; I doubt the brisket was smoked (it tasted and appeared to have been cooked in a slow cooker) and there was no perceptible cheese curd. The caramelized brussels had a distinct bitter/burned aftertaste. This was before the waitress inadvertently poured water into the brussel sprouts trying to refill a glass; she said “oops” but did not apologize or attempt to rectify the situation.

4/5 of us ordered a beef-based burger, and only after we ordered were we informed that they had no ground beef left for any burgers (please note, the waitress did not leave the table; she knew prior to taking orders that they were out of beef but took all of the orders before remembering there was no beef). Burgers make up a large percentage of the menu and was also one of the specials that we were offered that night. The waitress indicated they “sold like 25 burgers at lunch” and because it is farm-to-table, they don’t get much in each day. She also informed us that this was “kind of the point of farm-to-table” (to only get in what will be used that day) and “if you wanted something specific you should have called ahead.” I guess making a reservation wasn’t calling ahead and really you are supposed to order your meal days in advance.

No other farm-to-table restaurant I’ve been to seems to have this problem of running out of large percentages of their menus, with no alternative offerings, nor do they make you order in advance of arriving at the restaurant. Further, I’ve never been to a restaurant that did so little to make things right considering they had so...