Verona Inn — Restaurant in Verona

I had a LivingSocial deal that was sitting around to this place, and I ended up going on the last day before expiration. We went for dinner, and were asked if we wanted to sit in the dining area or the bar area. We chose the dining area, but the atmosphere of that area was pretty bad. The area is dark and undecorated, with cheap tables and chairs, and a couple of TVs with the news distracting attention. Surprisingly, after we had drinks on the table, the manager came by and informed us that there was a party coming into this section and he wanted to move us to the bar area. We actually didn't have a problem with that, so we moved, and he actually put our appetizer we ordered on the house for our trouble.

The bar area was much nicer looking and much more vibrant and bright. It was noisier, and we were now at a high-table, but we were fine with that. The bigger pain was that they didn't help too much in moving everyone from one table to another, causing us to lose 1 water, all silverware, and a couple other odds and ends from the switch; we just had to ask for it again, which took longer than expected on each run.

My wife got the house burger as a vegeburger, which said it came with lettuce, tomato, and house sauce. Rather, it came with absolutely nothing: just the vegeburger on a bun with slow on the side. We asked for lettuce and tomato, and he said it doesn't normally come with that, but we said it was on the menu, so he brought it for us. I actually noticed a different waiter bringing lettuce and tomato on a plate to another patron, so I suppose the same thing happened there.

The food was average, nothing spectacular. The drink selection was pretty good. I was excited to try some craft beers I saw on the online menu, but the actual craft beer menu that they had was far less impressive.

When the meal was over, we sat and waited for our waiter to appear to get our check for a solid 10 minutes before I flagged down another waiter. Rather than being apologetic, he basically just asked "who is your waiter?", and we said we didn't know but we hadn't seen him in quite a while.

Overall, pretty bad service, but some good deals on drinks and average food. It's a decent bar scene, but nothing too much...

My trivia team of four has been coming to this restaurant almost weekly for a few years now. With a few exceptions (namely the parmagiana tater tots and nachos, which are over-sauced and soggy), the food is good, although the sweet "Hawaiian" buns on the hamburgers are not to my taste. (They're what those of us from Hawaii would call "Portuguese sweet bread.") The service is good--probably because we're regulars--and the servers are attentive and friendly. The atmosphere is noisy--it's basically a sports bar--and it's not possible to hold a conversation. The restaurant is also poorly lit, so I bring along a portable rechargeable mini deak lamp.

Unfortunately, the main reason we were coming to this restaurant is now gone. Verona Inn hosts a trivia game on Tuesday nights at 8. While the new host, Olivia, is super nice and reads well, she's just not the previous host, Stephen, who is exceptionally good. Even a month later, I'm still angry that the Verona Inn fired Stephen because of some obviously drunk guy who insisted on calling out the answers, thereby spoiling the game for those who were playing. The drunk guy claimed he was "just talking to his wife." (No, he wasn't--he was just being inconsiderate, entitled, and contrary.) After warning the drunk guy twice quietly, Stephen, who is passionate about trivia and running a good game, finally scolded the guy publicly over the mike, telling him to stop his rude behavior. Well... it turns out the drunk guy was a "regular" (funny, I had never seen him before, but maybe he usually came in on a different day, or maybe was a little less under the influence and more in control of himself on previous occasions) and used his clout to get Stephen fired.

Well, if the Verona Inn would rather support the whims of one obnoxious, arrogant, entitled jerk than support the rights of all the people in the trivia teams who had come for dinner, drinks, and a carefully crafted trivia game, I'm fine with ceasing to be a "regular" there. I suspect I'm not alone in this. I hope that Trivia Revolution finds a new restaurant for Stephen soon; I enjoyed being able to attend a good trivia game...

I’ve gone to the Verona Inn at least once a month for the last several years (aside from deep in the pandemic). It’s in my top three places to frequent. Great tap list, solid food, excellent service. Normally five stars.

Tonight I was disappointed for the first time ever when I was served portions that were noticeably less than normal. First, I was poured a beer in a goblet (smaller than a pint, which is unusual for this place). It was only half full though. Maybe 6-8 oz. When I asked why the glass wasn’t filled, I was told the management instructed the staff to do this because it was higher alcohol content. It was only 1% more than a similar beer that I’ve ordered before that always comes in a full pint for the same price. The logic didn’t make sense, so when I asked about it and the staff went out of their way to pour a proper pint. I suggested posting volume of pours on the menu in cases like this, all was fine.

Then came my meal. I’m one of those creatures of habit that orders the same wrap almost every time. It’s not a big meal as it is and was significantly smaller than usual to the point that I was still hungry after I ate.

I get that inflation is a major challenge for restaurants, and I want to see this one continue to thrive. Writing this review as constructive feedback to the management - changes like this should be communicated to patrons. Or I’d be happy to pay a little more rather than feel shortchanged on the items I order. Hope things improve...