Ynot Italian restaurant — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

I've been coming to this location since they opened, that is like 1991 or 1992. So hear me out. 32 years is a long time. I have eaten here by myself, with family and friends many many times for special occasions, etc., and just for fun. Always enjoyed it. I've ordered many of the items on the menu and all of it was good. I remember the original narrow, deep footprint and then the subsequent additions of the deli and then an ice cream parlor and all of that. Really cool to see things evolve now into a really large space.

Ynot was also always known as the place where you could get good Italian American food and at a very good value and feel like you walked away satisfied and happy each time. They never tried to be Aldo's or Pasta e Pani or New York New York or Bella Italia or Il Giardino or Isle of Capri or Sirena or any the myriad other fancier Italian joints that littered their zip code and the adjacent zip code. Admittedly, I ate at those places too. And you knew what you were getting with each different experience. And how much money to bring haha. Ynot never tried to compete with that, they just stayed in their lane offering good food and a good price. Family oriented.

Now, I had not been to Ynot in a couple of years, mostly because I moved residences, so on my recent perusal of the menu I was surprised that things had changed so much and that prices...well, gulp...had skyrocketed well beyond even what the crazy pandemic-induced inflationary pressures would/should have dictated. For a lasagna and a side salad, $28? For a bowl of pasta with no meat and only marinara and a side salad, $20 plus dollars? The bowl of pasta with meatLESS sauce is probably $2.35 food cost. If that. Just three years ago that dinner would cost me around $13. Lasagna dinner around $19.75. And before you say that everything else everywhere else has gone up, while that is true, if you look at places with economies of scale, at local competitors like No Frill Grill, their prices have gone up maybe 15-20% at most, while Ynot has raised prices 40 to 50 plus percent? This doesn't add up. Pizzas exceeding $30? A hot sub and fries at 22 bucks? A salmon salad is almost $30 while at many other places around town that are also as good or better you can get them for 18 to 25....and they haven't gone up 50% either.

And those are just a few examples, as I haven't really dissected the entire menu... although I saw salads can rise into the twenties with just chicken given all the customizations available. You can get those all day in the mid-teen at other reputable places. And no, I don't mean Applebee's lol. I mean good places.

I don't know what happened to the owners. The family men with the family restaurant have removed family out of the equation. This is not family-friendly pricing. Not anymore. From now on I'm going to just go to Aldo's or the others and blow my wad because they are now a much a better value on a relative basis, as their prices haven't gone up nearly as much on a percentage basis. No Frill is killing it, always packed and prices are still good. The quality of their produce and product is better and their food costs with all of the seafood and other meats they serve has got to cos more than cheese and dough and pasta and sauce. I can't even figure out how they do it, but maybe Ynotshould ask them. So much for economies of scale with Ynot.

We have choices. And I'm choosing, sadly, to end things with this establishment after 32 years. I have a lot of good memories that I'll...

I order from YNot quite a lot when I'm at work; I have never eaten in the restaurant; only delivery or to-go. Up until this past summer, save a few isolated incidents, I almost never had to call about anything. The rare occasion that I did, I received a replacement order and some cookies as an apology. The food quality had always been excellent, they rarely got an order wrong, and their pizza and marinara sauce has always been top notch.

Given my experiences this past summer, I cannot figure out what's gone wrong. I've had everything go wrong from the cheese on my pizza having slid to one side (obviously driver error), to Chicken Marsala that was swimming in grease, to watery Caprese' Salad with mushy crostini, to my orders not arriving accurately prepared.

If I call to bring the mistake to their attention, they will typically offer to re-make it. That's acceptable, however it's another 30 minutes to an hour that I have to wait for my food on top of the original 30 minutes to an hour and they no longer send the apology cookies. There's been several times that I have ordered later in the evening, and my order arrived incorrect about the time they were closing up the restaurant (I have not made that mistake again since the Marsala). Those times, because the kitchen was closed, I was offered a 10% discount on my next order; which is a joke when you have paid full price for an order that arrived incorrectly prepared. The Marsala was so gross, I did not want a replacement even if the kitchen had still been open - I wanted a refund because my food was inedible. I even offered to send photos or have them pick it up. The best that they offered me was to remake the Marsala and send it whenever I wanted to order it again. That Marsala went in the trash and I have never ordered it again because that first one was so atrocious.

Tonight's screw up was the last straw for me. Instead of ordering online, like I usually do, I ordered by phone because A. I was told previously by an employee that some mistakes occur because the tickets don't always print out all the options selected online, and B. because I wanted to add something that was unavailable to add online. I told the employee that took my order that I did not want marinara sauce on my Italian sausage sub. I didn't just say it once, I reiterated that I didn't want marinara no less than four times. Guess what? My sub arrived an hour later - WITH marinara on it. They sent me a new one, but it arrived over an hour later.

I worked in restaurants the majority of my young adult life. I know what it's like to work both the front, and the back of the house. I know mistakes get made on occasion and things fall through the cracks, but habitual mistakes with a single customer is inexcusable. Failure to read and prepare an order accurately is either an attention issue, or an issue of an employee not caring what they are doing. Putting out food that is inferior or unappetizing is an ultimate failure for quality control - someone isn't checking orders before they leave the kitchen; for example, the Caprese', Marsala, and Italian sausage sub issues. I am over the obvious lack of oversight. They do use quality ingredients, and portion sizes are fair, but a restaurant is only as good as their staff and the quality of their finished food product. At this point, I feel they are...

Went there last night with my wife it was the worst ever in all the years that we've been going there I gave service five stars because our waiter was the best and kept apologizing for everything. My caprese salad was not standard I don't know what they were trying to do I took a picture of it I don't know how to put it on here the pesto is on the bottom the bread and cheese and tomato on top of that and then the balsamic dressing on top it looks like they just do it on the plate and gave it to me we spent $84 last night at your establishment Tony and was very unhappy with this it was so hot at least had to be 80°me and my wife are so uncomfortable we asked for a dinner to go there was two families that came in sat in front of me in the booth I sat right across from the chopped salad area they got all their food before we left and they came in after I just finished that caprese there was a family in the back that was eating and the guy did not even get his dinner and when he got it it was raw I wish I could figure out how to put this picture up on here the way they serve my appetizer looks like they threw it on the plate it was so bad last night . And on top of it I didn't even get my points for my rewards for last night's dinner after I gave the waiter my phone number and everything there was a girl in a gray long-sleeve sweatshirt I think she was some kind of somebody being in charge how hot it was in there she lifted her hair in the back her back of her shirt was soaking wet her hair was wet I'll watch the girl chop a salad and she's just dripping sweat because of the AC was not working if this is how this is going to be ran I definitely will not be coming back something has to be fixed there I ever seen in the years I've been going there. I felt sorry for the girl with the wet shirt that was working there she looked like she was ready to pass out and me not getting my points I'm a little frustrated about that...