Azzurri Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Virginia

Liars, frauds, and thieves.

I was given a gift certificate to Azzurri's last year on my birthday, which I was very thankful for.

Today, I decided to use it to treat my family out to dinner there, as we'd all had a pretty rough day.

However, when the meal was over and I tried to pay, I was informed that my gift certificate was no longer valid, because it was issued on a year prior to this one. I was told by the waitress that "the boss" had said it was no good, and apparently that was that.

I tried to ask questions about this, but was stonewalled every time. There is no expiration date on the gift certificate? Doesn't matter, boss said no. Why was no one told this when the certificate was issued? I don't know, she said. The boss said so. Can I get a refund, then? Can we get the money back? No, of course not. The boss said so. I asked why credit can't simply be given on it. Apparently that would unbalance the numbers at the end of the night. Funny, my family giving them a lump of cash last year in exchange for the certificate didn't seem to upset their books at all. I wonder how that works. A question for the IRS.

I never got to see this "boss." Even though this turned into a bit of a ruckus (I love my family dearly, and they stuck up for me), 'the boss' never deigned to come out from the back room and speak to us. So I don't know who they are.

But I know what they are. A liar, a fraud, and a thief. If a restaurant isn't going to honor gift certificates, they shouldn't issue them. If a gift certificate is going to have an expiration date on it, they need to be clearly marked as such. That certificate was hand-written on a piece of paper, and while it did have an issue date, it had no expiration date. Which meant it should have been valid whether one year passed or fifty.

This was a deeply embarrassing incident, and I can't express in words how grateful I am that I have as good of a family as I do. I already nearly died from embarrassment, but it could have been a lot worse if they weren't so supportive and angry on my behalf. I won't be going back to Azzurris, and neither will any member of my family.

tl;dr Azzurris hands out gift certificates but refuses to honor them. That money is stolen, and their transactions in selling them are fraudulent. I can't tell you not to eat here, but you shouldn't ever bother buying a gift card or certificate from them, because they'll just keep the money and act dumb when you try to redeem it.

My only regret was not demanding the waitress give me the certificate back, so I could keep it as evidence. I didn't think about it until I was...

This place was highly recommended. I made a reservation for a group using Google’s reservation option on the website but was told they didn’t have it in their system, despite me receiving an email confirmation. However, even though they didn’t have it, they still were able to make the reservation for me to accommodate my group. When we got there, the older lady who received us was very pleasant and seemed genuinely happy we were there. My husband and I were the first two people there out of our group and were seated in our reserved area. They told us that there weren’t enough menus for the table but that was fine because our group hadn’t arrived yet. Our group took longer to arrive than expected due to the wedding we were celebrating, so I was concerned that we would be asked to leave or be reseated once they all arrived. But we weren’t, so I thought everything would be fine. Our server came over and had the exact opposite response of the lady who greeted us. During our entire visit, she made us feel unwelcomed and unwanted.

They constantly reached over my parents invading their personal space when passing out food. The server sat a water container for us to serve our own waters. When I discussed her behavior with the manager Sarah (sp?), she said that our server had been talked to before about her attitude and disposition but that she had just had a baby and was working a long shift today. In addition, it was CNU’s family night and they weren’t prepared for the busyness. The manager apologized and told us to come back and just ask for her by name.

I’m not sure what my group could’ve done differently because we didn’t just walk in as a large party, we weren’t rowdy or disrespectful, and we didn’t make a scene. I’m not sure why we were treated this way. I’ve been pregnant and worked in food service before, and in no way did I EVER make a guest feel how that young lady made us feel.

My husband wants to come back and give it another try because of the fact that this restaurant was recommended so highly I’d...

I do not usually post reviews, but when a restaurant is simply amazing, it is hard not to tell the whole world about it! This was my boyfriend and I's first time at Azzurri, and we were not dissapointed!!! First of all, this restaurant is family owned, and the owner himself is actually from Italy. He is simply a delight and very involved with the restaurant. He is also the chef in the kitchen, which you do not see that often in restaurants. You will get true authentic italian food. Not something you get at a chain like Olive Garden or Carraba's. We were welcomed like we were apart of their own family! Our Appetizer was the Bruschetta Toscana which was so amazing! For my Entrée, I had the Lasagna Bolognese, and my boyfriend had the chicken alfredo! Both were simply so divine, that I literally had no words with how perfect and delicious it was.

The chef is a true artist and is simply so skilled at what he does, that you will not regret coming here!! I am extremely picky with pasta as well, but, they knew how to get it to perfection. The decor and atmosphere is also so welcoming, much like if you were sorta to go to a Cafe in Italy mixed with a fancy flair.

Our server Nathan, was also so knowledgeable about the menu and about the food that it was astounding. Service was top notch and my water was never empty. They have made regulars out of us now for sure! The prices also can't be beat. It was very fair. They even have a lunch menu which is even cheaper!

If you are looking for great service, a welcoming atmosphere, great food for a decent price, then look no further, because this place is...