La Piazza Restaurant — Restaurant in Wallingford

My party should have read the room when we walked into this establishment but I hope our experience will service as your cautionary tale that there are more quality places to spend your hard earned money.

When we were looking at the menu our waitress made it clear our appetizers and entrees had to be ordered together because the kitchen was stressed. We got calamari, $17.95 for previously cooked and rubbery calamari. Some bonus points because there were tentacles.

For the entree, two of us ordered the chicken parmigiana, we asked to have vodka sauce instead of marinara and we swapped penne instead of linguine. The chicken was chewy and barely edible. Between that and the calamari, we were already very disappointed in the food quality. Another order the MP halibut dish.

When the bill came, the halibut was $50.95 and there were two miscellaneous $6.99 charges for VODKA SAUCE. The entree itself being $23.95 brings this to a little under 30% UPCHARGE for a sauce swap. The waitress took all the blame for not telling us and she removed it from the bill. The charge stated it was for the vodka sauce, not even for the sauce and pasta swap. While I give her maybe 50% of the blame for this asinine charge, this is way more on owners/management for 1. thinking this is okay 2. not training staff to warn customers 3. charging that much.

When my group chatted about this experience we agreed somewhere between $2.50-$4.00 was a fair upcharge but after that it is bordering...

I never write reviews, but I am in shock over the service we just experienced here. It is Mothers Day, so I made reservations 2 days prior. We were sat immediately, but outside of the kind gentleman who poured us water and gave us bread, we were not acknowledged or spoken to for 45 minutes. Everyone around us seemed to be getting 5 star service, so we were very confused as to what was happening. We finally were able to put in our drink orders, which took another 15 minutes. A waitress finally appeared, with absolutely no apology or explanation on the wait time (she had been circling amd serving the tables next to us, so it isn't as if she didn't know we were there) and took our orders. The food was okay. We asked to have a to go item when we put in our original order, reminded her when handing back our finished plates, and it didn't come until we had to ask a 4th time and be given a separate check. That process took another 15 mins. A lunch that should have taken an hour tops, took 2.25 hours. I know places get busy, especially on a holiday, the part that upset us most was watching the larger tables be waited on hand and foot with absolutely no wait times, while our party of four was treated completely opposite. Wouldn't recommend visiting this establishment if you aren't a...

Update: We visited the establishment today for lunch and had a Caesar salad with chicken and a stuffed chicken breast.

Wallingford has been known as a charming town with favorable tax rates and electricity prices. However, it may now be gaining recognition for its exceptional restaurants on Center Street.

La Piazza is one such establishment, offering a warm and inviting atmosphere with crisp white tablecloths and ample seating in both the dining room and bar area.

On a recent Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of dining at La Piazza with a group of high school friends and family. We opted for a family-style meal, beginning with appetizers of meatballs and fried calamari, followed by penne alla vodka and entrees of chicken parmesan and pork chops calabrese. The meal concluded with a celebratory dessert of a candlelit cannoli plate and cappuccino.

We were all thoroughly impressed with the quality and generous portions of the food. The chef and owner, Christian, and his sister, Elizabetha, made sure to check on us throughout the evening, along with the attentive and professional servers.

Overall, it was an exceptional dining experience, and we highly recommend La Piazza. We give it a well-deserved...