Why There?
When eyeing an email from Groupon I spotted a 5 course Italian dinner for 2 for only $75, nothing beats that price. My husband is the biggest Italian fan I know, I like it but he LOVES it so I was rather excited to go.
Now the Review:
We were able to choose one antipasti, one Caesar or La Mista salad, one primi course, two entrees, and one Tiramisu. All we had to do was get a little wine recommended and our Italian evening would begin.
After finally getting seated they had chosen the smallest table available, note my husband is 6’5’’ and built like a linebacker, he does not like to cause a scene so we stayed at that table.
Our server was very prompt and knew exactly what bottle of wine to recommend right when we asked. It was Ruvei Barber d’Alba 2001, an amazing bottle, so good. I am realizing I am a lover of Italian wines.
We were encouraged to order all our choices right away but when I said I was not ready she was very nice. I had to keep repeating everything for my husband because he could not understand her very well because she was very soft spoken and the table behind us was extremely obnoxious. Pretty much thought he was THE EXPERT on all BYU sports and was that person you can just tell is bullshitting it all and really has no idea. It reminded me of the guy who sits in front of us at the BYU football games and yells the dumbest things that do not even coincide with the rules. My husband had a scholarship with BYU for football until he had a career ending knee injury so it is funny when we run into people like this. This cat was not even drinking so there was no excused for being so loud and obnoxious.
For our appetizer we chose the Capesante, sautéed scallops, shrimp and calamari over a bed of spinach in a wine reduction. This was absolutely amazing; the scallops were so tender and just melted in your mouth. The shrimp was delicious and I did not know how I felt about the calamari. I guess I was picturing the average calamari you get everywhere else, not these rolled up ones. They were kind of tough and flavorless. The sauce was a perfect mix of lemon and a buttery taste, it was astonishingly succulent. To our surprise our waitress brought us brouchette for free and it was so much more than the average, the flavor was so fresh and wonderful.
After we got our appetizers we randomly got our bread basket which was pretty good. The bread was pretty average but the olive oil had pesto in it which made it pretty tasty.
The Primi course we chose was the Pasta Duo which consisted of house made spinach and ricotta ravioli topped fontina, parmesan, gorgonzola, goat cheese cream sauce and potato gnocchi in a spicy tomato sauce. I thought my favorite of this course was going to be the gnocchi but it was BY FAR the cheese sauce on the ravioli. I mean if my stomach could handle it I could have eaten a gallon of it. It was so rich and creamy and oh I do not even have words for the flavor. I would die if I could make it myself.
My Secondi was the Piccata Di Pollo Al Limone with rosemary and fennel crusted duck breast, vincotto, roasted figs. The best part of it was the figs, so sweet and brought the special part of the sauce out. The duck was good and very tender but it was not my favorite part of the meal. I took my left overs home and did not end up eating them. The presentation of my meal was by far one of the prettiest I have ever seen if it did not look like it was displayed in a puddle.
My husband had taken a look at the menu before hand and “called dibs” on the Vitello in Saltimbocca which was veal scallopine topped with aged prosciutto and fresh mozzarella. When I took a bite it was amazing and the mozzarella was very strong and that is hard to come by.
We each got a second glass of wine that my husband chose, it was a Chianti wine. It definitely tasted better than it smelled but it still did not taste great. I thought it was ok but my husband hated it, he said it tasted oily and like what he imagined watered down motor oil would taste like. I think he was a little over board.
Before we got desert they did come and scrap our table, which was very nice, something I always appreciate.
I was not a huge fan of the Tiramisu, ladyfinger’s, mascarpone cream, espresso and cocoa powder but that was only because I do not really like cocoa powder. Other than that it was great, it was soft and creamy. Our after dinner espressos went very well with the desert.
The Verdict:
The server was outstanding, they were always there to fill our glasses and make sure we were happy without interrupting our meal. When it came time for us to go because my husband’s knee was hurting pretty bad from the cramped table he just signed the receipt, gave a 20% tip and we took off. I asked what the bill came out to and he said the full bill before our Groupon was taken into account was almost $400 and our portion was just over $200. I was like there is NO possible way that is correct. The only thing we had to pay for was our drinks because the food was already paid for. I added our drinks up in my mind and knew this was off. So I called the restaurant to check and see if possibly they added our tip in for us before we got the bill, it added up to be about right if that was the case. The restaurant closed at 9pm and I started calling at 8:40pm with no answer. No one answered the phone but we knew the hostess was still there because we just said bye to her maybe 2 minutes before. I called again and again until it got practically amusing that no one would answer. In about a 30-minute period my husband and I called 30+ times with no answer, we left two messages, one from myself and one from my husband. Finally, at 5pm the next day my husband and not me got a call back and said they would take our 20% tip off and did not even apologize for taking it upon themselves to add in at tip when the menu CLEARLY states gratuity is not included. I also read every word on that Groupon and they did not state they would add in the tip for us. In the end we got what we wanted but I was little annoyed that they were shady, did not recognize that they ignored us all night and most of the next day when our bill was nearing $400. You would think they would want us back. Plus, I did not mention in my review that they neighboring table’s waiter stepped on my food and all he offered was to “check it”. I am not a snob so I really did not care about an accident. But when we get the to point of adding a tip in for a party of two without telling us, stepping on my to go bag and ignoring my phone calls I sort of thought they might be a little more gracious and have some customer service skills. Whatever, our meal was honestly great and I will not be the person to ask for any special attention. A few days later we got another call from a woman who listened to our messages, she asked if everything was worked out and then offered us an invitation to a red carpet even they were putting on for people who have food blogs. Nice gesture but it would have been a little nicer if she was not LYING. We did not receive the invite or another call with any details or information. Way to get our hopes up and them smash them to pieces AGAIN. Sometimes good food cannot make up for horrible customer service. We will NOT be going back and do not recommend for anyone else to go there and have a shady experience.
Let me also mention that when I went to find their Twitter or FaceBook information on their website I find that the Twitter icon just brings you back to the same page. Fix your website and don’t pretend you have a Twitter and FaceBook account if you do not, not classy.
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