The food runs from mediocre to good here, depending on what you get. We were there on Sunday, 4-14-23 for dinner at around 7:00. I got Pasta Fagiol soup and it was very authentic and savory. The bowl was large. It was a good way to start off the meal. I decided on Shrimp Fra Diablo and my dining companion got Chicken Parmesan for dinner. Both portions were large. The Fra Diablo was flavorful and pretty spicy like it's supposed to be, albeit a bit too much for my taste. The shrimp were large but there were only five of them. The marinara sauce on the chicken was good. The chicken cutlets were disappointing--dry, a bit rubbery, and did not have the best flavor. Chicken Parm should be easily cut with a fork and practically melt in your mouth. This did not. We actually went to Carrabba's shortly after this dinner, and their Chicken Parm was far superior to this. I'm very picky about my chicken too. I only buy organic chicken breasts and I know how to cook them so they're tender. We won't be ordering it from Lombardi's again.
The entrees came with a few slices of cold bread and butter. That was a bit disappointing. Salads were not included with the meal. I was overall pretty happy with the food though.
The service was a different story. Our server started out ok but wasn't overly friendly, just going through the motions, which was fine at first. Our food came out fast because it wasn't very busy in the restaurant. A large group had finished and the servers wanted to go home. I know that because they were all up front talking about it and the fact that the tips were bad all night. That's not something I want to listen to while I'm trying to relax and eat my dinner!
Anyway, our server (petite blond with glasses) delivered our meals and then checked back to see how they were. That was all good so far. Then she seemed in a rush to get us out the door. She came back again while we were still eating to ask if we wanted anything else. I told her not right now. Then when I had finished eating, but my dining companion was still eating dinner with a good amount of food left on the plate, the server came back again to ask if we wanted anything else or dessert. I told her I would like a to-go container for my food but we weren't sure about dessert because he wasn't done eating yet. She said sorry and left. How do you not know as a server to not ask about dessert while people are still eating? It's rude and common sense not to do it. Who trained her?
She brought the dessert tray and nothing looked very appetizing or homemade. They were all these little round cakes on a tray that looked mass produced and were obviously bought from somewhere else. She did mention cannolis and tiramisu too. Last time we were there, the desserts looked all homemade and included delicious coconut cake. We declined dessert.
Our server brought over the check, I put a credit card down and she took it. Then she came back to the table, dropped the check without saying a word, and started walking away. My companion said, "Thank you.", and she said, "Yeah." She seemed to have a gotten an attitude when I told her we didn't know about dessert since he was still eating. That and trying to rush us annoyed me. If you work for tips, be at least minimally pleasant, and also at least say thank you when dropping a check. If it weren't for customers coming into the restaurant to eat, you wouldn't have a job! Fake it if you have to.
The only one who was cheerful and nice was a very tall young woman who said thank you to us as we left. The others all complained loudly as they cleaned up and then as they were sitting down talking up front for most of the time we were there. I don't know who the manager was or if there even was one at the time. Someone needs to re-train the servers how to wait on a table and discourage them from having loud personal conversations in front of guests, especially complaining about bad tips. Maybe if they spent more time working, instead of complaining about guests loudly in front of other guests, their tips would be better. It put a damper on our night out when we wanted to relax, not listen to their complaining.
Last time we had a very friendly, great server, who was an older woman. It was a busy Saturday night and everything went well.
Maybe we'll give Lombardi's another try since the food is good. Hopefully if we do, we'll be lucky, not order the Chicken Parm or Shrink mo Fra Diablo, and get a competent, friendly server. Bring back the coconut cake! read more