Giuseppe's Restaurant, a surprising little Italian restaurant; unfortunately for me, the surprise isn't one of those surprises like I found a $50 bill on the ground. Food, service, decor was all mediocre at best.
When I go out to a new restaurant, like Giuseppe's, I will always ask for a suggestion from the waitstaff, and then order from his or her personal recommendations. The waitress suggested the Chicken Parmesan, one of my favorites, as well as the lasagna. Looking at the two suggestions, I noticed there was an item that included not only both the chicken parmesan and the lasagna, but it also included a third entree, the beef ravioli. I decided to order that, because I would get to try both of my waitress's suggestions, and the beef ravioli. The price of the three entree dish was about 12 dollars I believe.
The chicken parmesan was really what I was looking forward to the most. Because like I said above, it is one of my favorite dishes. I was sorely disappointed. The chicken appeared to be one of those frozen patties that you can buy in bulk at meijer or kroger. It was about a half inch thick slab of meat that tasted processed and frozen. It was dry, bland, and half of it was literally inedible, because it was all fat.
Although the lasagna had a funny taste to it that I couldn't quite place, it turned out to be the best part of the meal. Sadly, it was at best below average when compared to other Italian restaurants in the area.
The beef ravioli was the third part of the dish I ordered, and it was the only one that wasn't recommended by the waitstaff. It only took one bite to realize why this was not on my waitstaff's recommendation list. Once again, a sad example of Italian cuisine. The pasta tasted as if it was frozen. The beef inside the ravioli was greasy and gritty. The sauce accompanying the ravioli was hopefully from a can. If it was homemade, the recipe should be returned to the owner and removed permanently from the kitchen!
I assume the chef knows the food is awful because the entire dish was served beneath a mountain of processed cheese, like (s)he was trying to hide the meal so I didn't have to eat it. I LOVE cheese. I usually request extra cheese. But after finishing what I could manage to swallow, I ended up with a quarter-pound burger (bun and fixings included) sized mound of cheese left over. It did nothing for the presentation of the dish or to complement any part of it, so I am left to assume it was meant to hide the meal from me.
If that was the entire Giuseppe's experience, I would have given it a two star "Meh I experienced better" YELP rating versus the One star "Eek! Methinks not" rating I gave. Because the front of the house staff was not any better. Well, wait that's not fair - the hostess was very friendly, professional, and welcoming. In fact, the hostess offered a much higher level of service than any of the waitstaff did. I could see on her face, that she was almost apologetic that I had come in and was about to experience Giuseppe's throughout the night.
I saw my waitress only 3 times: Once, when she greeted me/suggested me the items, Second time, when she brought me my drink and took my order, and finally, when she dropped off the bill. I was never asked how everything was after receiving any portion of my meal. It's probably best, because I would have most likely walked out halfway through the meal, if she did come by to ask me how everything was. During the few interactions I had with my waitress, she was short and cold with her responses. Because of this, I really honestly felt that I was more of a hassle than a welcomed guest in Giuseppe's. I will be honest, I do have a pretty high standard when it comes to customer service. I have this because I have been working in customer service related fields for 15 years. Giuseppe's falls further below the standard than any other restaurant has in many, many years. I have received a more welcoming experience from fast food employees who's face and tone of voice make it obvious that they hate their job. Short, cold, and almost nonexistent service (once again the exception was the hostess).
Since I mentioned it earlier, the decor around the room was a bit chintzy. I understand what they were thinking, but it's time to remodel and get with the times.
Summing it all up (because it was long):
Good Points: Hostess
Bad Points: Food, Service, Decor, Price (overpriced considering the quality of everything). read more