It is hard to give this place only three stars, but I cannot in good conscience give it more. I have been here on three separate occassions now. The food (which I will talk about more later) was excellent but the service leaves much to be desired. They are either understaffed with servers or have servers that don't care. They are constantly rushing about, looking stressed and frazzled. When you tried to grab one to ask for something, you get an out-of-breath "just a minute" and then have to wait another 10 minutes before trying to catch them again. We called to make a Reservation and were told that since it was only two of us, to just come by. Upon doing so at 18:00 on a Saturday evening, the place was full and the host said he would try to find us something. When he did, he said we could have it, but only until 19:00. Do I Need more than an hour to sit down, order a drink, decide on and order dinner, eat said dinner, pay and leave? Maybe not. But I also don't appreciated being rushed through my meal especially when I tried to make a reservation and was told not to. This was rather frustrating and we decided in the future to just make a reservation for four and show up as two if we cannot find anyone to join us for dinner.
All that being said for the service, the food is quite good. Especially for a chain Restaurant. I have had both Pizza (which is huge!!) and Pasta now. Though I enjoyed the Pizza both times I had it, I loved the Pasta. I ordered the Penne with Italian Sausage, Lauch, and cheese. It was amazing. The Pasta was perfectly cooked, the sausage was spicy but not overpowering and there was just enough Lauch to add some different texture. All this was in an olive oil based sauce (not creamy) and was very light. My friend had ordered the Spaghetti Bolognese and, though quite a simple dish, was most pleased. We both remarked a few times how sad it was that the service was so poor.
The restaurant is quite small inside, making things a little tight. We were here once in the summer and, even though the terrace is open and full of tables, they really pack things in and squeeze as many tables together as possible. This makes what could be a nice dining experience rather uncomfortable and is a real shame. As I know there are some other L'Osteria around the city, next time we are in the mood for Pizza or Pasta, I will be trying out one of the other locations. One very large plus is that leftovers can be taken home... which in the case of the Pizza is a very good thing! read more