What happened, Limoncello? My family and i have come here many times in the past, though it was now a year since our last visit. Today's experience, which was supposed to be a special occasion given that it was Mother's Day, was appalling. Clearly the restaurant had overbooked; that was obvious from the tight, uncomfortable seating. Even though we'd made reservations, the table at which we were seated was positioned in such a way that it jutted out into the main walkway through which waiters passed carrying other tables over their heads, barely missing us on one occasion. So it was crowded. As soon as we sat down, a bus person came by to take our water order. We wanted to also give our drink order, but no go, she said, she could only ask about water. Two minutes later, another bus person came by and started filling our glasses with water. Because I'd ordered a bottled sparkling water, I told him not to fill my glass --- he misunderstood, and started to take away everyone's water. It seemed comical at the time, but actually was just a foreshadow of how disorganized and awful dinner would be.
We ordered an appetizer of homemade mozzarella and a carpaccio of tomato, eggplant, basil and balsamic vinegar. After 40 minutes --- during which a group of five was seated next to us, served before us, and were already on dessert --- we were presented with a plate of cheese and eggplant, and olive oil. No tomato, no basil, no balsamic vinegar. I managed to get the waitress's attention, and she was as helpful as could be, returning the plate to the kitchen and asking them to re-do it properly. In another five minutes, the plate returned with three slices of a bland, nearly colorless supermarket tomato. Still no basil or balsamic. But we'd waited such a long time and were hungry, so we reluctantly accepted it, wondering what in the world was happening in the kitchen.
Finally, dinner arrived. Let me say, I've had the chicken limoncello here several times in the past; it used to be the restaurant's signature dish, always quite tasty. The version of it that was served today was disgusting! The cutlet was thick and undercooked, and arrived lukewarm without any seasoning or sauce. II tasted bad, and after a few bites I stopped eating, afraid I might get food poisoning from it. Not even the ground pepper helped; and by the way while other tables had their own salt and pepper shakers, ours were missing, and both had to be asked for. The asparagus was also nearly raw, and the potatoes looked & tasted as if they'd been reheated. And mind you, we'd already waited an hour when finally served. I can honestly say that I've had many, many different types of dining experiences nationally and internationally, but today's will rank among my top ten worst dinners ever. Oh, I almost forgot another comical note --- after we were done with dinner, a new waiter came by and asked who'd ordered the cabernet! The wine had been ordered and thankfully served with dinner; I don't know on what planet people have their dinner wine after the meal rather than with it. A comedy of errors, except that it resulted in some of us going hungry while still having to pay for an inedible meal.
The one star in this review is due to the only positive note in this, our waitress, who actually seemed embarrassed at having to serve us this slop. She was so nice that I felt a little bad for her when I declined taking home the rest of the meal. Finally, she offered dessert.... Well, guess what, of course they were out of nearly everything. The only things left were some frozen concoctions that are typically served in cafes with limited meal options. We got our check and left. Though we were happy to patronize this establishment in the past because of its food, clearly the place no longer cares enough about its customers to provide a positive dining experience in any sense of the meaning. We won't be returning. read more