My wife and I were at Radice yesterday for lunch and to finalize the plans for an event that we were scheduled to have there in a few weeks. As for the lunch, the bread and pizza were good and very fresh, but I cannot say the same for the rest of the meal. At first, I thought that they were being kind in allowing us to order from the dinner menu in order to try a few of the items that would be served at our party. However, after being served, it was very clear that nothing was fresh, and they were likely trying to get rid of some older items before it was time to throw them away.
I wish that the stale food was the worst part of our experience. After agreeing to a menu and price per head for our event with the restaurant manager, we were expecting to simply finalize our food selection and headcount. Boy, were we wrong. The manager was nowhere to be found, and we were joined at the table by the owner himself (there are 4 owners, but the others are silent). Anyway, the owner appeared (unconvincingly) to be shocked and appalled at the price that was quoted to us with the menu options that we had selected. After we listened to him remove item after item from the menu (of course, all of the good and expensive dished), he presented us with a menu that we would have been embarrassed to serve to our guests (especially to a large group of Italian guests). Not only did he cut the menu by more than 50%, but he had the nerve to raise the price of this skimpy meal by 66% OVER what we were originally quoted.
He refused to honor the proposal that we received from HIS restaurant manager last month (which, by the way, was in writing and presented to this owner). Now, with the date and time of the event set, we are out of luck. There is nowhere else that can accomodate our large group on such short notice, and I have to cut our original guest list in half to host it at another place (by now, all of our other options have been booked). I do not have the time, money or the patience to talk to a lawyer about forcing him to perform on the quote that we received (and accepted).
I am happier to put this incident behind me and to never deal with this place again.
Plus, I have been to this place over a dozen times since it has opened. Believe me, the quality has been slipping consistently over the past year or so. Who knows why, but it seems clear by the leftovers that we were served from lunch yesterday that they are trying to save money (even at the expense of losing customers). It shows too... there were only two other tables seated the entire lunch period. read more