Ames C.
Yelp
Our family of four loves trying new restaurants. When I saw their menu on Yelp, I was intrigued by selections like Sanny's mafaldine and clam chowder that you don't usually see in Italian restaurants. However, the experience was rather disappointing due to the service and miscommunication.
I specifically asked the hostess before entering the restaurant if they have a kids menu. She assured me that they do have kids offerings, they just haven't "printed out the menu yet" but the waitress can tell us what they have. Once seated, we were given a menu that is completely different than what I saw on Yelp (no mafaldine or clam chowder). When I asked about kids offerings, the waitress said that they do not have any. I insisted that she double checked with the kitchen and she returned saying that we can order from the regular pasta menu for the kids. When I asked her if that means the kitchen can make any pasta "kid portioned" she said no, they would be just the same adult portion and same price.
Since they don't have a kids menu after all, I decided to order the lasagna and the fettuccini for myself to share with the two kids. The fettuccini was described as Homemade Fettuccine pasta, cherry tomato, basil pesto, shaved Parmesan cheese. However, the waitress asked me which sauce I would like for the fettuccini and when I showed her that the menu said it only comes with basil pesto, she looked visibly frustrated and said that the menu was changed overnight and she did not know. We added a Misto Fritto to share and when she repeated the order to us, she said that it was a pasta and we had to again show her the menu and explain that misto fritto is an antipasti which she did not seem to realize.
To be honest, the Misto Fritto and the lasagna were both really delicious. The fettuccini was drenched in pesto sauce and did not come with any shaved parmesan cheese on top, and when we asked for it (it was a different waitress), she gave us parmesan cheese powder for pizza and I had to remind them it is listed on the menu before they brought out shaved parmesan. A man also came by and asked if we would like more bread to which we said yes but then he never came back with fresh bread and we had to ask another waitress to help us.
I understand new restaurants need to work through some growing pains and the issue is management/training, so we paid the usual 20% tips. When I received the check, I also noticed that the lasagna price seemed higher than I remembered but as I didn't have the menu to reference in front of me, I thought I just remembered wrong. However, on the way out of the restaurant, I double checked the menu by the front door and it was listed as $24 on the printed menu but we were charged $28. Based on the Yelp menu ($28), it looks like maybe the printed menu had a misprint or maybe they changed pricing but forgot to change it on the cashier end.
Overall the food is fine but the level of communication between staff members and training provided to staff are very lacking. As this is run by Doppio Zero, I had expected a more smooth experience. Perhaps families are just not their targeted audience.