Adam G.
Yelp
I'm torn with this review. I really wanted to like La Tavola since I love Italian food, especially places that have handmade pasta. We made a reservation and recommend doing the same, as the inside is smaller than I was expecting, although it adds to the intimate, authentic vibes. They have five booths, one larger round table to comfortably seat about 6, and maybe eight square tables to seat 2-4 people which can also be combined to accommodate larger parties. There is a small patio out front with a couple of tables, first come first serve.
We sat closest to the kitchen and they had a large fan at full blast mounted above the kitchen facing the dining area, which directly hit half of our table. This was somewhat annoying from a noise perspective, but the breeze felt kinda nice.
For starters, we ordered some garlic crostini for the table. Think texas toast with a bunch of cheese melted on top. They also bring complimentary bread and dipping oil, which I wish we would've known about beforehand or we might not have ordered bread as an appetizer.
For entrees, I went with the pasta bolognese -- pappardelle pasta in their version of a bolognese. Others at the table got the chicken parmigiano, pappardelle pesto and another order of pasta bolognese. The garlic crostini was brought out pretty quickly, but there was a rather long delay between receiving the appetizer and getting our entrees. I understand they probably make each dish individually and the restaurant was full on a Saturday, but again it was a noticeably long wait.
The pasta bolognese had a very strong cinnamon / nutmeg flavor that overpowered the dish. It was almost as if they were going for a Cincinnati chili with pappardelle pasta (an odd combo). I like Cincinnati chili, so I didn't mind it that much, but my friend who also ordered it didn't like it at all.
Of note, our server was a bit deceitful although I'm not sure if this was on purpose, coincidental, or due to lack of training. For example, when discussing the garlic crostini she told us it was one only piece of bread and that we would definitely need a few for our table of 4. Turns out, it comes with two fairly large pieces in each order, so out of the three that we ordered (6 total pieces), one order went completely untouched. Also, when my friend ordered the chicken parmigiano, she automatically said "would you like to add handmade gnocchi or fettuccine for an extra $5?" My friend opted for the gnocchi, since the wording used by the server made it seem like the dish is usually prepared without any pasta at all. However, it does in fact come with spaghetti pasta by default. She should have used the word "substitute" instead of "add". It's a moot point, but something we discussed as a frustration amongst the table.
Overall, the average food and below average service has me feeling that our experience 'could've been better' aka 2 stars in the Yelp world.