Tom B.
Yelp
Was going to give 2.5 stars, but will up to 3.
I really wanted to love this place, but it fell short. Good and bad here and there.
THE GOOD: Rose Pasta. It's at the top of the menu for a reason and it was the shining star. Everyone in our party who ordered it, liked it.
Also, you'll think this is crazy, but they have a Tuna Maki on the app menu (yea, at an Italian restaurant). It was REALLY good. Very suprised because of the setting.
THE BAD: Spicy Calamari (for $14, you should get a lot more or it should knock your socks off), It really wan't good, and it basically had the plate filled up with fried cherry peppers, and not much Calamari
Chicken Parm (zero flavor, didn't take 20 seconds to tenderize the chicken, so the thin parts way overcooked, the thicker part kind of tough. Needed something better than the butter knife to cut so it wouldn't just rip apart when you tried to cut it). Do not order that dish. It's so not worth it. I've had chicken parm at 30 other places in my life. All of them better.
Salmon. A mistake.
American Mule and Sunset (Drinks). I question how much alchohol was in either of them. A good bartender blends it all well. There wasn't a hint of alchohol in either I swear.
THE MEH - Server was on top of everything. Really worked hard. Was a bit of a smart @ss which I didn't appreciate, and kind of rubbed me the wrong way what he said to me and the others around. He wasn't trying to be funny either, just asked for a simple request (that did not ask for food to be altered at all), and he flat out said "no, and basically I'm holding everyone up". Hey, he's entitled to and I'm sure I'm screwing up at the speed he wants to operate, so I guess in today's restaurant world it's just the way it is. He was REALLY nice to the guy who was paying though for the whole meal (just me, he wasn't budging).
Penne aka vodka that was so so. Nothing to write home about at all. This is an extremely popular dish across the US. This isn't one of the better ones, but was ok.
Not everyone's food came out at once. Bit uncomfortable staring at 2 people with no food while the rest of us didn't know to wait or dig in. No apology or urgency, just fill the water glasses and check in at the kitchen in a little bit. I DID say the waiter was flying around working hard. His support servers brought 3 wrong dishes out only to be returned to the kitchen (or some other suckers had to wait at another table). Sooooooo we just kind of waited with no explination.
Overall, I really wanted to like this place. I kind of waited all day to eat here only to leave disappointed (I left my leftovers on the table. I barely touched it as I had one of the bad entrees IMO listed above. Did he ask was something wrong? Nope. I don't think he cared really. He just took it and boxed it up.
Would I go again? I don't know. It should have been A LOT better for the price. I have a hard time believing this is one of the best in downtown Hartford. I've reviewed a lot, and there are a ton of good reviews, so maybe I just came at a bad time.