Laura P.
Yelp
Woof.
Service: We came in for a 6:00 reservation on a Thursday, the place was busy. The space is cute, holiday decor but a bit tired. There were three servers working in the dining area, and they were constantly running around, we were also the smallest table, of three. Most tables have four to ten people! The reviews mentioned that it's a pretty laid-back and take your time sort of meal, but part of that is just due to the service. I will also point out that there's a complimentary meatball per person and bread basket, soup served to all, salad, a pallette cleansing shot of limoncello before your entree is served. There's a lot of back and forth. It took at least ten minutes between each encounter for our server to bring menus, take initial orders, return with drinks, and bring out the as for mentioned courses. I would have taken photos, but the place is very dark, actually turned on my phone so my father could read the drink menu. Our server was personable but definitely a bit gruff and pushy. You could tell she was kind of frustrated with how busy it was and the number of tables she was taking care of. She told us multiple times that she couldn't take our orders until the kitchen was ready. We did watch many other tables get their orders taken before ours. There is also a period of at least 15 minutes where our table was empty of pre entree courses but she had yet to come and take our entree orders. We felt like when she did come over we had to speak now or forever hold our peace on requesting anything else.
The food: The bread was fine, and if you're battling hypertension, this is not a place for you. The red sauce is very very salty. The meatball was primarily made of salt. The pasta soup was bland, I added a lot of parm and raw onions to jazz it up. Salad was very simple and the crouton dust was a surprise-- my father was a bit perplexed, he was worried it was aquarium gravel. I got the calamari and mussels pasta with was ample, chewy and bland. I actually took the top off the pepper shaker to get more at once. The sauce was watery, splashing on my clothing. My fellow diners got the haddock special which was very salty and the pork tenderloin which was the star of the night- very tender and well dressed with a Marsala gravy. However, the menu read 'pork medallions' and it came out as two big boneless pork chops. We had no room for dessert and resolved that it would have taken another hour to get anyways. We left the restaurant clocking in at 2 hrs 20 minutes.
I would come back to get the pork dish but I will get it for takeout...maybe a slice of cake too, it looked pretty good.