Dan K.
Yelp
"Unfortunate, over-priced food in a cafeteria-casual setting."
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I don't get it. I really loved Tony C's in the Hill Country Galleria and was SO excited for this new location when it opened. The only thing I see similar here is the namesake. When we arrived we were told that it's "essentially the same restaurant with a different vibe." Unfortunately the food quality here is far lower and there is no service. Maybe we had a bad night? Who's to say?
The space itself is cafeteria-casual, but still nice. The inside is strikingly similar to Pinthouse Pizza. We appreciated the outdoor patio and the ability to hang out with the pupper.
The food, which is why we were there, is where things fell down.
Calamari:
One of our favorite things! As an introduction to the restaurant, we started off on the wrong foot. What we received was an awkwardly small portion of fried, chewy (read: not fresh or not quality) squid in a light tempura batter. I can't imagine how the 11.99 price is justified nor the happy hour 8.99 (-$3 appetizers) price other than that there's a sucker born every minute. Maybe that's the problem, the price is not justified so the product sits, unpurchased. When they do finally make it, it's old product. Even the amount that's served is awkwardly small. Not just small for the basket it's served in, but a portion that would also be too small, in a better restaurant, on a proper serving plate or bowl.
Fried Ravioli:
This was the only bright spot of the evening. Had we only gotten beers and ravioli, this probably would have been a 4 star review. If you choose to visit, get these. As long as they're taken out to the table quickly, you'll be happy with your choice.
Pizza:
Tony C's in the hill country galleria serves up a light, Napoletana style pizza, thin crust with a good chew. Toppings that are well prepped and pizza delivered with a smile.
Here, what you get -- or at least what we got was a bready, wet mess with no chew. Maybe this is more endemic of the pizza we ordered, but there's no excuse for this.
We ordered the Primo and there were pools of liquid on top of the pizza from what I imagine was moisture from the toppings that weren't prepped appropriately. (Mushrooms, red peppers, etc). If you're going to come here, my advice is to stick with the basics where it's harder to fail but they won't fix the crust.
Bar:
The bar had plenty of good tap options and happy hour specials. We had beers. They were fine.
Gelato:
A seemingly easy place to extend restaurant hospitality and joy! Nope.
A separate station was manned by a couple of people who didn't seem to have enough to do. There are three cup sizes and eight flavors if I recall correctly. I ordered and the lady helping me armed with a small scoop started delicately scooping gelato into the cup on a scale continually checking to make sure it's the right amount.
Nothing screams hospitality like to-the-ounce accuracy in your gelato scoop! /sarcasm. What's unfortunate here is that the amount they've decided is a portion probably makes sense on a balance sheet but is an underwhelming portion, one that fits well-inside of the cups they're using to serve. Maybe if that's the amount you want to serve, serve it in a smaller cup but if people first eat with their eyes, getting handed gelato from an underfilled cup feels like you're just being shorted. #hospitality.
Do yourself a favor and just don't get gelato here. There are lots of good gelato and ice cream places in the area. No reason to get shaken down a third time.
As laughable as the old Olive Garden slogan "when you're here, you're family" was, at least they were trying to convey something rather than: VISIT OUR PIZZA CAFETERIA -- oh, and clean up after yourselves, will you? There's no service here.
In my experience, there are two schools of thought when it comes to the restaurant / hospitality business: one of customer service / happiness or focus on profit at the expense of everything else. You can decide which one management has chosen.
