The Place

Reviews 4

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Adam Valerio

This was one of the worst restaurants I have ever had the misfortune of experiencing. My friends and I went here thinking because we had seen many great reviews, but Im seriously concerned about how that restaurant could ever receive the kind of positive attention it has. Id give negative stars if I could, but I have to settle for one. When we arrived, about half the tables in the restaurant were full, but there were still three small parties in front of us waiting to be seated. We waited (standing) for about 20 minutes before anyone even came over to greet us. It had been half an hour before we were seated. Another ten minutes before we were brought menus and silverware (there were three of us and they only brought us two sets of silverware, we had to request another set twice before the waitress actually delivered). We all received a small glass of water, which we finished before the food even arrived, and they were never refilled. We asked multiple times for more water, but none was brought, ever... Ever. The restaurant was out of mozzarella, which can be overlooked, I guess. They did have other cheese. Just strange for an Italian restaurant. The food was absolutely terrible. I ordered the Chicken Marsala. The chicken was under-cooked and rubbery. It was placed on top of plain pasta, no sauce or salt or anything. The "marsala" part of the meal was almost non-existent. About four mushrooms were placed on top of the chicken that tasted of marsala wine, but that was the extent of the meal. Absolutely terrible. I expected enough sauce to at least lightly coat the pasta or the chicken in order to give anything a flavor, but I guess I ask for too much. My friend experienced something very similar when he ordered the Chicken Parmesan. Rubbery chicken, on top of tasteless pasta, with very little else. My other friend ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccolini. The Alfredo sauce was decent and the pasta was cooked at least, so I cant complain about that. But they did not bring out broccolini; they brought out broccoli. (Yes, there is a difference!) In contrast to everything else they managed to screw up, it seems like a minor offense, but I expect restaurants to understand the difference between two different kinds of vegetables. If the menu advertises broccolini, then I expect broccolini when I order it. Not broccoli. The waitress did not seem to know the difference between the two either. For shame, The Place, for shame. Understanding the vegetables is pretty basic to cooking and you couldnt even manage that. Ridiculous prices for what you end up getting. Id rather pay $20 to avoid this place at all costs. The service was awful, the food was awful, just everything was awful. They werent even busy. I wonder how much worse it would get if they happen to actually be busy and unable to provide even this level of "service." The only nice thing I can say about this place is that the actual structure of the building was sound and the decorations were nice. Other than that, Id literally recommend any Italian restaurant other than this. Olive Garden, Strings, google "Italian restaurant" and pick literally anything other than this place. Save yourselves the time and money.

LI

Linda Giannini

We were really looking forward to our first visit here tonight, but that excitement turned to disappointment immediately. We arrived shortly before our 6:30 reservation. Restaurant was pretty full. By the time we placed our dinner order (6:30-6:40) the one special my husband wanted was already sold out. Uh? We just got here. Atmosphere was great, old Italian crooner in the corner was entertaining. While we were waiting for our appetizers and drinks to arrive, my 8 year old had to use the restroom. Turns out the ladies room was out of order. We waited patiently for the mens room to become available only to find out from the gentleman exiting that the mens room was now clogged as well. I asked the hostess to let someone know, only to be told that they were sorry and that we were to exit the restaurant and use the restroom at the deli 3 doors downs the street. REALLY? At $20 per meal (not including drinks or appetizers) youd think there would be a proper restroom for patrons to use. Anyways, upon awkwardly arriving at the other establishment to use their facilities, I was informed that the bathroom issues at THE PLACE have been ongoing for a while. By 7:45 we still had not received our dinner order despite the fact we had inquired about the slow service a couple of times prior. All our waitress told us is that "we make everything fresh and it takes a while especially when everyone arrives at the same time." Um excuse me, but isnt that the point of a RESERVATION? Finally, we had enough and asked for our check to settle up for the drinks and appetizers we purchased..At that point the head chef/maybe owner emerged and told us that he had a water pipe break and was busy dealing with that. Mind you, this was the first we had heard about this, although we did observe many other tables being served. When my father-in-law who has been in the restaurant business for over 40 years said that this was unacceptable service, the gentleman who I believe is Mikey, told him "Well, if youve been in this business youd know you cant cook without water." Interesting reply considering that once again we observed other food being served. At that point, he told us that he would pick up the check for what we did eat, and then we left. Its really a shame because if this hadnt happened, Im sure THE PLACE would become a favorite place of ours. Sadly, we wont be back and will not recommend either.

KR

Krystal Burgess

I went to the location on a Pleasant Valley today. I was pretty disappointed in the price of adding toppings and the small pizza we got. Overall the pizza was good. They wouldnt substitute one of the specialty pizzas with marinara instead of cream sauce which I thought was kind of....stupid, quite frankly. They charged me $4 for each additional topping mind you, they dont put a lot of topping anyway and I only added 2 toppings! I asked if I could take one of the paper menus at the front which they had a stack of and they told me they had a menu online, so that was their way of telling me no. I am a local and thats just bad business. Why even have paper menus if you wont let people take them? Do you want people to come back? When I got my pizza, it was literally half the size of the box, a thin and lightweight 6 slice pizza that left me disappointed and unamused on my drive home. This pizza is like a one person pizza or one and a child, seriously. The only good thing I have to say is the pizza and toppings were good, service, value and pricing ridiculous.

AN

Ann Abbott

This was our first and last visit to The Place. Most of the food was good, but my sons pizza was burnt and my husband chicken parm was over cooked and too salty. We bought a bottle of wine, three $4 fancy kid drinks and 3 appetizers plus two deserts and because we were a family of 5 we were charge an 18 percent gratuity. We wanted to spend a nice evening out and support a local business in our area but we felt taken advantage of because of the gratuity charge. We have never been charged for being a family of 5 instead of 4. So if you are a family of five, watch out for The Place you will be charged extra because they have to push two tables together. For being an Italian restaurant they do not seem to feel the family is important. I was raised in a traditional Italian family in New York and was looking for a "good" Italian place to eat. To me this is just another "Californian" restaurant that is trying to be Italian. We skipped the Olive Garden for this $175 bill?