Villaggio Ristorante

Reviews 3

JO

Joseph Cooper

Update from last years review below: Thought wed give it another try. Waited over 1.5 hours to get our food. My lasagna was burned and my wifes chicken in "brandy" cream sauce was horrible. Tasted like heavy cream mixed with cream of celery and nothing else. We cant say we didnt give em another go.... Last years review: Walking into the restaurant, my wife and I thought it was a very nice atmosphere. It was lit properly, not too dark, not too bright, and the ambience was very nice. The hostess was very professional and seated us immediately. There was a woman playing the harp, and doing so very well. We thought we found a really nice place. The server came to our table, and was excellent. No complaints whatsoever about the wait staff. They were very friendly, and very professional. They brought our drink orders quickly and the drinks were very good. Gin Martini and a house Cab. So, why did I give Villagio Ristorante only 1 star you ask? The food: Appetizer: We ordered the meat and cheese platter for two with artichoke hearts, and also were served a tray of croissant-like rolls. The meat and cheese platter: The meat and the cheese were low quality cuts and the artichokes were marinated in a low quality Italian dressing, and had a chemical-ish flavor to them. The croissants were obviously from a pop-open type can. They were warm-ish when they got to the table and were hard and stale within a couple minutes after they cooled down. (Reheated from being cooked earlier, Im guessing, and hoping not re-used from the day before.) Dinner: (Before I start, let me preface with this: I use salt in my own cooking and am not one of those "anti-salt" health nut diet people. The salads that were brought to us (house salads) were literally just lettuce with two tomato wedges on either side of the salad plate. The lettuce was crisp enough, but the tomatoes were not good quality. I ordered a filet mignon with spinach and a side of angel hair with marinara: The filet wasnt bad, but the sauce they put over it was horrible. It was supposed to be a wine reduction sauce. It tasted exactly like Heinz brown gravy was mixed with a cheap merlot and cooked together for about 30 seconds with waaaaay too much salt. It ruined the filet for me. The spinach: More salt does not equal more flavor. Waaaay too salty. The marinara: The sauce was definitely a canned sauce and tomato paste combination, not fresh ingredients. Again, waaaay too much salt. The entire meal left my mouth dry, as though I had been chewing salty cotton balls. My wife had the eggplant parm, and had the same complaint. The salt content in the cooking was ridiculous. We didnt finish any of the food. Not even close. We still tipped the wait staff generously because it wasnt their fault that the chef there is cutting corners. It is a prime example of trying to maximize profit by cutting corners i.e. low quality ingredients, over salting food to try to enhance watered down flavors, etc... We wont return again unless the cooking staff starts using new methods/ingredients or is changed out completely. I welcome Villagios to contact me to discuss further. (I dont like to give a negative review without being available to discuss with that business owner)

GR

Greg Lombardo

AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Let me preface by saying I never write negative restaurant reviews because sometimes food isnt good or the chef has a bad night, tonight was different. QUICK SUMMARY: Undercooked pork, absolutely flavorless eggplant, and an abrasive owner who said we were wrong. Story time: went there for the first time with my wife for our 2nd wedding anniversary. We have had friends and neighbors who recommend this place so we decided to give it a try on our special night. We ordered Bruschetta appetizer, my wife the Rollatine De Melanzane, and myself the Nodina Di Maiale. The bruschetta was extremely disappointing, no flavor and the bread tasted very stale and not recently toasted. Our salads were ok and the garlic rolls were tasty but again bread was very hard and stale. Our meals came out looking very good, and at first taste the Pork was good. After two cuts I realized the Pork Chop was extremely undercooked (dangerously undercooked). At this point my wife let me know that her dish was all cheese, no eggplant, and had 0 flavor (I confirmed). I called our waiter over and he took my Pork away to be heated through but we hesitated to tell him to return my wifes dish (she didnt want to fuss). After trying her dish again I decided to tell the waiter that the food was extremely bland and we just asked for a side of spaghetti for her. Apparently he told the owner. The owner decided to come over, not introduce himself, say hello, or even ask how we were doing. Instead he got extremely close to my wifes face and proceeded to LECTURE her on how she ordered the wrong dish and what she ordered only had thin strips of eggplant in it. He was EXTREMELY ABRASIVE to us and basically told us we were wrong (never addressed the lack of flavor). At this point the waiter returned with my dish which I promptly asked for a box so we could leave. When we got the check the waiter told me he asked for my wifes dish to be comped but the owner said no. They had already taken her dish away and we were charged $13 for about 4 bites of food. I paid, left the waiter a 25% tip (he was friendly and apologetic) and left. On our way out I decided to have a word with the owner about how extremely upset we were with how we were treated. He could have cared less. I told him the food was bad, and I would have left at that and just never gone back. But the way the owner treated us was ridiculous and prompted me to write this review. He absolutely treated us like garbage, never apologized and kept saying how we "didnt understand what the meal was", to which I said, "I dont care what it is, it had no flavor". He obviously did not care about us or our business. Will never return and will tell everyone I know to avoid this place like the plague. People who watch Restaurant Impossible or Kitchen Nightmare and dont think places like that exist, they do, and it is this place.

CO

Colin Baker

Incredible atmosphere, authenticity, cuisine, and prices with a personable staff. Villaggio is a great place to both casually and for special occasions. Walking in you can tell that the ownership is OG Italian, and the hostess had the perfect bit of Italian accent to let you know you are in an authentic establishment. We were seated promptly on a slow Wednesday night and walked by the live performer who was belting heartfelt music in Italian. Our server was exceptional and attended to our every need, going to such lengths as to go to the store next door to break a large bill so we could tip the performer at the end of our stay. Staff was dressed professionally and all seemed to have Italian accents. They had a number of specials running on top of a menu bursting with options for every pallette and wine pairings as well. I had the "Fruit of the Sea" special, which included lobster tail, scallops, clams, shrimp, mussels, and squid on a bed of risotto. It was absolutely, unequivocally incredible. The rest of my party enjoyed eggplant parmesan, chicken parmesan, and shrimp fettuccine alfredo. The fettuccine deserves a special mention as it wasnt as rich as the dish usually comes at other restaurants, which I thought was perfect. I will also give care to mention the live performer. Not only was his performance incredibly beautiful, with an air that he was crying the lyrics to his beloved, he also took the time to visit with every table in the dining room and ensure the volume of his audio system wasnt bothering any of them. He told us he actually sings in a number of languages including Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and more. He also asked if we had any requests to be performed. We tipped him well on our way out. I would recommend this restaurant whether you feel like wearing shorts and a t shirt or slacks and a blazer, it is just that versatile of a place. It is also worth mentioning that the owner is a master chef who has spent time at a number of popular up scale restaurant ls in the area. When someone with his resume is at the helm, you know there is a focus on quality, service, and authenticity, and it showed during every moment of our visit.