Calabria Restaurant

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

After reading some of these reviews my wife and I decided to give it a try. Its pretty obvious most of these reviewers dont get out very much or theyre friends of the owner. Anyway, parking is awful. If you cant find a spot on the street you have to go down the alley to a small lot which on a good day holds 15 cars. We did find a spot right in front of the restaurant and came in through the front door only to be greeted by this very tacky and dungy drape used to protect people at the bar from the draft of the door. Once you push your way through the drape the place is actually quite pleasant and very clean. We sat in the room on the bar side, which was a mistake. Although, there were only 6 people at the bar the noise level was very high from locals having a good time. We got there around 5:00pm for an early dinner. When trying new places my philosophy is: if the kitchen cant put out good food with no one there whats it like when its crowed? Although there were severs standing at the hostess station we were told to sit anywhere. No one walked us to the table and handed us a menu. As a matter of fact it took a good 4-5 minutes for someone to come over to us. Now you have to remember we were the only ones in the dining area at this time. Our server came over , nice young girl very pleasant and took our drink and appetizer order. I had a VO Manhattan straight up and my wife had a Merlot. Both drinks were a good pour, but the cherry in mine had spoiled to the pint I couldnt keep it in my mouth! Enough said here. The Stuffed Mushroom appetizer was very good (6, 2" caps). For entrées I had the lobster ravioli ($20) and my wife had a chicken, lobster and asparagus special ($22). I selected a salad as one of my sides, which was some romaine lettuce, a couple of onion slices and two unripe tomato wedges, which I put next to the previously discarded cherry. I had 6 raviolis that were full of lobster and a tasty cream sauce. However the lobster was either canned or in the refrigerator for some time as it was very dry. Wifes chicken was very good and so was the sauce. However the asparagus came burnt to the point where you could actually smell it! The manager came back after we had finished the meal with more asparagus that was perfect, which proves the chef could do it right. The manager, never really went out of his way to apologize for the situation as most restaurants do. To sum it up... parking 1 star, atmosphere 2 stars, food 2 stars, service 3 stars. Total bill with tip $75.00. My suggestion unless youre dying to eat Italian in Millbury go to Olive Garden or Carrabbas. Better parking, food, service and the bills less. Sign of an acceptable restaurant is if youd go back.... Not us. I understand any restaurant can have a bad day, and maybe we just picked the wrong day.

PA

Paige H

First off, I am normally not the kind of person to leave a review. Generally when I read reviews, I picture snooty people at their keyboards who just like to complain about everything, so I take those reviews with a grain of salt. Our experience here, however, will stick with me for a long time...and unfortunately not in a good way. So Im writing a review to attempt to save people from making this bad decision. Before I go into detail, I would like to say that our waitress was extremely kind, attentive and pleasant. If I could rate different aspects of the restaurant separately, she would get five stars. The staff in general was great. The restaurant itself is small, homey and clean. Not the best parking situation, but it was a Friday night and is located on Main Street, so its understandable. Now onto the prices. Im not a big connoisseur of Italian food, but Im aware that good Italian often comes with a big price tag. Thats fine though - Im not one to complain about spending more for good quality. We had a party of eleven, and for the most part everyone ordered something different - the chicken and broccoli, the veal parm, lamb chops, haddock, etc., we tried it all. And I must say, it was overwhelmingly...mediocre. It all looked great, but the one thing all our meals had in common was the fact that they had NO flavor whatsoever. I ordered the chicken and broccoli with oil and garlic - there was no garlic. It was literally undercooked pasta, unseasoned chicken and broccoli swimming in oil. My husband ordered the lamb chops with a side of green beans - the green beans looked (and tasted) like they came from a can. For a $26 meal, getting canned vegetables is completely unacceptable. If the food had been more reasonably priced ($12 a plate instead of $24+) and had decent portion sizes, Id just count it as a loss and never think about it again. But its not. I was honestly expecting some phenomenal Italian food and I could have cooked it better at home. Our total bill was well over $400 and only one person in our party enjoyed their food. Ive never been so unsatisfied after visiting a restaurant before and Im very disappointed. We left hungry. So, that being said - if you want to pay too much for terribly bland food, visit this restaurant. But if you like being satisfied with what you pay for, and if you like pleasant experiences, Id recommend looking elsewhere.

A

A Private User

The first time my wife and I went here was when it first opened.It was overpriced an the food was terrible. We were given a gift certificate and a much needed apology. Fortunately, we never used the certificate so I cant tell you about the food. This brings me to my latest experience with this establishment. On 10/15/2011 I purchased (ahead of time) two tickets for a 9:00 comedy show being held there. We arrived at 8:55, saw two empty tables and sat down at one of them. We were told by one of the waitresses that the table was reserved, and we would have to move. So, we moved to the other table. A short time later we were told by a different waiter (owner.?) that this table was also reserved and that another table would be opening up soon. We told him we would wait at the bar. Close to a half hour later he came out to tell us our seats were ready. We followed him back into the area where the show was being held only to find, get this, two chairs in the middle of the dining room surrounded by all the other occupied tables! When we told him that this was unacceptable, and wanted a table, he said he didnt realize we wanted to eat! It seems to me if you buy tickets ahead of time, eating or not, you should be assured a seat. Then,when we told the gentleman that this was insane, and that we were leaving, not even the slightest attempt was made to rectify the situation. Two strikes against this place are more than enough for me. NEVER AGAIN!!!

A

A Private User

First, our eating experience- the food is bland and obviously not made fresh in house. The pasta was overcooked and the sauce just tasted like it came out of a can and wasnt even seasoned. My friend got the steak and ordered it pink and it came overdone and tough. Sent it back only to get it the same way again. The wine list was a joke boasting wines Ive seen in stores for 6.95 at the most. I think the highest price bottle was $35! This deeply contradicts the fact youll average $40 per person for an appetizer and an entree that tastes like a frozen entree. I think our water came in plastic cups that coca cola gives you for free if you buy their soda. I know one of the waitresses and she is completely honest about her working experience.From our friend, she says the owner is a bit of a two-face to customers and does skimp on essentials due to cost concerns. Was also told he asks employees to blog about the place to give it a good rating(which is easy to tell from the reviews below from people who post one 5 star and never post again. Honestly, who would believe that happens). I cant even believe they would sink that low to get people in?!?! Anyway, Id stay away and really warn neighbors to avoid this place. It belongs in a cheap strip mall. I am 100% italian and this place offends me on a cultural level.