Address: | 111 Chenango St, Binghamton, NY 13901, USA |
Phone: | +1 607-724-2513 |
Site: | littlevenicerestaurant.com |
Rating: | 3.9 |
Working: | Closed 11:30AM–9PM 11:30AM–9PM 11:30AM–9PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–9PM |
WA
Wataru Sano
Stopped by this place on my cross-country drive home for the holidays. Decor & atmosphere was good. Split pea soup was fine. Bread was supermarket quality -dry, tasteless, no substance. Ordered shrimp scampi, but it was utterly terrible. Shrimp was stinky, and home-made noodles were just a mushy, sloppy, soggy, mess (confirmed by other reviews below). The whole dish was drenched in olive oil (the dish literally came in a pool of oil). The seasoned garlic supposed to be the dishs flavoring wasnt nearly enough and the mass of tasteless, soggy noodles were too much to eat. Asked the waitress for an exchange. She was busy and I was alone so overall service and attentiveness was subpar. Got baked scallops instead. It was like $25 for six little pieces of overcooked scallops that were again, stinky. I did finish the dish because this one was edible. The side of broccoli was cooked appropriately (i.e. not over-boiled), but they certainly could do better than 3 little pieces of broccoli on the side for such an expensive dish. They charged me full price for the exchanged dish. I left a 20%+ tip because I used to wait tables and it wasnt the waitress fault, but I wont be returning to this establishment. Simply terrible food for way too much expense. The food overall, might be acceptable at a third of the cost. I love to support local businesses rather than chains and make it a point to support them. However, private businesses need to up their game to keep people like myself investing in them. From what I saw, their head chef needs to re-assess their quality urgently.
MA
Maureen Sullivan
If I could give this restaurant less than one star, I would. I started my dining experience with 2/4 people at my table having to send back dirty silverware. When the waitress came back, she asked for our drink order without ever handing us a drink menu. I had mistakenly assumed I could substitute "veal parmigiana" for a cheaper "chicken parmigiana". When the waitress cut me off, I quickly wanted to get the passive aggressive woman away from the table. I ended up ordering penne alla vodka, thinking this easy dish was a safe bet. I began eating the dish and finding little chewy white squares in between the pasta. Looking back at the menu, I realized they were supposed to be pork. Luckily, there were only about 3 tiny pieces in it. My once "safe-bet" dish turned out to be a very regrettable decision. The waitress never once asked how our food was. Everyone at the table turned in their full plates saying no one wanted it to go. Finally when we went to pay, the cashier was the best part of our experience. She called over our server who began arguing with us that we never expressed our dislike of the food. If she had come over just once to our table, she would have known. After hearing the complaint, the manager never left the back, and sent the server to tell us they cant do anything about it. Everyone at my table left with a bad taste in their mouths from both the food and horrible service. Would not recommend.
DA
Daniel Schultz
Unfortunately Little Venice was far less than me and my friends had expected. The visuals of the restaurant inside and out are very nice and everything leads you to believe that your food will come out the same, however you will be unpleasantly surprised when everything is served. For me I ordered what I thought was going to be a rib-eye steak, along with potatoes, the soup special, and a dessert. The soup was just a small warm bowl of salty water with a few bowtie pasta noodles, and some bread crumbs. A while after the “steak” was brought out. It was about 3/8” thick, about ½ fat or gristle, and was a pale greyish yellow color. It appeared to have been frozen and then re heated in a microwave. The waitress also attempted to cover up the fact that they were out of potatoes and served my “steak” with a single leaf of lettuce and one slice of a tomato… after that we were served dessert which was ok, but still seemed to be microwaved warm and then plopped on top of some ice cream. My friends and I had ordered from the restaurant week menu which trapped us into getting three courses which is why we ended up staying. Our server also never came back to ask how our food was, probably because they knew it was terrible to begin with. We raised a complaint about my food with the host when paying, and all they could say was no we can’t lower your bill so I ended up paying 24$ for an upset stomach. Would not recommend.
GE
Gerard Rosso
I have two words for this place my friends, “Parmigiana House.” Now I wouldn’t call the food at a Parmigiana house horrible, it’s just not authentic Italian food. The menu had items such as: egg rolls, chicken wings, and baked potatoes. What was missing from the menu and what they really should have had was: polenta, risotto, and pesto sauce. The best way to describe the food is MEH. The bread was bland and served with just butter, no olive oil to dip in. I ordered capellini with garlic, olive oil and mushrooms. The first issue was they forgot the mushrooms. No big deal, I didn’t even bring it to their attention. The real issue I had with my dinner was just like the bread it was very bland. If you aren’t going to put any seasoning except garlic and olive oil, you need to use an amazing extra virgin olive oil. Which they did not. I also tasted my wife’s manicotti and while the sauce is decent (I dont mind a sweet sauce) the filling was very bland also. The place is adorable, lots of art on the walls, the staff was more than friendly and the service was quick. UNCLE GERRY’S TIP: If you like The Olive Garden you will enjoy Little Venice, but if you would rather have authentic Italian food I would go elsewhere. In fact the pizza in the Oakdale mall is much better.
NI
Nicole Lavallee
Service was good. Food was delivery timely and hot. I have to give our server props for bringing over a craft of water as I love to drink it still needed to be refilled. She brought it over without uneven asking. The bread was cold but fresh tasting. The crust was too crispy for my liking. The white garlic pizza was loaded with garlic but very good. The chicken cacciatore was large and came with a side salad (or soup) and a side dish. The sauce is SWEET. If you do not like sweet sauce do not order any marinara meals here. The chicken Alfredo was very flavorful. The Alfredo actually had flavor, rather than just the cream base you normally get. Nice job. Portion size was huge. The dessert selection comes on a tray. The gelato is nice if you like the selection and portion size was right for dessert. The cannoli are not made in house, have confectionary sugar already in them. The top with whip cream. I could do without as the shell was soggy from sitting to long and there is no need for the whip cream or sugar.
A
A Private User
When making a sauce, some chefs/cooks add a teaspoon or tablespoon of cane sugar to a large pot. The sauce at little Venice would prove to contain far more sugar than that - perhaps the concentration of Sprite or Coca-Cola. That is not right. The addition of sugar is nothing new if you look at chain restaurants such as Applebys where you can taste it in their burgers. Little Venice is an old restaurant and it is a shame that they are preparing a tomato sauce which deviates so far from authenticity. What is worse is that the lacing with sugar is found pleasant to so many diners. The manicotti filling has sugar added also and when combined with the sauce, is sickening. This is sad as they make a structurally authentic crepe manicotti. "What a waste". Try it out if you are not diabetic. Complain if there is too much sugar. Maybe theyll change.