Landini Brothers Restaurant

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

Disappointing at Any Price Several years ago my family began a tradition of going out to dinner on Christmas Eve. Our choice two years ago, Landini Brothers restaurant in Old Town Alexandria, provided us an enjoyably memorable Christmas Eve experience. Two years later, however, our Christmas Eve experience at Landini Brothers was markedly different and entirely disappointing. We arrived on time for our 6:30pm reservation, and they seated my wife and I, and our 22 year old son at a nicely located table upstairs. The rest of the evening was downhill. The first waiter—perhaps the head waiter—came over immediately to take our drink orders. He offered a wine menu but didn’t have it with him. My son, looking for some drink inspiration, asked if there was a cocktail menu. The waiter replied in a detectably snobby tone no. Hint: this was his opportunity to engage the customer—‘what type of drink are you interested in’ or ‘our bartender makes an excellent martini of which we have several options.’ Nope, all we got was a no and later the wine menu, again with no engagement, no recommendations, no salesmanship. Now, I neither need nor want a big show from the waiter, but I do like to feel that my presence is not in some way inconveniencing the staff. Moreover, I expect the waiter to be part of a positive restaurant experience. At Landini Brothers, the first waiter’s vibe suggested we were lucky he had a free moment. We received no greeting to speak of, certainly nothing holiday related, there were no specials, and no menu highlights—at least none communicated to us. The entire Landini Brothers experience lacked personality and service. And this is coming from one who used to tend bar in a DC restaurant so I understand restaurant service, and who greatly appreciates and overly rewards even modest service. Eventually, another waiter took our drink order and I give the bartender credit for making a good martini. His pour of my wife’s glass of wine, however, was noticeably light—something he did make up with a nearly double pour on the second glass. Hint: drinks should be consistent, and not require averaging over the evening to come out even. When deciding on meal choices, I will often ask the waiter’s opinion. For an appetizer, I narrowed my choices to the shrimp cocktail, the escargot, and a shrimp-avocado option. When asked, the waiter offered that they were known for the latter so I opted for the shrimp-avocado dish. What I got was a whole avocado, cut in half, with the pit removed and the remaining space filled with a teaspoonful of what tasted like some type of shrimp bisque, noticeably short on shrimp and tasting like it was poured from a cardboard container. I probably should have asked if Landini Brothers was known for this bizarre, poorly conceived and executed appetizer in a good way or bad way. Has to be the latter. My wife’s Caesar salad was average at best; my son’s clam soup was overly salty and excessively garlicky. Our main courses were Olive Garden quality, therefore, entirely unremarkable and overpriced for Landini Brothers. My veal chop was overly fatty, undercooked for medium-rare, and small. Hint: try the veal chop at Aldo’s in Virginia Beach for an exquisitely prepared, cooked, and served veal chop at about the same price. We skipped dessert and walked home—we are Old Town residents and for years I have described Landini Brothers to numerous locals and out-of-towners as the top Italian Restaurant in Old Town and one of the finest overall restaurants in Old Town. After our Christmas Eve experience, however, I will continue my word of mouth advertizing of Landini Brothers, albeit in completely negative terms. I will let people know that their service, food quality, and overall value—pricey is ok if the food is worth it—have all diminished. Living on reputation rather than quality, Landini Brothers needs a reboot. Our dissatisfactory experience m

FR

Freddy McCullough

I really was disappointed with this place. It is good in pinch if your looking for fine dining italian and dont have time to research the area for the best spot. They gave me oysters rock without bacon and still charged me $23 for 6. I thought it was a little steep for some semi okay oysters. Also got the braised beef ribs special (my favorite dish) substituting risotto instead of scallop potatoes. BIG MISTAKE. Over charged me almost $19 for that. I paid over $50 for that dish and it was the smallest portion of beef ribs ive ever had. I was excited for that dish because i was thinking i was gonna get the best due to the image they portray. This place could be great but they give you the idea they are high end but put out mediocre product and still charge New York fine dining prices. Wasted over $200 for 2 people on this dinner. They didnt discount the oysters for forgetting the bacon or offer to remake and just ripped us off on over charges for substitute. They should at least let you know how much they over charge when you order. Also ask how much the specials are. Dont be shy. They will over charge you. Never paid $50 for braised ribs before. Service was decent, although they kept forgetting stuff because you have 3 different servers. They run a front and back waiter system which causes confusion. They all drop the ball then you have 3 people doing the same task. Go somewhere else if you can but it will work in a pinch if you dont care about pricing versus quality. Sorry Landini but it is what it is. Do better.

MI

Michael Favis

With expectations of an evening of good Italian food in the heart of Old Town. I was half disappointed. Although the wine (Tuscan Chianti), wait service, and ambiance was very favorable, the food was a different matter. We started off with the "Carpaccio all Italiana" expecting the angus beef tenderloin to match with the chanti, but instead received something like a garden salad with an overpowering lemon flavor that almost made my mouth pucker at each bite. The main course was surprising though. My wife ordered the "Piccatine al Limone" which translates to veal lemon piccata. The veal portion was a little light, but not as light as the lemon flavor which was almost non-existent. The kitchen should have saved some of that lemon flavor from the appetizer and put some on the veal. I ordered the Linguine seafood (clams, mussels, sea scallops, etc). It was quite peppery and the seafood was finely chopped to point it made me think they might have come from a bag. Based on the apps and the entrees, we skipped dessert. In the end, enjoyed the atmosphere, but thought the food was only worth half the price we actually paid.

A

A Private User

The food was great. There were several things about the service that could be better. We had to ask for bread and they did not keep it coming. The brought out one round and that was it. I expect endless bread at an Italian restaurant. My wife ordered Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. They just brought her out the pasta without chicken. They could not think outside the box and slap a chicken breast on the grill back there, slice it up and put on top of the pasta (makes it way better). Waiters and staff were of course, all Latino (probably illegals which seems to be the norm in Old Town) so, I could not understand any of them. Please hire strong English speaking people with more powerful voices as they are the face of your restaurant. We spotted a mouse running across the floor. The staff didnt seem too concerned. The price is a little overinflated but, what restaurant isnt in Old Town. Other than that, the main courses, the desserts, the wine, and the cappuccinos were great. Even though the waiter was slow and hard to track down, he was prompt on refilling our wine glasses which is a plus.