Paradiso Italian Restaurant
| Address: | 6124 Franconia Rd, Alexandria, VA 22310, USA |
| Phone: | +1 703-922-6222 |
| Site: | paradisoristorante.com |
| Rating: | 3.9 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–1AM 11:30AM–1AM 11:30AM–1AM 11:30AM–1AM 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 10AM–9:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 9
A
A Private User
I had been to this restaurant a couple times for brunch with my family, with fine (but never excellent) experiences, but today for Sunday brunch was awful enough to prompt us 1) never to return, and 2) to tell others what we experienced as a warning. To be fair, most of the food was nice enough, and the brushetta is great. But the pasta station was disappointing, partly due to the rudeness of the cooks, but also due to excessive use of red pepper, masking any other flavors (in two different pasta dishes). Our waiter was acting as if he was high, saying first good evening, then good morning (at 1pm), slurring his speech and repeating himself. Other waiters would rush by the buffet area, practically pushing customers out of their way. Someone would come to take dishes while we were still sitting in front of them, fork in hand. No water or orange juice (which was served warm, without ice) refills were ever offered, and were slow to come after being requested. Many of the strawberries were half rotten, and the only ice cream available was in liquid form. After speaking to the manager (and only about the pasta station), we left disappointed, only to be seen out of the parking lot by our waiter flicking us off (because he had only gotten a 10% tip? because we asked to speak to the manager? or because he actually was drunk or high?). Either way, it was a miserable experience for us, certainly not worth the $18 per person, and if you do chose to go there, we hope for your sake that the customer service will have improved dramatically.
JO
John Slack
Dont listen to the negative reviews; having lived in Rome, Italy for three years, I can tell you that the food here is more authentic than 99% of the Italian Ive eaten stateside. Dont get me wrong, I love the American chain style restaurants, but they do lack authenticity. Granted, I didnt try everything on the menu, but my farfalle pasta was perfectly cooked, and the pizza that my wife ate was the best Italian style pizza Ive had outside of Italy. Arancinis (rice balls) are on the antipasto menu; how often do you see those outside Italy? The bar had digestifs common in Italy as well: no problem ordering limoncello, amaretto, Frangelico...and even grappa. The place was very popular, even on a cold winter night, and our service was excellent. Not everything is authentic (thankfully), the pane (bread) is brought out warm and soft rather than dry and at room temp...you get water with your drinks and it actually has ICE in it! You can easily get drinks for guests who arent in the Italian vibe--I cant tell you how often I wished that ANY restaurant in Italy would just make me a decent margarita, lol. I love supporting local business that have earned the right to exist...this place surely has!
SA
Sam Saphiro
I guess if you cant cook Italian yourself, never been to Italy or even Little Italy in Baltimore, or NYC. One would be impressed by the mediocre and overcooked pasta, yet unaffected by the over priced menu. Then again, if a dining establishment employs non English speaking cooks at low wages, dont expect gourmet, and real Italian food. And lets not forget the meager portion served. I even overheard someone screaming at the top of their lungs with profanity from the kitchen about the cooking to his subordinates, real classy. The service is horrendous, bartenders and servers are rude with exceptionally slow and poor service. The one skinny girl on the bar side has a a serious attitude, rude to people, and conveys this angry demeanor. I overheard the male bartender arguing with a patron once over the bill for one beer. In my business, the customer is always right, even if they are wrong. I wouldnt recommend eating in the restaurant section, nor patronizing the bar side.
LA
LaTanya Green
Service was less than stellar. It took approximately 9.5 minutes for the server to come take my drink order. I mention this because there was only 1 other patron and her small child present. Ive eaten at the location several times and have always automatically received garlic knots and a warm dinner roll. I was neither given nor offered either during this visit. I ordered a salad and pizza. The salad was good. While eating it, the pizza was delivered. After placing it on the table, the server simply walked away. I had to get up and go to the server station to retrieve a plate along with red pepper and parmesan cheese for the pizza. Service left a lot to be desired; however, the food was good. Overall, the visit was only okay as a result of the poor service
NG
Ngina Steele
Paradiso has changed ownership and/or management at least twice in the more than 20 years Ive been frequenting Sunday brunch. The current owners have ruined this place to the point that todays visit will be my last. Several of the wait and host staff are rude and unfriendly and the food is now gross (blood oozing from carving station meat!) and flavorless and in no way justifies the $25.99/pp price. Even the dessert station is now a disappointment with low quality store bought donuts and pastries replacing the tastier quality desserts once featured. The only thing decent about this brunch now is the pizza and bottomless mimosas - neither of which however is worth the drive to VA or $26 bucks. Do yourself a favor and dont waste your time OR tastebuds!!
IN
Ingrid Costello
The absolute WORST! Giving 1 is being kind! Told waiter allergy to tomato, order food with NO tomato, meal comes, begin to eat what do I uncover???? An edge of my food has tomato sauce! Like it had been wiped off and left a smear. Do they not understand when someone has an allergy?! Needless to say, a BIG THANK YOU, for my allergic reaction. All I got was the one dish taken off bill. I really felt like just walking out snd not paying the bill at all! Talked to manager, who apologized, but just was not as sympathetic as someone who lives with allergies! Will never go there again!
ER
Ernesto Gomez
METAL IN FOOD! BEWARE! I went here for a date on Valentines day. But the service was horrible. Our waiter barely attended us to see if we were doing okay or needed anything. And to make matters worse. There was a piece of metal in my food!! METAL! Which looked like a piece of a fence. How the hell does that even happen?! After bringing it up to my waiter, I asked to speak to the manager about it and I waited about 10 minutes just to be told the manager was too busy to talk to me..... I will never be coming back to this restaurant ever again.
CA
Carrie Tilley
We went tonight for the first time and were impressed. The server was very polite and made us feel at home. He even placed our sons order in first since he was really hungry and started to complain. Although this may not be authentic Italian food, all of our food tasted great. My son really enjoyed the childrens room even though he is a little young to stay in there the whole time. For anyone that doesnt have kids, dont worry you cant really hear anything from the family side so you can still enjoy a nice quite meal.
KR
Kristopher Bryant
This place was okay. We came here as an office to congratulate a coworker on moving into another position closer to home and let her know we were going to miss her. It was a buffet which has a lot of variety and includes desserts too. The best thing was the fresh pasta being made in front of your face. I gave it 3 stars because some of the plates were not clean on the back side and not one person was really dedicated to cleaning the buffet area or directing people. I would go back but not for lunch.
