We have dined at the special Sunday Brunch, pre Covid. Our reservation was for 15 minutes after they opened. All the hot brunch offerings were cold! The chef staff did not appear to care. In the past, the Brunch offerings were on a much higher culinary level. The dress code was not enforced. Hoodies, jeans, untucked flannel shirts were the rule of the day. I was wearing a suit and tie and felt completely over dressed. There was no ambiance unless you were from a pig farm and even pigs have taste. The oysters did not appear safe to eat. The seafood salad was disgusting. The pastry offings looked picked over and limited. The whole Brunch was not worth the $100 plus price per person. The one bright spot was our waiter Paul who provided great service under trying circumstances. So much for special occasions. If this review seems harsh, it’s deserved.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 4
Ali Gjo
This was an interesting dining experience. We dined here with a 5:30 PM reservation. Upon arrival to check in, The hostess informed us that we had 90 minutes to be at our table and had to be gone within 90 minutes because they had a lot of reservations that evening. While dining, we noticed some friends of ours at a neighboring table. I was worried about saying hello since I knew we were on our 90 minute time limit. However, I stopped over to greet them and they immediately asked if we had been placed on a 90 minute time limit as well. There were several open tables while we were there so not certain why the need to rush everyone out. Our food was fine, nothing to get excited about. I would not go back. There are so many more places to go where you are not rushed and the food is better.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
Porsha Key
I visited this restaurant on 2 different occasions. Both times, despite having a reservation, I was seated beyond the check in time.
The first time it was Valentine's Day so we extended grace and elected to sit at the bar instead. While ordering the Bartender corrected my pronunciation of a dish, which I found rude. Ironically, he understood my french when I ordered a bottle of champagne.
The second time the birthday party I was with was sat 1 hr past our reservation. The service was terrible throughout. But the icing on the cake was the servers denying my friend a water refill because they "were closing". Maybe if it didn't take us so long to be sat and served she could've taken her pain medication.
The food was mediocre. You're basically paying for the ambiance.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
Angela Ennis
Come here if you want to pay $400 and wait 2hrs for your entree. Will not be back.
D D
Good food, nice vibe, good service, good wine, pricey.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Kevin Munro
Paid for the valentine experience. First they canceled our reservation for sending the confirmation email to the wrong email. Went from a 7:15 reservation to a 9:15 reservation. We get there for our reservation and don’t get sat down until 10:30 pm. Food was NOT worth $400 for two people. Was there so late we had them bag the desert because we were over the whole experience. Desert sucked too. We won’t be back. Ruined our night, went excited and left very disappointed.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Craig A
Our first time we had an epic experience, this time was not up to par. It sure helps to know someone. We sat at the bar for lunch on Valentine's Day. We were one of only two couples to be seated, so it wasn't busy initially. After dropping off my fiancé, I parked the car and felt we would not get the 5 star service we expected. The garage is $6 for 0-3 hrs, so I parked at a meter. We were immediately offered bread with a nice saucer of olive oil, which I usually like with pepper and parmesan added. We asked for gluten free bread which they fresh baked on request and was very nice. The fancy pepper shakers don't work though or were empty. I had to get up to reach and grind my own pepper which I'm sure offended the absent bar server. He was too busy petting the dog at the bar couches, 15 ft away, not sure that is legal? We ordered the soup and asked for another spoon, but never received one. I never received a napkin or silverware until I ordered my sandwich. I got my food but wasn't offered fresh ground pepper for my salad either, once again grinding myself. The bar wasn't that busy, and most ordered soup or a sandwich. It was drafty with the hotel entry just off the bar, not the best design. The bathroom was being serviced at that time as well and the maid cart was left in the entryway for awhile. We enjoyed our food, but for the price, it wasn't worth it for the experience. We even asked about theolive oil, which they sell, last time we received small complimentary bottles. You would think they would have done something extra for the Holiday, but it felt we had to beg just for the basic service. Probably won't return.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Brad Roper
Rough experience from start to end. Made a reservation for VDay and got a confirmation. Later was sent threatening emails saying if we didn’t fill out a credit card auth form our reservation would be cancelled. Called and emailed back hoping to give them my card number and was told we couldn’t give them a card via phone. I never received the cc auth form so I had to ask for them to resend mulitple times. After getting all of that figured out we took the first seating at 5:15 hoping to get to a cocktail/jazz bar around 7:30. It was a preset menu which makes sense for VDay. 4 courses - the food was incredibly disappointing and slow. Most dishes were luke warm at best and all the seafood tasted like it had been sitting. We didn’t get our last course until 8:10pm nearly 3 hours after arrival. The lobby was packed with people waiting an hour or so after their reservation time. Our server, Glen, did his best and apologized 3 to 4 times and offered us a comped glass of wine. He did a good job but overall the experience was not good. Meal with wine ended up being around $700 and they added auto gratuity on a 2 top. I had already planned to tip 20%, just found it odd to add it automatically after the poor experience we had. I am not looking for anything from the account, just sharing our experience. Unfortunately even with the service and atmosphere, we won’t be returning.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 4
William MacKay
DO NOT TRUST FOR A SPECIAL EVENT.
We had a reservation booked months in advance for Valentine's day 2025, had multiple calls from restaurant asking to change times, sure what the heck, we can move back an hour. Had to sign a form (was one for hotel guests) in advance of reservation. Sure ok, giving the benefit of the doubt, it's weird but ok.
Valentine's day rolls around had a 7PM reservation we walked in with dozens milling about and not a table in sight with food at their table. Drinks, yes. But something went seriously wrong with the kitchen. It was supposed to be a prix-fixe reservation only situation, so given the context as easy on kitchen as possible. Again, I'm not blaming anyone, particularly those FOH but something went wrong. We left at 745 with dozens still ahead of us.
I liked this restaurant, I had been multiple times before, I wanted it to succeed, but I can never trust it again.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Kevin Hunkins
Had Valentines Day reservations for months (through OpenTable) and two days before Valentines Day, we get a notification that our reservation was cancelled by the restaurant. I immediately called the restaurant when we got the notification, 5 times because no one would answer, I finally got ahold of someone. The girl told me that they sent us a credit card authorization form via e-mail over a month ago and that they would make a note so the manager would call us.
I looked at the credit card authorization form and it was a form that hotel guests were supposed to fill out, including information like: Room confirmation number, guest services charging preferences, parking charging preferences, all these things that A) not even relevant for dinner, and B) Never had to fill it out once to dine there before (even on special events)
Day before Valentine’s Day now, manager called us and told us the same thing the first girl told us but instead of helping us out, she had already booked someone else our table so now we are planless for Valentines Day which is extremely disappointing as we were looking forward to this.
Really disappointed in how they handled this: 1. CC authorization emailed a month before our dinner date, zero follow up after that. 2. No warning prior to cancelling our reservations. 3. Giving our reservation away when I immediately called to tell them there must be a mistake .
Tremendous opportunity for improvement here. The customer isn’t always right but this was handled like 1st graders.
My husband and I dined at Casa Don Alfonso for the restaurant week menu, and while we had high hopes, the overall experience was disappointing.
For the first course, we ordered the tuna tartare and eggplant Parmesan. The tuna tartare was excessively salty, making it hard to enjoy, and the eggplant Parmesan was bland and below average.
The second course didn’t fare much better. The lobster pasta was undercooked and unremarkable. My husband ordered the steak with potatoes, but the dish was served cold. When we raised this issue, the staff took it back and returned it claiming it was a “new” dish. However, it was obvious they had simply reheated the same plate. The steak was now overcooked, and the potatoes were dried out.
On a positive note, the desserts were excellent and redeemed the meal slightly. Additionally, the server and manager genuinely cared about our feedback, which we appreciated.
Despite these redeeming aspects, the overall food quality was far below expectations for a restaurant in The Ritz-Carlton. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t recommend it to anyone seeking a refined dining experience.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
Chris Gutzler
Have been here many times before and loved it. I absolutely love the atmosphere every time. But my last time around, completely changed my mind. The food was so underwhelming and seemed quickly put together. I order the gnocchi, and it was so lifeless. It tasted like they were from the freezer and quickly cooked with store bought sauce. I also order a side of chicken to go with it. The chicken seemed like it was boiled first, then tossed in a skillet to barely brown it. My fiancé order a pizza and she had no words for how bad it was. She only finished one slice. Will not being going back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 4
Bruce K.
Extremely fancy and quite expensive, Casa Don Alfonso is in the Ritz-Carlton hotel. My colleagues chose it because they were staying in that hotel and didn't want to go too far. I knew it was going to be a spendy meal from the moment we walked in.
Beautifully decorated and warmly welcomed, the hostess did check to see if we had a reservation which we did not. No worries, a bigger table was available and in fact, the restaurant remained 3/4ths empty on this cold Midwest evening.
Appetizers are $20 and up. Main courses run from $30 and up. You could do some real damage here and we did not. Four baskets of their fabulous bread were consumed with tap water for most. I chose the meatballs (they have a fancy Italian name on the menu) and they were delicious. Three medium sized pieces, in a marinara and cream sauce. inside, beautifully stuffed and cooked perfectly. Are those pine nuts? Yes, those are pine nuts.
We opted to skip dessert. Our meal landed at $250 plus tip which included one round of drinks, no starters and no desserts. They have valet parking, there is some limited street parking and the hotel has a parking deck but it's on the far side of the building.
Vegetarian options: There are meatless options.
Dietary restrictions: Ask about allergens.
Parking: The hotel has valet and a paid parking deck. There is some limited street parking.
Kid-friendliness: It is a fancy restaurant. Well behaved kids are welcome.
Wheelchair accessibility: Step free access.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Marinara, Casa Don Alfonso
Fred Moore
I can not even begin to express how disappointed I was after this meal. We used to go regularly, but not any more.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
ChrisCantDance
Look—I was highly impressed walking through the open bar. I’ve never seen one so low to the ground. The furniture was an elegant mid-century modern style and provided an extra layer of comfort during my dining experience. It was nice to be able to see the chefs making the food in the exposed kitchen.
With the day we went being my parents’ anniversary, we wanted to pick a place to match how special the day meant to us. So we landed on this establishment that promised a temporary escape to the Sorrento coast accompanied by the pleasant cultural tastes of Restauranteur Mario Iaccarino’s family legacy.
A few minutes after being seated, our table asked for two simple drinks: one glass of Coke and one glass of lemonade. After being hit with the discouraging, “Is Pepsi ok?,” my hopes for quality lemonade lowered. Being in such an upscale location—with a bar—one would expect freshly squeezed lemonade in a place that can clearly afford it. When our server came back with second-rate cola and lemonade, I was expecting the taste of hand-squeezed sweet-and-sour goodness. Instead, I was greeted with the unfortunate familiarity of Minute Maid lemonade from the fountain—something you’d get at your local gas station. Or maybe at a pizza place late at night. Not at Casa Don Alfonso.
Along with our drinks came the bread. Two of the six slices were nicely moist and contained flavorful morsels of herbs. The other four, however, were room-temperature, unfinished scraps that looked like they were left from another diner’s table, creating an unsightly mismatch. How does a restaurant mess up bread? It’s bread. Jesus Christ broke bread from the same loaf. Why couldn’t Casa Don Alfonso?
After spending a few minutes feeding on the breadcrumbs like the pigeons, we were presented with our appetizer: Vitello Tonnato, a shareable carpaccio. With this appetizer costing what other establishments would price their entrées, we had high expectations. For a cut like veal, it was grainy and dry. I mean, otherwise, it wasn’t terrible. The caviar added a nice touch, even. But the cornerstone element—the meat—prevented this antipasti from garnering a more positive reaction from my family.
After washing down the mediocrity of our appetizer with the rest of our drinks, our entrées arrived.
The Potato Gnocchi Spheres were delicate. That’s really all that was good to say about it. The sauce was so colorless, actually, that if a tiny breadstick were added, I would think the plate was stolen from a local high school—not exactly in the realm of memories one wants to have on their special day.
The Veal Ossobuco was…good. As expected. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The New Zealand Lamb Chops (which happened to be the priciest item on the menu) had beautiful presentation. My mouth watered as the plate was set down in front of me. The meat itself was well-cooked to my ‘medium’ request. However, the rich taste of saffron in the velouté was unjustly overshadowed by one other ingredient that scattered the surface area of the plate; now, let’s be fair—I love mint. I love it in my chewing gum, I love it in my Altoids, and sometimes, even my chocolate ice cream. But not in my lamb.
Finally, the Tagliatelle Don Alfonso—a pasta dish proudly brandishing the flagship name of this very establishment. I didn’t realize Restauranteur Iaccarino was just the stage name for Chef Boyardee.
Once our plates were empty (as well as our drinks, which hadn’t been refilled since we finished bearing the lackluster Vitello Tonnato), we pretended to look at the dessert menu before paying and leaving. But not leaving to go back home after a luxuriously filling meal. 30 minutes later, my stomach was empty. Grumbling. Sweat beads began to form as I gripped my sides in gastrointestinal discomfort.
Our food that we paid for failed its primary purpose: to keep us full. We stopped by Chick-fil-A on the wa
We have dined at the special Sunday Brunch, pre Covid. Our reservation was for 15 minutes after they opened. All the hot brunch offerings were cold! The chef staff did not appear to care. In the past, the Brunch offerings were on a much higher culinary level. The dress code was not enforced. Hoodies, jeans, untucked flannel shirts were the rule of the day. I was wearing a suit and tie and felt completely over dressed. There was no ambiance unless you were from a pig farm and even pigs have taste. The oysters did not appear safe to eat. The seafood salad was disgusting. The pastry offings looked picked over and limited. The whole Brunch was not worth the $100 plus price per person. The one bright spot was our waiter Paul who provided great service under trying circumstances. So much for special occasions. If this review seems harsh, it’s deserved.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 4
This was an interesting dining experience. We dined here with a 5:30 PM reservation. Upon arrival to check in, The hostess informed us that we had 90 minutes to be at our table and had to be gone within 90 minutes because they had a lot of reservations that evening. While dining, we noticed some friends of ours at a neighboring table. I was worried about saying hello since I knew we were on our 90 minute time limit. However, I stopped over to greet them and they immediately asked if we had been placed on a 90 minute time limit as well. There were several open tables while we were there so not certain why the need to rush everyone out. Our food was fine, nothing to get excited about. I would not go back. There are so many more places to go where you are not rushed and the food is better.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
I visited this restaurant on 2 different occasions. Both times, despite having a reservation, I was seated beyond the check in time.
The first time it was Valentine's Day so we extended grace and elected to sit at the bar instead. While ordering the Bartender corrected my pronunciation of a dish, which I found rude. Ironically, he understood my french when I ordered a bottle of champagne.
The second time the birthday party I was with was sat 1 hr past our reservation. The service was terrible throughout. But the icing on the cake was the servers denying my friend a water refill because they "were closing". Maybe if it didn't take us so long to be sat and served she could've taken her pain medication.
The food was mediocre. You're basically paying for the ambiance.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
Come here if you want to pay $400 and wait 2hrs for your entree. Will not be back.
Good food, nice vibe, good service, good wine, pricey.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Paid for the valentine experience. First they canceled our reservation for sending the confirmation email to the wrong email. Went from a 7:15 reservation to a 9:15 reservation. We get there for our reservation and don’t get sat down until 10:30 pm. Food was NOT worth $400 for two people. Was there so late we had them bag the desert because we were over the whole experience. Desert sucked too. We won’t be back. Ruined our night, went excited and left very disappointed.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Our first time we had an epic experience, this time was not up to par. It sure helps to know someone.
We sat at the bar for lunch on Valentine's Day. We were one of only two couples to be seated, so it wasn't busy initially.
After dropping off my fiancé, I parked the car and felt we would not get the 5 star service we expected. The garage is $6 for 0-3 hrs, so I parked at a meter.
We were immediately offered bread with a nice saucer of olive oil,
which I usually like with pepper and parmesan added. We asked for gluten free bread which they fresh baked on request and was very nice. The fancy pepper shakers don't work though or were empty. I had to get up to reach and grind my own pepper which I'm sure offended the absent bar server. He was too busy petting the dog at the bar couches, 15 ft away, not sure that is legal?
We ordered the soup and asked for another spoon, but never received one. I never received a napkin or silverware until I ordered my sandwich.
I got my food but wasn't offered fresh ground pepper for my salad either, once again grinding myself. The bar wasn't that busy, and most ordered soup or a sandwich.
It was drafty with the hotel entry just off the bar, not the best design. The bathroom was being serviced at that time as well and the maid cart was left in the entryway for awhile.
We enjoyed our food, but for the price, it wasn't worth it for the experience. We even asked about theolive oil, which they sell, last time we received small complimentary bottles. You would think they would have done something extra for the Holiday, but it felt we had to beg just for the basic service. Probably won't return.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Rough experience from start to end. Made a reservation for VDay and got a confirmation. Later was sent threatening emails saying if we didn’t fill out a credit card auth form our reservation would be cancelled. Called and emailed back hoping to give them my card number and was told we couldn’t give them a card via phone. I never received the cc auth form so I had to ask for them to resend mulitple times. After getting all of that figured out we took the first seating at 5:15 hoping to get to a cocktail/jazz bar around 7:30. It was a preset menu which makes sense for VDay. 4 courses - the food was incredibly disappointing and slow. Most dishes were luke warm at best and all the seafood tasted like it had been sitting. We didn’t get our last course until 8:10pm nearly 3 hours after arrival. The lobby was packed with people waiting an hour or so after their reservation time. Our server, Glen, did his best and apologized 3 to 4 times and offered us a comped glass of wine. He did a good job but overall the experience was not good. Meal with wine ended up being around $700 and they added auto gratuity on a 2 top. I had already planned to tip 20%, just found it odd to add it automatically after the poor experience we had. I am not looking for anything from the account, just sharing our experience. Unfortunately even with the service and atmosphere, we won’t be returning.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 4
DO NOT TRUST FOR A SPECIAL EVENT.
We had a reservation booked months in advance for Valentine's day 2025, had multiple calls from restaurant asking to change times, sure what the heck, we can move back an hour. Had to sign a form (was one for hotel guests) in advance of reservation. Sure ok, giving the benefit of the doubt, it's weird but ok.
Valentine's day rolls around had a 7PM reservation we walked in with dozens milling about and not a table in sight with food at their table. Drinks, yes. But something went seriously wrong with the kitchen. It was supposed to be a prix-fixe reservation only situation, so given the context as easy on kitchen as possible. Again, I'm not blaming anyone, particularly those FOH but something went wrong. We left at 745 with dozens still ahead of us.
I liked this restaurant, I had been multiple times before, I wanted it to succeed, but I can never trust it again.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Had Valentines Day reservations for months (through OpenTable) and two days before Valentines Day, we get a notification that our reservation was cancelled by the restaurant. I immediately called the restaurant when we got the notification, 5 times because no one would answer, I finally got ahold of someone. The girl told me that they sent us a credit card authorization form via e-mail over a month ago and that they would make a note so the manager would call us.
I looked at the credit card authorization form and it was a form that hotel guests were supposed to fill out, including information like: Room confirmation number, guest services charging preferences, parking charging preferences, all these things that A) not even relevant for dinner, and B) Never had to fill it out once to dine there before (even on special events)
Day before Valentine’s Day now, manager called us and told us the same thing the first girl told us but instead of helping us out, she had already booked someone else our table so now we are planless for Valentines Day which is extremely disappointing as we were looking forward to this.
Really disappointed in how they handled this:
1. CC authorization emailed a month before our dinner date, zero follow up after that.
2. No warning prior to cancelling our reservations.
3. Giving our reservation away when I immediately called to tell them there must be a mistake .
Tremendous opportunity for improvement here. The customer isn’t always right but this was handled like 1st graders.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
Restaurantji Recommends
My husband and I dined at Casa Don Alfonso for the restaurant week menu, and while we had high hopes, the overall experience was disappointing.
For the first course, we ordered the tuna tartare and eggplant Parmesan. The tuna tartare was excessively salty, making it hard to enjoy, and the eggplant Parmesan was bland and below average.
The second course didn’t fare much better. The lobster pasta was undercooked and unremarkable. My husband ordered the steak with potatoes, but the dish was served cold. When we raised this issue, the staff took it back and returned it claiming it was a “new” dish. However, it was obvious they had simply reheated the same plate. The steak was now overcooked, and the potatoes were dried out.
On a positive note, the desserts were excellent and redeemed the meal slightly. Additionally, the server and manager genuinely cared about our feedback, which we appreciated.
Despite these redeeming aspects, the overall food quality was far below expectations for a restaurant in The Ritz-Carlton. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t recommend it to anyone seeking a refined dining experience.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
Have been here many times before and loved it. I absolutely love the atmosphere every time. But my last time around, completely changed my mind. The food was so underwhelming and seemed quickly put together. I order the gnocchi, and it was so lifeless. It tasted like they were from the freezer and quickly cooked with store bought sauce. I also order a side of chicken to go with it. The chicken seemed like it was boiled first, then tossed in a skillet to barely brown it. My fiancé order a pizza and she had no words for how bad it was. She only finished one slice. Will not being going back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 4
Extremely fancy and quite expensive, Casa Don Alfonso is in the Ritz-Carlton hotel. My colleagues chose it because they were staying in that hotel and didn't want to go too far. I knew it was going to be a spendy meal from the moment we walked in.
Beautifully decorated and warmly welcomed, the hostess did check to see if we had a reservation which we did not. No worries, a bigger table was available and in fact, the restaurant remained 3/4ths empty on this cold Midwest evening.
Appetizers are $20 and up. Main courses run from $30 and up. You could do some real damage here and we did not. Four baskets of their fabulous bread were consumed with tap water for most. I chose the meatballs (they have a fancy Italian name on the menu) and they were delicious. Three medium sized pieces, in a marinara and cream sauce. inside, beautifully stuffed and cooked perfectly. Are those pine nuts? Yes, those are pine nuts.
We opted to skip dessert. Our meal landed at $250 plus tip which included one round of drinks, no starters and no desserts. They have valet parking, there is some limited street parking and the hotel has a parking deck but it's on the far side of the building.
Vegetarian options: There are meatless options.
Dietary restrictions: Ask about allergens.
Parking: The hotel has valet and a paid parking deck. There is some limited street parking.
Kid-friendliness: It is a fancy restaurant. Well behaved kids are welcome.
Wheelchair accessibility: Step free access.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Marinara, Casa Don Alfonso
I can not even begin to express how disappointed I was after this meal. We used to go regularly, but not any more.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Look—I was highly impressed walking through the open bar. I’ve never seen one so low to the ground. The furniture was an elegant mid-century modern style and provided an extra layer of comfort during my dining experience. It was nice to be able to see the chefs making the food in the exposed kitchen.
With the day we went being my parents’ anniversary, we wanted to pick a place to match how special the day meant to us. So we landed on this establishment that promised a temporary escape to the Sorrento coast accompanied by the pleasant cultural tastes of Restauranteur Mario Iaccarino’s family legacy.
A few minutes after being seated, our table asked for two simple drinks: one glass of Coke and one glass of lemonade. After being hit with the discouraging, “Is Pepsi ok?,” my hopes for quality lemonade lowered. Being in such an upscale location—with a bar—one would expect freshly squeezed lemonade in a place that can clearly afford it. When our server came back with second-rate cola and lemonade, I was expecting the taste of hand-squeezed sweet-and-sour goodness. Instead, I was greeted with the unfortunate familiarity of Minute Maid lemonade from the fountain—something you’d get at your local gas station. Or maybe at a pizza place late at night. Not at Casa Don Alfonso.
Along with our drinks came the bread. Two of the six slices were nicely moist and contained flavorful morsels of herbs. The other four, however, were room-temperature, unfinished scraps that looked like they were left from another diner’s table, creating an unsightly mismatch. How does a restaurant mess up bread? It’s bread. Jesus Christ broke bread from the same loaf. Why couldn’t Casa Don Alfonso?
After spending a few minutes feeding on the breadcrumbs like the pigeons, we were presented with our appetizer: Vitello Tonnato, a shareable carpaccio. With this appetizer costing what other establishments would price their entrées, we had high expectations. For a cut like veal, it was grainy and dry. I mean, otherwise, it wasn’t terrible. The caviar added a nice touch, even. But the cornerstone element—the meat—prevented this antipasti from garnering a more positive reaction from my family.
After washing down the mediocrity of our appetizer with the rest of our drinks, our entrées arrived.
The Potato Gnocchi Spheres were delicate. That’s really all that was good to say about it. The sauce was so colorless, actually, that if a tiny breadstick were added, I would think the plate was stolen from a local high school—not exactly in the realm of memories one wants to have on their special day.
The Veal Ossobuco was…good. As expected. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The New Zealand Lamb Chops (which happened to be the priciest item on the menu) had beautiful presentation. My mouth watered as the plate was set down in front of me. The meat itself was well-cooked to my ‘medium’ request. However, the rich taste of saffron in the velouté was unjustly overshadowed by one other ingredient that scattered the surface area of the plate; now, let’s be fair—I love mint. I love it in my chewing gum, I love it in my Altoids, and sometimes, even my chocolate ice cream. But not in my lamb.
Finally, the Tagliatelle Don Alfonso—a pasta dish proudly brandishing the flagship name of this very establishment. I didn’t realize Restauranteur Iaccarino was just the stage name for Chef Boyardee.
Once our plates were empty (as well as our drinks, which hadn’t been refilled since we finished bearing the lackluster Vitello Tonnato), we pretended to look at the dessert menu before paying and leaving. But not leaving to go back home after a luxuriously filling meal. 30 minutes later, my stomach was empty. Grumbling. Sweat beads began to form as I gripped my sides in gastrointestinal discomfort.
Our food that we paid for failed its primary purpose: to keep us full. We stopped by Chick-fil-A on the wa
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 3
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