"Sorry to post such a negative review, and hope that the following information is helpful in explaining what did not go well for us that night. Let 's start with the pluses: establishment was clean, fair amount of street parking, BYOB policy only required a 2 corkage fee, Pam our waitress was among the best in memory, freshly made coffee, and tasty tiramisu. We started, in lieu of garlic bread, with the Margherita Pizza 6 Cut Pizza, for which the menu reads, Tomato sauce with fresh mozzarella, basil , 7). The pizza is not homemade but rather purchased from another company then a piece of fresh mozzarella and a basil leaf is added to each square cut , and the pizza heated. The crust tasted of freezer, the sauce bland, and this appetizer was highly disappointing we asked for the remaining four slices to be boxed up to take with us, but never ate anymore of it. We didn 't think that we should have had to ask the restaurant if the pizza was homemade or store bought, as nothing on the menu indicates that the pizza is storebought premade other parts of the menu indicate that there is an upcharge for homemade pasta gnocchi). Total waste of money and was a predictor of the rest of the meal to follow. We each had a small tossed salad of Lettuce and Tomato , with the House made Red Wine Vinegar dressing. Salad was romaine, and the dressing taste was so strongly red vinegary without any attempt to balance it re: olive oil, sugar, salt, pepper, etc. so that your tongue hurt from the highly prominent acetic acid. A bargain at 2 perhaps with one of the other dressings offered Ranch, Blue Cheese or French), but the red vinegar was highly off putting. We were very hungry re: the pizza fiasco, so we ate most of our salads. We each chose an entree from the Classic Dinners: All dinners are served with a side of pasta .50 extra for homemade) or a starch and vegetable of the day . My spouse chose to have homemade gnocchi with Shrimp Scampi Sauteed with Garlic, White wine, Lemon, Butter and Herbs 11.50. I also selected homemade gnocchi, with the Shrimp Fra Diavolo Jumbo Shrimp tossed with in a Spicy Marinara Sauce 11.50 . Each dish disappointed on many levels. 1) The large portions of gnocchi appeared to be a poorly prepared frozen store bought variety instead of homemade, as each dense and flavorless leaden pellet was uniform in size and markings quality hand home gnocchi 's carry the trademarks of beautiful, pillowy clouds of dough and cheese that accomplished chefs serve at their restaurants or good home cooks serve at home) that vary somewhat in size and shape due to the handrolling and cutting process. 2) There were but a few 5 6) mediumish large sized shrimp we felt these were not Jumbo shrimp like we buy use; it wasn 't a problem that the shrimp were previously frozen), and were so mistreated that there was no visually nor tastebud appetizing sear or pink color, but instead a pasty white interior exterior accompanying a leaden wateryness absent of any even average shrimp flavor. Maybe the kitchen pre and over boiled the shrimp, and then added them to the dish? 3) My partner 's scampi sauce clearly lacked flavors where were the garlic, wine, butter, and herb notes in the traditional taste symphony? 4) My spicy marinara sauce was good, but the kitchen needed to make sure that it cooked the garlic through so that future customers wouldn 't get the offputting bites of semi raw garlic in the sauce. I note that neither of us came anywhere close to finishing out respective main course. We each thought that the tiramisu 3) was good and light. The accompanying coffee 1.25) was freshly made and a good accompaniment. Throughout the meal service was affable, attentive, and accommodating. One note: when we mentioned that we were done with the pizza, our server asked if it was ok to bring forward the main course, and came right out with it which begs the question, how long had the shrimp and pasta dishes been sitting before we got them? Pam our server listened attentively to our numerous concerns about the food, and the restaurant credited the cost of a tiramisu while giving us one free due to a birthday) because we didn 't like the food. There are other food choices that are offered: pasta dishes, parmigiana entrees, chicken fingers. Maybe some of those are better than what we had, one can hope. However, on the special occasion night that we dined, the food was anything but special. We wish the restaurant and Pam our server well."
