Duroc Pork Chop
Alley Vine

Alley Vine

1332 Park StSte D, Alameda, United States Of America

Full • Wine • American • Bar-lounge


"We came here for dinner recently and I was so disappointed with so many aspects of a restaurant that really seemed like they were going to be great. First off, one of our party was running late that was on us, however the restaurant was NOT busy in the slightest, so the fact that our server was a bit testy about it and refused to answer any questions or explain anything about the menu until our full party was present just rude, given that we could have been making decisions to expedite the ordering process while our last member arrived. So that was the first problem. The second problem was that the menu is meant to be a tasting menu, lots of small plates to share that sounds nice, yeah? Except that in that situation it can be hard to tell exactly how much food you will be ordering especially if it 's your first time at the venue. Our waiter expected us to be able to prognosticate exactly how many dishes we were going to be ordering and got testy when I said let 's start with these dishes and then see . Next problem was that They have a number of (quite) fancy cocktails on their house cocktail menu which is fine, although they were quite expensive but when we ordered a more classic cocktail for one of our party who wasn 't as interested in trying some of the more complex cocktails we were charged a service fee (per drink) making the simpler, classic cocktail more expensive than the bougie ones. Let 's talk about the food. The food was (mostly) delicious. The fish sticks, which were recommended by the waiter, are a hard pass if we are ever unfortunate enough to eat here again I 've literally had better tasting from Trader Joes but the milk bread was quite good and some of the other items we had were good. But the portion sizes were ... woof. So small. Especially for the price. I get that they 're small plates, but I kid you not, we likely spent $30 or so on less than a whole tomato on TWO plates where tomato was one of the main ingredients and we were given exactly two slices of toast with one dipping plate for FOUR people dining. (And then we were charged for more toast when we asked for more) I expected a lot better. Definitely not worth it and will not be coming back. Edit to add I forgot to mention that after our last dish we ended up sitting for a very long time on the dark patio (there was no proper lighting to speak of) for our server to come check on us and see if we wanted dessert. Eventually one of our party had to go find our server and request our check be brought out to us by this point we were too tired and irritated to consider dessert."

Antica Trattoria

Antica Trattoria

5654 Lake Murray BlvdCA 91942, La Mesa, United States

Wine • Drinks • Italian • Sicilian


"Located in a strip mall with ample free parking, Antica Trattoria 's decor has a cozy, authentic Italian feel with different textures and al fresco style paintings on the walls. There is some limited outdoor seating looks like seating left over from Covid days in the parking lot). The music was a little loud and non fitting, but the atmosphere was vibrant. The food was good and portions were generous. I always judge a restaurant by its bread and this restaurant had excellent bread! Very fresh and doughy I could have eaten the whole basket! The freshly made generous portion of tiramisu for dessert was also excellent. $13, May 2023) Service was swift and committed a few 'faux pas ' in my book. First, they removed my plate before my dining partner was finished and then the waiter verbally announced the list of desserts as said dining partner was still finishing eating their entree. We could only remember half of the desserts a paper dessert menu would have been appreciated). About 2 seconds after dessert was delivered, the bill was placed on the table without asking if we wanted coffee or anything else. I understand we had a 90 minute window in which to dine as is common nowadays in the USA), but we were well within that window. We would have appreciated not feeling rushed, particularly since it was Mother 's Day, a special occasion. That and slightly high prices were why I took off a star."