"Disappointing Won’t go back to Oliverii north on lake street in antioch. IL Went with another couple at 6:30 pm on a Saturday. It was very busy as expected. What was not expected is how unprepared, understaffed and poorly trained and managed they were for the dinner rush. The other couple made the reservation online on Wednesday but did not receive the expected confirmation screen so they called. Host apologized and made a manual reservation. We showed up and the reservation had been lost. They stuffed us in with only a short wait. We were not in a rush. The young Waiter was very nice and came to the table fairly quickly to get drink orders . A good crispy bread was served and oil was at the table. Things went downhill from there. The waiter was running to cover too many tables on a busy night and service really suffered as a result. THe server never could figure out how to get the right item to the right person. Soups, salads, drinks, entrees, checks , etc. were all randomly distributed and then apologetically shuffled to the right person. We asked for more bread when the salads/soups arrived and then had to ask 4 more times because the server kept forgetting. Similarly I ordered a glass of wine with dinner and had to remind the server when the salad arrived, again when the entrees arrived and then 2 more times. When we placed the drink order we asked about the mussels fresh/frozen, where from and how fresh. The server had forgotten our request when he came to take our order. He then went back to the kitchen and returned to say they were fresh and “locally sourced” but the chef didn’t know from where. Hmmm. We passed on that. The extra bread and wine arrived as we were almost done with the meal. The bus staff cleared the tables quickly and kept water glasses filled. Unfortunately, there was a fruit fly in my water glass and it took a long time to get it replaced. The food was meh. I’d give it a grade of c minus. My Minestrone soup and veal parm were both served at a barely acceptable temp. Fully cooked, Not cold but not piping hot. The soup was tasty and hearty but suffered from the temp. Pasta was cooked perfectly. The veal was lame as if prepared early in the day and then held in a cooler. Also given how busy and how overwhelmed the waiter was I’m guessing my entree sat under a heat lamp for way too long. I think I would have gotten a better veal parm at Dennys. My wife’s chicken piccata was tender and moist and the angel hair pasta was perfect and well sauced but temp was also not as hot as it should be. Salad was fresh but small and uninspired. The restaurant is VERY loud and tables are jammed together tightly. Both couples had been to Oliverii in the past but felt it had slipped and the ball was dropped. Sadly, We won’t be going back. Overall things were pricey and I’d say that the value was low. I don’t fault the waiter I think they were in way over their head: too many tables, not adequately trained and supervised, too loud, Tables too close together, food not expedited correctly, etc. Despite service problems , we left a generous gratuity because the waiters are good people stuck in a bad situation. Things could have been much better if there was an additional waiter or food runners, if the waiter was MUCH better trained and supervised, if there was a manger active at front of house, if the kitchen was better supervised to make sure food was hot and could be delivered to the guest tables in a timely manner. Update: to their credit, this morning (day after the dinner) I received a message from the owner: “ Response from the owner I’m so sorry if you would email directly I would like to apologize personally and allow us to have an another opportunity [hidden email] “. I’m going to pass on that because I don’t have anything else to say . but it’s a hopeful sign that perhaps they are motivated to change things."
