"Had a really nice meal with my sister and her family here last night. Now normally, the term really nice meal would mean a 4 or 5 star review. After all, the tuna and crispy rice, chicken parm, caesar salad and everything else were delicious. Service was super friendly and attentive and the place was nicely decorated and inviting. But there were two flaws. First of all a restaurant leaning heavily Italian, should serve bread. Okay, so maybe the infusion of a few mediterranean and Asian dishes on the menu countered that need but it should have been an option. I thought that was weird. I 've never eaten Italian food without a loaf of bread or some rolls on the table. Bread does several basic but very important things in a restaurant. First of all it 's a welcome. It also sets the tone for a meal as well as gives you something to munch on besides your fingernails while waiting for your appetizers. It can also play a subconscious role in choosing your menu items. Spectacular bread brings your guard down and makes expensive menu options seem more reasonable. After all, if the bread is so good I can only imagine how awesome the entrees must be. Does bread cut into appetizer revenue, offering free food in place of something you 're going to pay for? Perhaps but I think its benefits far outweigh possible economic determinants. Second of all, and while some might consider this petty, they don 't do free refills. I paid $14 for two club sodas that were each refilled once. And we 're not talking Pellegrino here, just basic seltzer, carbonated water. I consider that ridiculous. I don 't mind paying well for excellent food and do so with great frequency but **** like that just pisses me off. It 's club soda, people. Water with some bubbles. In all fairness, our super polite server did tell us that they don 't do refills, prior to bringing them to the table but that doesn 't mean it was acceptable. It 's really sad or maybe I 'm just petty but after paying close to $200 for a pretty damn good meal served by some really nice people, I won 't be returning for a fairly stupid reason. Oh well...."
