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I agreed to meet a friend at this place but was not sure what to expect. The host is very hospitable and the staff were attentitive but there were only a few customers there in the middle of the week. We ordered our dish and it arrived within 5 minutes. It tasted like cafeteria food or something I pulled out of a freezer! Terrible! If you want good Italian, go someplace else! Stick to Commercial Drive or downtown.
I ordered off of the regular menu, having a Veal and Curry Pasta... the dinner was actually very good. My buddy ordered something off of the special menu, which he enjoyed.
The service was satisfactory until it came time to pay for our bill. I had purchased a groupon for this place and had intended on using it. The server said that he could not accept the groupon because it did not apply to specials. I knew that already, but pointed out that the groupon could be simply used for the non-special items on my bill, which was the dinner I had ordered. He refused to accept it.
I contacted groupon and ended up receiving a refund for the groupon purchase. Although I didn't mind the food here, I felt it was unethical for them not to accept the groupon. The small print on the group did not say anything about it being invalid should someone else at my table order a special item. I was using this for myself... not for anyone else at the table. Even though the food was enjoyable, I felt cheated with regards to the groupon being refused. I simply won't go back just on principle. Stupid on their part as I live locally and they would have gotten more business from me and the people I know had they taken the groupon.
We always enjoy this restaurant. We were a larger group and sat on the patio. Heaters meant that it was still comfortable although November. The menu is extensive, probably too big but then everyone finds something they llike.
Plates are large and you might not be able to eat it all. The Veal Marsala was very good. The steak was nicely grilled and those who ordered pasta dishes were all happy and full.
Service is excellent with several servers helping out so we all received our dishes at the same time.
Prices were reasonable including wine for the table
It is a nice reliable restaurant, with good food and a relaxed atmosphere.
This is the first time and the only time I'll be dining at this supposed restaurant. If you're thinking of going there...I suggest even Spaghettti Factory over this restaurant! Bad food combined with bad service.
Service was horrid. Even though we may not be a regular customer...we still deserve the basics of restaurant service...as it is a restaurant after all and we are expected to pay a tip. If it was a fast-food place or a cafeteria, I wouldn't be so picky on the lack of service! We waited at least 20 minutes just to put in our order...and another 30 minutes for the food to arrive. Nobody came around to refill our water or ask if the dishes were to our liking. We even had to wait a long time for our bill. Had we not flagged down a waitress...after 20 minutes after finishing our meal...we'll probably be there til the next century. To top off the poor service, they cannot even seem to put the left overs correctly in the container...as they gave it to us upside down!!! What the heck!
Food was horrible. They messed up my sister's order: I guess meat sauce with gnoche was too complicated for this pasta restaurant. It turned out to be gnoche in tomato sauce minus the meat. My dish, which was pesto linguini, probably had at least 200% of the recommended daily intake of sodium. I was just so thirsty after meal...and darn...it wasn't easy getting water at this restaurant!
I just shake my head at this restaurant...there seems to be lots of staff working at this establishment, yet the place is disorganized, inefficient and just plain dysfunctional. The worse part is how the staff seems to focus their service on the regulars (e.g. free wine shots on the house,) and treat new potential regular customers like crap. I guess if they're happy with their regulars and not interested in new customers, then so be it. We're definitely never coming here again and recommending our friends and family to avoid this place.
Ate here for the first time tonight and it was horrible! Chicken Parm although not on menu waiter said they can make it which was probably the worst Parm I've had in my life( lean cuisine is better and that's paultry at best!) the parm which tasted previously frozen then nuked and deep fried was sitting in a pool of water beside soggy noodles covered in a tasteless Alfredo sauce. The calzone was disgusting and only ate any of it cause we were starving. As previously mentioned by a lot of posters the wait staff never came to ask how the food was and thats because they know the answer! Sick!!! Sick to my stomach for eating it and sick to my stomach for paying 60 for it. The only thing not horrible was the beers!
The service was great. I had the steak medium rare with pasta and some red wine and my wife had the Veal. The people were friendly and the atmosphere made us feel like we were in a mini vacation. I have recommended this place to my friends and they love it.
Our usual dinner gang plus special guests A&E were looking for a place to get fed and we decided to give LS a try. The ambiance was cozy in an odd way, but the decor can only be described as crappy with no thought at all to how it looked. There was also a lot of smoke coming from the kitchen/patio area that soaked our clothes and made some of us cough. Still it was clean, including the w/c's. Service was okay, but the server seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. The menu in the restaurant was slightly different than the web page version, and they had some daily specials. I ordered a veal parmigiana, and most of the rest of our party had one of the specials, salmon steak and linguine pasta with special sauce, or seafood and pasta shells in a creme sauce. All the food was mediocre at best, although the specials were a good sized portion. My veal dish was rather tiny, especially the few grams of pasta and the slightly burnt tomato basil sauce I got. One thing I noticed was that the pasta was overcooked and mushy. That was unpleasant. I mean, shouldn't a pasta restaurant do decent pasta? Also, they had bread at the beginning of the meal, but no refills were permitted. That seemed awfully cheap. As for value, it wasn't too expensive, but they didn't give much quality for the price.
I don't expect to return.
Not the best food, not the best service. We ordered a sirloin steak with rigatoni and salmon in bell pepper sauce. The taste was OK but the texture was kind of tough for both. Service was slow and very inattentive. It took them a long time just to figure out who should be bringing the bill. Interesting!!! We will probably not be going back anytime soon.
Sharing a once character home, La Spaghetteria creates a great atmosphere. Wedge in this home with La Rustica, and La Lorraine, this really is a one-stop restaurant. I had pasta here with my sister and although the meal wasn't spectacular, I really enjoyed dining here. We sat in an area where you can see the bread room where they would make home-made house breads. Unfortunately, the night we were there, they weren't making their fresh goodies.
Went last week and things went bad from the get go. Took the server 25 minutes to take our orders, and 30 minutes after that to get our food which was cold to the touch. They didn't refill our waters and largely ignored our section, granted it was a Friday night and sort of busy but at least hire more workers right? Things got very interesting when the bill arrived. They didn't honor my coupon (from the entertainment book) despite being told that it was valid earlier when I ordered from the dinner specials. We argued with the server for about 10min, until he finally gave us only $10 off. The guy went on to cause a scene and told us to "get the hell out of his face". Absolutely inappropriate...
I'll give credit where credit is due, the food was alright and the value isn't bad...especially on the early bird specials....but the service is just terrible.
We ate upstairs in the group dining area. There were plastic tablecloths, the lighting was uncomfortably glaring and the menu was printed on plain white paper. Totally low class. The music was too loud to talk over, and the food was mediocre. The cook couldn't manage to grill a "rare" steak after two tries. I wouldn't return to eat there. The location is good and it looks inviting from the outside.
I have tried eating here one other time and was not impressed, but went back to try again. When my salad arrived, it was not the salad i had expected. when I told the server she offered to bring me a different salad, but she insisted that the salad that I had was the "right" salad. When my pasta arrived ( canelonni) it was luke warm at best and sause had developed a skin. I was with friends and as I had already complained about the salad, I didn't mention my pasta. I was not able to eat it all because it was not to my liking, however the server never came and asked if we were happy with our food either (nor did she offer parm or pepper). My friends steak was disgusting and she spit most of it into her napkin. When she told the server, the response was a sharp "didn't you order it medium rare?"
I don't drink but my friend was asking to order some drinks and her requests annoyed the server(s), and the response given was something about it being an italian restaurant that serves wine. That was the WEIRDEST thing I have ever heard. Never have I been to a restaurant that doesn't want to "serve" the customer. The whole experience was horrible. Save your time and money, go somewhere else!
I had taken my mom out for what I was hoping to be a nice dinner, instead it ended in disappointment. We ordered pizza (which was ok) and the spaghetti carbonara (delicious, very creamy) but our server never asked how our food was or checked up on us once. And when I asked a question about our food, she looked like I was wasting her time. Once we were done eating (and it was obvious that we were done and wanted our food packed along with the bill), the servers were just passing by us like we don't exist. We were never asked for refills for our drinks or if we wanted desert. When we did get our bill, not even a "Thank You" was said. Nothing.
Needless to say, I will not be returning anytime in the near future.
We've been to La Spaghetteria quite a few times. Everytime it's quite empty. From the outside, it looks quite nice, but the inside will remind you of a very old house, slight musky smell included.
The servers, while a bit odd, are friendly and helpful. They're happy to answer questions about the menu, and are quick to refill water.
The bread here is to die for. Very fresh and tasty. Too bad they only give you one complimentary piece each. Extra pieces cost a little extra. The pasta is always fresh, and cooked perfectly. We found the pasta to be more fresh than many other Italian restaurants we've been to.
On weekdays they have "Early bird" specials before 6:30pm. Basically all their regular menu pasta items are discounted to $10.95 instead of the usual $14. If you have an entertainment book, they're in there for a buy one get one entree. Be careful though, it cannot be used for their daily specials, or during their early bird discount time.
Overall it's a good place for food, as long as you don't mind the old house feeling.
I agree with May 21/07 reviewer - the food we had was excellent.
I had a larger portion than I could eat, the pasta was cooked to perfection and the sauce was delicious.
As for the wait staff, we had a lovely waitress who attended our every need, was quick to respond to our requests and fill our drinks. I have no complaints, in fact I have recently tried another Italian restaurant nearby that was not nearly as good as La Spaghetteria.
Unlike many reviewers here, I feel the food is really quite good, especially for the price. The pasta is usually homemade, which is always a good thing. I've had about 7 or 8 different dishes. My favourite "sauce" is the garlic and olive oil. Not very many places seem to do that one, and here it is quite good. The homemade starter bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar is good.
Yes, the service is sometimes really rather odd, but more entertainingly quirky than unpleasant. And I like the way the owner hovers about, cooks on the outdoor open grill, and takes an interest in his customers.
I love the old house. And I am usually seated at a nice table with a good view of most of the place so I can partake of my hobby of people watching.
I quite like this place and will be back.
I used to eat here about 10 years ago and LOVED the food. Went there tonight with my husband and our baby. Let me just start out by saying I was annoyed right from the start. I went to the washroom to change the baby and there was no change table and nowhere to change her but the floor of the washroom. I *hate* this. This one thing will make me not want to come back.
My dinner was not bad (ravioli) but my husband said his was overcooked. Dinner came so fast there was no way they made it to order. This was the only thing that came quickly. I had ordered garlic bread with my dinner and they didn't bring it until we were finished eating. Even though it wasn't busy (only about 3 or 4 other tables on a Friday night) our waiter took about 10 mins to bring the dessert menu after he offered one, cleaning off an empty table first etc. Most annoying is that we had an entertainment coupon and forgot to use it. Because of the service, no change table and only so/so food, we won't be back again either. :(
I went here tonight for my birthday because I really like the patio and it is usually a fun atmosphere, but it was AWFUL!!! I have been here many time and this is now the third strike and I am never going back!
The SERVICE was AWFUL. The waiter brought us our food and did not come back to see if it was okay until we were done and then he still did not ask if it was okay (and it was not).
The FOOD was DISAPPOINTING. The pastas came out hot but the sausages, polenta and mushrooms were stone cold. We were so hungry we could not wait for it to be reheated. The tiramisu was so cold. It has an icy texture and when I took it to the owner he used my fork to cut through it and told me it was not frozen..thanks for pointing that out, I did not say it was frozen I said it was so cold it tasted frozen and was mush.
I just want to mention this is not my first time there. I have been many times and this is now my third time having problems with the food. The chicken cordon bleu was dried right out (tasted deep fried), the risotto was mush and they wouldn't do anything about it (the male server said that is how it is suppose to be, I do not think so!), and now tonight's letdown.
But do not just go off of my review, there are many other people below who have had the same poor service and food experiences.
ok so it started off good, nice little place, the waitress told us right away that they were slammed on the other side and that she really apologizes if it ever seemed like she was ignoring us, the bus boy called in sick, ok fair enough. so i ordered the halibut dinner, they brought me the wrong pasta and the halibut tasted like it had been frozen for a couple of years, it was rubbery and cold (it didnt even look like halibut) when i complained to the chef he sat there looking at me like i was on crack, staring not saying a word. i told him to try it and he would taste how horrible it was ( i had my friends try it and they could barely swallow) they eventually brought me another peice, it was hot this time, but cooked just wrong (not very fresh still rubbery, still tasted old). a couple of my friends had order the steak and prawns, waaaaaaaaay undercooked. for 5 bucks we ordered prawn on the side my dog could of done a better job. the service was terrible (i understand when its busy they may not be around as much ok, but thats no excuse for the food) the food was really not worth the price, and i dont know how this place could stay in business.
If we want a comfortable place to eat, family-style, we come here. Salavatore can be found cheerfully greeting everyone at the door, charming the kids and flirting gently with the ladies. Once inside, you are surrounded by noisy tables of familes, enjoying honest pasta. It's not Michelin star stuff but the food is tasty enough, the prices are truly excellent and the service is mostly attentive. The shellfish and linguine for 2, served in a skillet, has been consistently good. My 11 year old daughter loves the meatballs and spaghetti and always orders it. Parking can be a bit difficult.
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