food:
i had settled on the lunch combo, which consisted of a piece of chicken parmigiana, and a tomato/lettuce/bocconcini salad. i also decided to order anarranciniball (rice ball) on the side, along with a bottled water. the meal looked delicious on my plate however, it didn't taste as good as it looked. when i had placed my order, the young woman behind the counter had taken the chicken parmigiana from the display case in the front, then placed it on a plate and heated it up in the microwave. she then took the tomato/lettuce/bocconcini salad from the display case and placed it in a bowl, then asking which dressing i would prefer (i chose the italian dressing). she also took thearranciniball and placed it in the microwave.
once i had received my food, i was happy to start eating as i was hungry. the chicken parmigiana was quite large however, when i bit into it, i noticed that it was not fully warm on the inside, and the bottom of it tasted like rubber. also, the tomato/lettuce/bocconcini salad was bland, even with the dressing on it; it tasted as though it had been sitting there for quite some time. the most disappointing part was thearranciniball, which was given to me frozen. i couldn't even put my knife into it to cut it; that was when i brought it back up to the front to tell them that it was still frozen. another young woman then brought me another one which was piping hot and actually, quite delicious.
another thing that i found difficult to understand was that thearranciniball wasn't even served with tomato sauce! (that is what it makes it taste so delicious) i then asked for some tomato sauce, and was given a bowl of tomato sauce that was cold. i was beyond frustrated, and decided to eat thearranciniball with the cold tomato sauce. although thearranciniball was delicious once it was given to me the second time, the other food was a huge disappointment.
atmosphere:
for 12:30 pm on a friday afternoon, there were a few people coming and going for the lunch counter, however, it seemed as though this café was known more for their desserts then for their lunch meals. their counters were lined with desserts, along with gelato, coffee machines, and other fixings. it didn’t seem fit to be serving lunch, which i believe was where they failed in comparison to their desserts (which i regretfully didn’t have a chance to try). the seating area where we were seated was small, and it was difficult to get comfortable as people were walking near our table. also, it was quite hot as the air conditioner didn’t seem to be working properly.
service:
the young woman whom took our order at the beginning and replaced myarranciniball, along with bringing me a bowl of tomato sauce, seemed nice enough. she did apologize about thearranciniball being frozen, which i thought was genuine of her. the other young woman whom prepared our meals was also nice enough however, i didn’t see her after she had prepared our meals and placed them on the trays near the cash register for us to take to our tables. there was nothing that any of these young women did that went above and beyond however, it was good enough for what needed to be done.
cost:
two lunch combos: $19.90 (total) + 1arrancini(rice ball): $3.45 + 1 bottled water: $1.25 = $27.80 (taxes included)
would you return?
i would not return to this café for lunch. i was deeply disappointed with the food, especially when it came to the taste. i would not recommend anyone try this place for lunch however, possibly try their desserts (which is what i may
do next time).