I'd been anxious to try this little place since the night i popped a flat tire at the sunoco across the street from it. they had just opened and it had all the things that draw me in to a new place--it was tiny, filled with people who looked to be enjoying their evening, had minimal but satisfying decor, and it was byob. when my birthday rolled around, my friends asked me where i wanted to dine and i chose stagioni. we piled in and were immediately seated at our reserved table for 10, and were very well and happily taken care of. the rest of the place was filled, and our appetizers were great which led me to believe we were in for a flawless dining experience. then, our meals took a long time to appear, and were all just OK. nothing had any special FLAVOR. my best friend's 'shrimp and grits' entree had fantastic, juicy, giant shrimp floating in a bowl of watery, bland grits. not to mention that my rabbit ragu pasta came out looking totally different from another friend's, a mistake which the waitress attempted to remedy by bringing him a separate bowl of the ingredients the chef had forgotten to add to the dish himself. one friend's dish came out 5 minutes after everyone else's had been brought to the table. they brought us 2 complementary desserts to make up for their errors, and i left the place not unhappy, but pretty disappointed. i'd had high hopes for the place. their seasonal menu is very well thought out and the intention is there. the idea is there. but the execution is off. maybe they just aren't yet equipped to handle such big parties, and i may go back again with just one other person to give it one more shot, but overall i was not impressed. granted, the service was fantastic, but i would much prefer to go somewhere else where i can count on getting a good meal than risk the mediocrity i found at stagioni again.
Choose: was this review given positively or negatively?
[+] negative. [+] positive.
negative