We thought we would give you a little update on one of the restaurants that we reviewed some time ago.
Recently we had a couple of return visits to what used to be one of our favorite Italian restaurants. The overall consensus seems to be that Ottavio’s is leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Here are a few reasons why we are hesitant to recommend the place.
The service. The service used to be great and we never had to worry the simple things like running low on our drinks. With our most recent visits we were sorely disappointed. It took several minutes for us to be greeted when entering the restaurant even though two employees clearly saw us. Our server was slow even though there were few customers. Drinks were low and things were forgotten.
The joints new policies. It seems like the management is out to make as much money as possible without making the customer happy. We asked to substitute the french fries that came with a mean for a salad and were told that they couldn’t do that, or we could but it would cost the same as adding a side salad. This is disappointing when the rest of society is finally catching on the healthier food options. Not this place. Also, they will not allow an adult to order from the kid’s menu. There are plenty of places like this one that state “for 12 and under” or “55 and older” on their menu but if you chose to order from that portion of the menu, you are not denied these generally smaller portioned meals. Ottavio’s is different. They will not allow you to order from the kids menu unless you are 12 or younger. Period. This is especially frustrating when everything on their menu comes in enormous proportions and you want something light.
The new menu. They have changed the lunch menu. I think the old one used to have everything that the dinner menu did with prices a few dollar cheaper. They have totally changed the lunch menu. If you want something that is only on the dinner menu, you pay dinner menu price. The crappy thing about this is that the prices are quite high for lunch prices. There were several things close to or around $10, and that may not have included soup or salad like dinner does.
The food. We’ve found that Ottavio’s seems to have a problem with consistent quality and taste of their food. During our last visit, I ordered what I always do: Rigatoni Ottavio without meat. It was overly creamy and lacked the usual garlic flavor. This lack of consistency doesn’t seem to be limited to their restaurant. They sell their Tomato Basil Soup at Costco (under the name Octavio, not Ottavio). It seems every time I get it, it has a different taste and texture. Where is the recipe and why isn’t it being followed?
The prices. We used to think that this place was decently priced especially for the service, food and proportions that you got. During our last visit, we were appalled when the server asked, “did you want any ketchup or ranch for your fries?” and then found that we were charged $1 for the two tablespoons of ranch. This was irritating for several reasons but mostly because it was offered in the same context of ketchup. Do they charge for ketchup too?! They have also started to charge $2 per check that is split.
At the end of that visit, we decided that we probably wouldn’t be returning to Ottavio’s again.