09/13/08

Rude Vale Service Manager

by clarapotesfellow

In my last visit to Campanile, this week, I had to be part of an unusual situation at the parking lot. While waiting for my car at the Valet, the manager was shouting obscenities in Spanish to the employees, and in some way rude to customers. I understand that a parking lot full at lunch time is a confusing situation but that's why the restaurant hires a valet service. They are supposed to know how to handle peak hour traffic and do it with grace. This particular valet manager was not up to the task. It was uncomfortable if not offensive to observe a rude manager abusing his staff in front of the customers. I have been to the restaurant several times for week-day lunch and never had a situation like that before.

05/25/08

Pretty building....TERRIBLE people

by melbugs41

I went with a group of friends for a birthday party last night (a Saturday). We waited 45 minutes for a table and the host explained that it was because "they were busy". We were asked to have a drink at the bar and the woman serving us there was awful! RUDE RUDE RUDE! When we finally got a table our server was decent but slow it took 30 minutes to get our drinks! The other staff was awkward, we had the manager greet us saying he was happy we chose that restaurant which sounds nice but he was very intrusive and made all of us slightly uncomfortable. the food was decent but i will never pay 20 dollars for a bowl of pasta again, the desserts were dissapointing and they forgot to put a candle in the birthday girls order (which i had personally asked the weird manager to do) the night was a HUGE waste of time, the only good part was leaving and going to a bar to really celebrate. I would definately stay away!

• Pros: leaving the very pretty/historical building
• Cons: management

05/15/08

Awesome cheese sandwiches, great ambiance

by StephKudus

Went there on a Thursday night to try their Grilled Cheese Sandwiches! :) It was awesome, I pretty much wanted to try every single sandwich available. Tip: Be sure to ask your waiter which ones are openfaced and closed sandwiches! My sister had the Halibut which I felt was almost perfectly cooked if not for the fish being not as buttery as I would have liked. Appetizers are huge, I had the Squash Blossom which I felt was a tad too oily. Also had the Beet Salad though Fraiche's Beet salad beats this one hands down! Awesome ambiance, we sat right outside the open kitchen so it was lots of fun. Tip: if you want to dress up, be sure to ask to be sat inside! :)

• Pros: Sandwiches, Food, Ambience
• Cons: Service was rather sub par

05/02/08

over-hyped

by dthstar

it's sooooooo over-hyped! the food was a total let-down considering the price! i guess it's hard to maintain quality of cuisine if the place is that big (that's an excuse)... the service sucked- i don't know how many different servers 'pretended' to tend to us and all of them were impossible to flag down. even the hispanic guy that refills water w/ the community pitcher was rude! he kept on interrupting us to ask if we wanted more water when he knew that we were having sparkling. we never asked him for water but he kept on stopping by and abruptly asking us if we wanted more water. and then, all the dishes our several servers recommended was awful. to sum it up, this place was SUCH A a let down. we got seated 45 minutes after we got there and we had reservations. the menu descriptions of the dishes looked impressive but the actual dishes themselves (starting w/ the appetizers) just looked and tasted low-class and just thrown together. the 'prime rib' (their signature dish) was primarily all lima beans and only a few pieces of low-quality prime rib meat! even the desserts looked and tasted like stale brownies your college roommate would bake you w/ black bruised pieces of old bananas thrown on top w/ cheap quality whipped cream. all the other '1 star' ratings on this place was sooooo right! and it's soooooo NOISY!

• Pros: nice decor
• Cons: everything else SUX

02/18/08

great food, general manager ruined the experience

by jessie0

we were given a large gift certificate to campanile and went to enjoy a well prepared meal as well as we had a wonderful waiter who recommended great food and was very attentive. At the end of our meal when we turned over our $150 gift certificate, the General Manger, Jay, came over to our table and questioned the gift certificate presented. While i understand that there seemed to be a different paper that our certificate was printed on than usual, instead of stating the fact and wanting to further investigate, this manager told us "there is no way his restaurant issued this certificate". I responded by asking if he perhaps looked in his accounting records to see if the name of the person listed who bought this for us and the amount happened to be there to show this was in fact issued by your restaurant. He looked me in the eyes and told me "yes, I looked, and there is no name or that amount on my books". Well after an hour of embarassment, this General Manager did in fact find the copy of the certificate that was not only issued by his restaurant but also rightfully paid for. And when this was finally cleared up the manager failed to show his face again, failed to appologize, and failed to return any of my phone calls in follow up. It is such a shame that a restaurant that serves great food and has a great staff is overseen by someone that clearly does not value customer service or common decency.

• Pros: waiters and food
• Cons: Management does not value customer service whatsoever

12/21/07

Big Disapointment

by sulzman

Last night about 10 of us went to Campanile's. What a giant let down. Our waiter was nice but, only when you could find him. If I'm going to spend eighty dollars on a bottle of wine (their cheapest by the way) and 48 dollars on a steak I expect the service to be awesome. It wasn't. Worst of all however were the entrees. My girlfriend had the lamb which was tough and less than mediocre. I had the steak which was just okay. I tried the Sea Bass, it was pretty good, but not anything special. The wine was sub-par and the fifty or so people standing around waiting for a table made the ambiance uncomfortable. Literally people were hovering over people's tables' as the ate very expensive not-that-good food. They have crammed so many tables into the front room that you have to plot your way to the bathroom before you go. Classy. None of us will ever go

back.

• Pros: The rooms are pretty to look at. The beer was good
• Cons: Food, service, ambiance

11/13/07

Delightful weekend brunch.

by laleego

I just enjoyed a wonderful weekend brunch at Campanile. We were a party of 8, including a 2-year-old, and while I wouldn't necessarily describe it as a "kid friendly" restaurant, the staff was very friendly and accomodating. The eggs benedict and the oatmeal were especially delicious. The service was sufficiently fast, but we didn't feel rushed. This is an ideal spot for a delicious, quiet weekend brunch.

• Pros: Wonderful service, wonderful food.
• Cons: A little pricey (but worth it).

07/26/07

Best breakfast in town!

by citynic

When I want a satisfying breakfast, we always come to Campanile! Lovely dining room, and even better food! I have never had a bad meal here! Oatmeal, pancakes, eggs, everything is amazing! My favorite by far has to be the french toast if you're looking to splurge on the calories! Wait staff can sometimes be slow and unattentive, but the food more then makes up for it!

02/17/07

Big Thumbs Down!!! Save your money for a better spot!!!

by ritzro

I've never been inclined to write a review here...until now. Can someone say HYPE? I'm no stranger to dining and this one lands in the big trash heap of "what are people thinking?"

I've eaten at most of the top spots in this city (i thank you, expense account) and somehow have overlooked campanile. until now. well, here's how it went. walked in and didn't see the hostess stand tucked in the corner... no one helped with that one. i'm assuming we could have stood there all night with no contact. the room itself is pretty cold and really only works if you're seated against a wall. waitstaff was a little snooty. just because you ask for someone to take you through the menu doesn't translate that you have no idea what you're talking about. our waiter must have felt a little silly moments later when he couldn't pronounce the region of the wine we requested.

let's get to the food: trenne pasta - fantastic! i'll give you that. but that's all i'm giving. seared turbot was fair. but the main courses were the main disappoinments. our theory: if you can't cut a thin slice of baby lamb with a steak knife it shouldn't be served for $38...or at all. i've never been a fan of the ol' chew and hide it in your napkin routine but i guess that's what we were in for. as for the loup de mer, a little oily and overpowering. again, not something i wanted to finish.

so let's sum it up: poor atmoshpere + fair service + disappointing food + a nice bottle of wine = $215.

the best thing at campanile is the bread. and they sell it next door for a lot less.

don't say i didn't warn you.

• Pros: Bread
• Cons: Disappointing food, Expensive

02/11/07

Quite a Dissapointment

by justis7

We chose Campanile last night as a last minute pick for a very nice meal out. It was recommended to me by a friend who eats out all the time and we were expecting a lot. We made reservations at the Opentable site for 8:30. We showed up at 8:25 and the hostess told us it would be a "while." After asking for a genuine estimate of what "a while" was (we asked if it would be an hour), the hostess said "Oh, no! Like 15-20 minutes." 45 minutes later we were finally sat ONLY after my boyfriend checked in with the hostess desk. Beet salads were great but my prime rib was VERY dissapointing. I understand prime rib will contain some fat, but I don't expect 50% of the entree to be fat. And we weren't blown away by the big eye tuna either. Paying the bill took a LONG time, it was late and the waitress' mind was elsewhere. In summary, we will not be visiting again. This restaurant is VERY overpriced for what we received.

• Pros: Good beet/goat cheese salads; nice atmosphere; knowledgeable bartender
• Cons: Lousy entrees; seated VERY late; lax service