07/20/07

Excellent food, but everything else is sub-par.

by aaronmc

I was monumentally disappointed in Mediterraneo. Entering, I was pleased with Mediterraneo. It's a very pretty restaurant with all the architecture and design I'd expect from a 4-Diamond eatery. We had called ahead for our table and were greeted by a maitre d' who was brusque at best. We were shooed upstairs where we waited around for 5 minutes. The upstairs was cold. I found it acceptable, but my partner was shivering. We were sat and given water. It took them over ten minutes to bring us our bread which was so tough that my partner had to stop halfway through her second piece because her jaw hurt. We were about to order our appetizers when we were informed we must order all at once. I'm unsure of as to why. Another ten minutes pass before our server returns. It's now almost 30 minutes in and we have only bread. Finally, the server returns to take our orders. Our appetizer comes out, mozzarella en carozza. For $9 we got a single piece of glorified fried mozzarella. I've had its equal at places not much better than Olive Garden. Our entrees arrive. My partner's Filetto di Maialo pork loin is truly excellent. At $25, it's a bargain. My ravioli all' aragosta is technically perfect, but is nothing special for $25. Our desserts arrive. My molten lava cake is bad. It's dry, luke-warm, with what could be gelato or ice cream on top. Either way, it's bad gelato/ice cream. The house-made whipped cream is good. My partners gnutella mousse is very good, though. Rich and flavorful, it's a success. But mine was over $10 for bad cake. All the while, an army of seemingly confused servants wander about ignoring us. I was never given water without directly asking. The tables had butchers' paper on them. The windows were dirty. The service was so bad it was stunning. AAA's Four-Diamond means a place of dining nirvana, not this train wreck. If AAA were to review Mediterraneo that night, their award would be stripped away, no questions asked. I expected a lot, and got very little.

• Pros: Excellent food, views, and house-made Limoncello to conclude.
• Cons: Service is some of the worst, some of the food is bad, everything is over-priced.

05/18/06

Sub Par Experience

by mariela26

We went to Mediterraneo expecting a very nice view, good service and awesome food. The food was delicious but everything else was below average. The waiter was very unattentive and did not even bother to refill our water glasses. The room was noisy and a bit crowded. And the view! There was no view, the restaurant is at street level and the only view is of a Atwells Avenue, not exactly romantic. Overall we were very dissapointed with this place.

• Pros: italian food
• Cons: unattentive staff, crowded, no view

05/18/06

The other reviews are misleading!

by bogamilsan

We particularly went to this restaurant because of its reviews. To sum it up Mediterraneo is a far cry from what was expected. The wait staff seemed to have an attitude problem. When we asked the hostess if the upstairs was open, a waiter passing by snapped, "Upstairs is closed!" We had to ask for our waters to be refilled and did not get any offers for limoncillos -- did we eat at the right place??? And can someone tell me how this place won best view?

The food was decent but not a redeeming factor. Needless to say we won't be giving Mediterraneo a second chance

• Cons: wait staff