| rev:text
| - The Mr. and Mrs. invited Older Son and his Wife to dinner. As they live in Piper Glen, the Mr. thought it would be a great occasion to try for the first time this neighborhood restaurant in the Trader Joe's strip mall.
The menu appears to be a pedestrian selection of somewhat generic Italian food, but on a four-day holiday weekend we did not want to travel through Black Friday-shopper traffic to go farther afield.
The Mrs. made reservations, as this was an unknown locale. We arrived on time and were seated at our table. Even though they were not busy at such an early dinner hour, it took a while to be served for drinks. It also took a while for the waiter to approach us for our food order. We knew what we wanted, but the waiter was prepared to walk away and return when we were 'ready'. We had to call him back. As mentioned above, the Mrs. worried that the pedestrian menu offerings meant not-quite-tasty antipasti or salads, so we forwent ordering any. We ordered the ravioli al formaggio (the ladies), the lasagna, and the penne vodka (with shrimp).
The food appeared on our table very shortly after we ordered. The Mrs. wonders if they have the food already prepared in the kitchen, just needing re-heating before plating and serving.
The ravioli consisted of six medium-sized, circular non-meat-filled cushions in a very thin-looking 'butter' sauce (with half a small grape tomato and a shred of something green), the lasagna was a messy serving on the plate (and nothing else), the penne vodka had five small shrimp. Very sparse plating. The Mrs. was not expecting much, so was surprised that it was tastier than their menu or than the appearance on the plates had led her to expect. Truthfully, they were very (very) small portions for the money. The bread and butter appeared on the table some time after our food was served. Now mind, the restaurant was not that busy at this early dinner hour.
For dessert, the Mr. and Mrs. ordered the Nutella gelato. It took FOREVER to have this one scoop of gelato, which was loaded with a BIG mound of whipped cream (yuck), delivered to our table. (THIS they garnish!) This Nutella gelato was pale in color, very thin-textured, and 'light'-flavored compared to the gelato that the Mrs. used to gorge on when in Italy, but it was not unpleasant. It was just not that lovely unctuous-tasting, authentic-textured Italian gelato.
Once the check was paid (with a very nice tip), the waiter piled all the plates on top of each other, grabbed the glasses, and told us they needed our table for another party and that we had to go.
The Mrs. was puzzled as there were plenty of other tables empty. Nothing special about our table, actually two small tables pushed together. The waiter easily could have pushed together some of the empty tables for the party 'waiting at the bar'. As we walked out, the Mr. informed the owner that the waiter very rudely told us to leave. The owner shrugged this off.
The Mrs. informed him that this had been our first visit and would be our last. The owner did not appear to care.
In the car, the Mr. said we should have asked for the return of our check in order to reduce the tip. The Mrs. agrees that we should have, though we did not.
We tend to tip well when we go out, though the Mrs. wishes we had not, on this occasion.
(By the way, we do not use Groupon or other coupon deals.)
We do not intend to return.
There are plenty of nice Italian restaurants in Mecklenburg county that serve delicious, abundant food at a good value. They also have way more courteous service. And the owners are WAY nicer and more personable.
The Mr. and Mrs. do NOT recommend Rudy's.
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