| rev:text
| - Rating: 0/5
Date of visit: 5/23/08
We went to Cafe Martorano based on rave reviews from one member of our party (there were 5 of us) who had been there previously. The experience we had was awful. It should also be said that my friend (the one who had been there before) agreed that the experience was awful and the polar opposite of what had happened the last time she came. I have joined Yelp specifically to post this review and hopefully save people from an expensive and altogether disappointing experience. You would be better served spending a similar amount of money at any of the top-class restaurants on the Strip. One big red flag went up when I saw the chef-owner had written on the menu (and I quote):
"Absolutely no changes or substitutions. This is how I cook. Please enjoy and don't break my balls!"
I don't enjoy references to testicles on my dining menu.
-Initially, they made us wait about 10 minutes for a table. Not bad--until we realized the dining room was empty. Why make the party wait? Another red flag that something was wrong when on a Friday night, there was almost no business.
-We were invited to wait by the bar, but did not want to have a drink until we sat down--at which point the bartender asked us if we thought we were "too good for his bar." As a customer, I don't appreciate being questioned as to why I want or don't want a drink.
-Upon sitting down, we were asked if we wanted "sparkling or flat" water--and wanted flat (or rather, TAP water), not realizing we were buying ourselves bottles of water. Later, the waiter sounded irritated when we asked for tap water, although he did give it to us.
-We were never offered drinks or dessert. Luckily, by the time we got to dessert, all we wanted to do was get out of there.
-The wait staff never really checked on us (aside from the one time they refilled our water. when they did come over, they made some snide comment to one of the people in our group. Wait staff was incredibly rude. I guess our first waiter's shift must have ended in the middle of our meal; he just disappeared. I understand that he had to leave, but in most (good) restaurants I have been in, the waiter will at least let you know that they are leaving and someone else wiil be taking care of you. We only realized it when at the end a different waiter brought us our check. (We were not "checked on" frequently--or really, at all--as in other establishments.) Customer service is obviously not their forte here. They could take a cue from the bartenders at the casino floor bar downstairs. (At the casino bar, we had wonderful--and fun!--bartenders.)
-The prices are exorbitant. I understand that in certain fine dining restaurants, you expect to pay significantly more...however, $23 for one shrimp appetizer? That only serves ONE person (according to our waiter.) We would have needed to purchase 5 appetizers (or, $115 in appetizers) to have enough of ONE appetizer for everyone at the table. Maybe I'm wrong, but this is what the waiter told us. I have dined in many fine restaurants all over the world and have yet to feel that I've been so ripped off as I was in this restaurant. Needless to say, we skipped the appetizers.
-and, for these prices (heck, for McDonald's prices) the service is severely lacking. I hope this point is getting across.
-and it is, as most people have pointed out, very loud. I liked the music, but it pretty much killed any dinner conversation. Screaming across the dinner table is no fun.
-the food is actually good, but given everything else that was going on, it was difficult to focus on that. i enjoyed my perciatelli ($23) which was maybe a touch salty but overall tasty with the pancetta.
-The kicker: we gave a straight 15% tip because of the poor service--no extras there. They honestly deserved no tip, but in principle our group didn't think that was right. Imagine the shock when my friend who charged the meal checked her online statement and found that they ADDED an extra 5% to the tip--totaling approximately 20% gratuity--despite what she had written as the tip and signed on the receipt. She is complaining to her credit card company today to get the additional charge reversed.
Bottom line: Stay far, far away. Food is decent, but given the complete lack of service and high prices, you can get a much better experience at other restaurants. Hopefully the Rio management wises up and realized that either this restaurant needs to get more customer-friendly or it needs to be replaced. Hope this helps.
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