I had such a disappointing experience last night. I've been to Panevino several times prior and been blown away by the food. I'm vegan and gluten free so it's amazing to me that they offer a plant based menu and label what is gluten-free. I've tried the lasagna and the pesto mushroom risotto. I remember being blown away by the lasagna and thinking the risotto was pretty good but simple.
It had been a few years since I visited panevino last and I wanted to surprise my boyfriend for his birthday. The service was nice enough I suppose but not the most genuine feeling. I added in my reservation that it was my boyfriend's birthday and that whatever to make it a little more special would be wonderful so they gave us a happy birthday dessert plate at the end of dinner which was lovely and a nice touch.
My main issue was the food. I've had the hummus rolls dish several times in the past and it did not taste the same. I remember loving the crispy arugula on it but it didn't have any sort of flavor this time around. I had to salt that dish a lot.
I got minestrone to share and that was just.. not good. I've had minestrone from a can that was better than that.
I should've stuck with what I've known but I decided to try something new for the entree. I ordered the ricotta and spinach dumplings. I swear I got another appetizer. The dumplings were just little balls of spinach that were lightly breaded. Literally just little balls of boiled spinach mushed together. It would've been lovely as an appetizer but for a $26 entree I expected something more substantial and somewhat filling, at least. I understand at these kinds of restaurants portions are small but there was like I said, no substance. I was upset as soon as I received it but I didn't want to embarrass us by complaining about it. It really was not worth ordering.
I ordered the chocolate gelato with warm almond milk as my dessert. Awful. Just terrible. No creativity behind it. Maybe my expectations were too high but I expected a fancier dish than two little scoops of gelato soaked in a terrible tasting almond milk with slivers of almonds and dried cranberries randomly thrown in. I've been more creative than that in my own kitchen. I ended up having to eat around the slivered almonds and dried cranberries because it was too Trail mix for my taste. Maybe if they had gone lightly. Either way not worth ordering. No noticeable effort in that dish whatsoever.. I would've preferred the gelato on its own.
My boyfriend said his shrimp was ok. Minestrone is his favorite food and he didn't care for Panevino's. His prime rib was also overcooked.
I'm very disappointed by the food and experience and if I could go back in time I would have gone elsewhere. It's even more disappointing because of how wonderful it was when I last went those other times years ago.