I've been to Paradiso a number of times and for a variety of reasons. I probably go at least a dozen times a year, that's how much I like it. It's my most recent visit this week that has me puzzled. I was there for lunch with a friend, and we both surprised to see that the menu had changed again, but that some of our go-to dishes were still there. We also noticed that none of the regular servers who greet us by name were there either. No matter: We placed our order and received our fresh made Roasted Tomato Foccacia Bread. If I was only reviewing it and the olive oil it's paired with alone, this review would be 5 stars!
Our Roasted Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup with spiced pumpkin seed crème fraiche arrived, and we were warned by our server that the bowls were really hot. They were, but the soup wasn't much beyond lukewarm. My fish burger and my friend's Basil Scented Arancini arrived shortly after we finished with the soup, and again, neither were warm - you couldn't even see steam rising off of either dish! After a few bites, I realized that I had actually been served the chickpea burger and not the Mediterranean Fish Burger. When I brought it to the attention of the server, instead of apologizing, he asked me if I had liked it. Not really the point, but at least he had the decency to change the price to what I ate - a whole dollar less! The initial error was just weird...
I don't know what has changed at Paradiso, and I will give them another try, but it wasn't up to their usual standards and service this time. Needless to say, I won't be buying my usual gift certificates here for fear that other friends would run into a similar experience!