We visited Libretto's Pizzeria in Ballantyne last night, after a torrential downpour. It was relatively empty even though it was a Saturday night, due to the weather.
The restaurant is smaller than it looked like it would be from the outside. It has faux brick walls and rustic wrought iron accents. There are at least 5 large televisions in the relatively small bar area. We opted to sit at the bar, as the hostess informed us the back dining room was a little loud.
Service was unimpressive. After 5-10 minutes of waiting, we caught a waiter's eye. He came over and asked us if we'd been helped. When we said no, he seemed taken aback, but decided to take our food and drink orders anyway, and he was our waiter for the night. When I ordered Miller Lite, assuming I'd get draft since it was clearly on the tap, I was surprised to receive it in a bottle. He explained that it was on special in the bottle, which was great. Just wish he'd mentioned that earlier.
When my husband needed a drink refill, our waiter was either nowhere to be found or actively ignoring us. (He had perfected the "ignore everything but what's directly in my line of sight" walk throughout the restaurant.) Someone who appeared to be a manager paced all around us, but his eyes were so glued to the Panther's game on the television that there was no way to get his attention without shouting at him or physically going up to him. After waiting so long for a refill that he had almost finished his meal, my husband finally decided to go directly to the bar for his refill. When the bartender informed our waiter, he didn't seem terribly pleased with us, but it was a relatively empty restaurant, and trying to flag down someone - anyone - for ten minutes for a refill was unacceptable.
The pizza (San Gennaro) was good, but didn't stand out. We ordered a Medium which was ample sized for 2. The Bruschetta "3 ways"? Not so good. The classic tomatoes/onions bruschetta topping had pale tomatoes. Not a sin in December, but it's August. The olive tapenade was good, but the bean puree was underseasoned and bland.
We had a nice evening out at Libretto's, but the food was pretty forgettable and the service was sub-par. I'm pretty sure we won't be back. There are too many other good pizza options in this area of Charlotte.