09/17/09

This family-run business is a joke

by Acelyn

The food isn't bad,...but it isn't good and the chef isn't really Italian! He likes to talk like he is, which is confusing because he's speaking with an Italian accent. What's funnier and even more pompous is the fact that Patricia, his ex-wife who works for him because she can't get a job anywhere else thinks she's even more Italian than he is. (She's not. At all.) They live in fantasy world up there, and the entire show is disfunctional as hell. The place is packed with chairs and tables even though they don't get much business. The food is alright at best. Rick (the owner) yells at his waitstaff all day long, which I actually found funny, but not all people enjoy watching that. You won't see the same face twice because that's how high the turnover rate is for the staff there. Aside from his ex, (who is stuck up and snooty) because she doesn't have anywhere else to go, and his son who is a deadbeat.

It could have potential.

• Pros: none really
• Cons: it's a joke

03/03/09

STOP COMPLAINING!

by amygwendoline08

I absolutely love Lorenzo's! I go there at LEAST once a week for lunch and I am so glad I found this small little restaurant. The food is great and it's cheap. I'm reading some of yalls complaints, and really your probably just fabricating the story. I know the manager/chef & he does a pretty damn good job. As far as the lady who said all of her food was stale and so was the bread, why in god's name would you order a desert if your food was so bad? Wouldn't you assume that "oh, my bread was stale... my spaghetti was cold and nasty, and deserts would probably be bad too". If you want to pay more and get "better" food to Aldo's down the street or just go to good old Olive Garden.

• Pros: It's delicious, service is amazing, and the story behind the restaurant is just heart-warming.
• Cons: It can get pretty damn busy during lunchtimes.

01/24/09

More a pizza joint than ristorante.....

by italiancritic74

As a disclaimer, as far as Italian ristorante's are concerned, I grew up in New York and recently spent 4 years living in Italy, so I can judge italian ristorante's a little harsh. But even with putting the "living it Italy" aside, Lorenzo's was more like a neighborhood pizza place in NY that a restaurant...or ristorante. The place is really small and quaint.....not much of a romantic place. Nothing on the menu really jumped out at me. As the place struck me as more of a pizza place, I went with my gut and ordered the pizza. My wife had the lasagna, which was dubbed "The best in SA". First off, the waiter brought the bread, which was toasted, but cold. The salad's soon followed, which were fine with a nice homemade oil and vinegar dressing. Then our meals came out. The helpings were more of a lunch menu size with a high end dinner price. The sauce was very salty for our taste, but the lasagna was not half bad. As for the pizza, it skimped on the cheese toppings, and at 7:30pm on a Sat night, I heard the chef tell the waiter that after my pizza order, "no more pizza orders would be taken tonight". AT 7:30pm on a SATURDAY NIGHT??? Nevertheless, the wait staff was good and the food was mediocre. There really wasn't anything on the menu that my wife or I couldn't have cooked better at home. When we dine out, we expect to have a similar or better experience than our own home cooked meals. Lorenzo's was more of a quick lunch stop, than a ristorante. On a side note, we read the other posts describing Chef Rick's outbursts and mistreatment of staff, so we expected to see something unprofessional. As for tonight, there was no show from the kitchen. But if unprofessional outbursts are a frequent scene.....maybe we should put Lorenzo's on Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares!!!!