Prunella
$$$ • Italian Restaurant
Most Recent Reviews
Went for happy hour, they have great deals but nothing GF on that menu. We asked if they could modify the whipped ricotta and do the bread on the side, staff seemed confused and just gave us a big bowl of ricotta. They seemed to not really care and our server was not very engaged. Probably would be better with true dinner service. GF pizza and cocktails were good.
This was a beautiful little place and best gluten free pizza crust I’ve ever had!
The waitress was very knowledgeable. They had several gluten-free options and they were able to tell me what included cross-contamination. I had a gluten-free pizza, pasta, and an appetizer, and I did not get sick.
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More Reviews
Honestly, they advertise gluten free but when you go and order they tell you not to eat the gluten free things if you’re celiac. They cook the gf pasta in the same water as reg past and don’t take precautions to avoid regular flour from touching the gf pizza. They didn’t offer to adjust their procedures to accommodate celiac/allergies. Lastly, they were extremely rude. I did not like how they treated my group and will not go back. Would give 0 stars if I could.
SO GOOD but you have to ask for the pasta to be boiled in separate water. Assuming other reviewers didn’t do ask but they were so nice to me and food was delicious. Also Nima approved!!
Beware Celiacs: the menu says “gluten free pasta and pizza” available as options but the waiter explained that the pizza comes in contact with flour and they cook the “gluten free pasta” IN THE SAME WATER as regular pasta. So, ummm, no, not gluten free! I ended up eating two small plates (octopus and artichokes). Yummy but not really a satisfying dinner. 😞
Wanted to love this place but definitely not for those with Celiac disease. GF pasta boiled in the same water and pizzas (though can be made gf) “touch flour” per the waiter and are cooked using a shared oven.
I had the spicy Caesar salad without bread and it was good, but sadly disappointed in a restaurant that boasts that “gf options are available”
Food and service were excellent. Many of the starters were naturally GF. GF pasta was delicious. Small little tables and space, but volume was fine and servers were excellent.
If I was rating the food alone, my rating would be much higher. Everything we ate and drank was quite good, but the dining experience itself was both frustrating and needlessly stressful. When I made the reservation, I noted that I have celiac. When our waitress approached the table, she opened by stating "I know we have someone with celiac at the table and I wanted to let you know that we are out of gluten free pizza dough. We have gluten free pasta but there's cross contamination." I was bummed because we had chosen Prunella specifically for the pizza, but was ready to be flexible and pivot to pasta, until I asked her what she meant by cross contamination and she noted that they cook the gluten free pasta in the same water as the regular pasta. This is bonkers and will make anyone with celiac extremely sick - it's crazy that a restaurant wouldn't note something like this on their menu. I asked if they could boil my water separately, otherwise I wouldn't be able to eat the pasta, and she said the kitchen "did not have capacity to boil separate water." At this point, I'm pretty frustrated, since without the pizza and pasta, there are no gluten free entrees on the menu for me to safely eat. Since I'm in a group of 4, I ask my waitress if I can grab a gluten free pizza from SNAP around the corner to eat at the table while my friends and husband eat at Prunella (vs. us all leaving!) and she says she'll have to check with the manager. She returns five minutes later and says the manager is going to come over to talk to us. Another ten minutes go by, and the manager arrives to say (with no apologies) that they can't do anything differently about the pasta, but that the chef has 'whipped up' some more gluten free pizza dough. OK fine, now that we've wasted 25 minutes discussing something that is now a non-issue, I was able to order a gluten free pizza and get on with the meal. Overall - such a frustrating experience, made worse by the manager's cavalier attitude. I worked in a restaurant for a long time and I'd never be anything less than profusely apologetic if I couldn't deliver an item for a customer with a food allergy, especially if my restaurant purported to offer the options. Truly, everything could have been handled better and with more grace. Other small things - the water is served lukewarm without ice and the outdoor tables are totally sloped and uneven so the pizzas and drinks slide - could be easily fixed by propping something under to level them. Overall, the food was good, but Prunella has a lot of kinks to work out in their service and management model, especially for the prices they're charging.
