Review of Travinia Italian Kitchen

Very disappointed

I tried them for the first time today. The location and decor were nice. There was no one inside and only a couple of small groups outside. It was a very warm and sunny day, so I chose outside seating. However, when the host asked me to choose a table, all but one were dirty- covered in plates, glasses, etc. Naturally I chose the clean one, and asked if I could have an umbrella like the other tables, which he said was fine. When the waitress arrived, I told her I was considering two items, and she made a suggestion - the braised short rib rigatoni- and also recommended a caesar salad. I told her that I could not have gluten and asked if the croutons could be left off and she said yes. I also reminded her about the umbrella.

The food was delivered by a different girl who brought the salad and pasta all at once and of course there were croutons. When I pointed them out, she quickly took the plate away. Seconds later the waitress returned with what was clearly the same salad with the croutons removed. I almost never send food back or complain, but there were still crumbs in the salad. I told her to just take it away. The pasta honestly did not look very appetizing. It looked like plain noodles with some canned tomatoes, and a negligible amount of melted cheese and stringy meat that was almost mush from overcooking. It was like a crock-pot meal from the freezer aisle.

After several minutes sitting in the sun, no one had brought the umbrella or cleaned any of the other tables despite the fact that the restaurant was nearly empty the entire time. When I asked again, the waitress said she'd look into it. The second girl then suddenly arrived, grabbed an umbrella from the ground, and without warning began trying to position it on the table.

She didn't attempt to dust it off or allow me to move my food. There was a live insect that appeared to be dangling from a web and I asked if it was a spider. She replied sarcastically that "you can't really help that when you're outside." I held my plate and water glass away from the table as we both watched the insect, amongst dust and who knows what else, fall to the table and scurry away. Then I called the waitress over and asked for the check. She seemed genuinely concerned that I had hardly touched the pasta, but my stomach had become upset after the first couple of bites.

When the waitress returned, she boxed up the remaining pasta, which was nice of her, and she had billed me only for the lunch price of the pasta and removed the charge for the salad altogether. Ultimately I was expecting a nearly $25 check plus tip that ended up being about $15 for everything. All in all, it was the most bizarre experience that I have had at any restaurant, ever. Too bad, I was hoping to occasionally stop in to get my pasta fix. One star, because despite it's appearance and texture, the flavor of the pasta was not bad and one star for the waitress.

Celiac friendly?

No