Francesca's Vicinato

Given the pandemic, I wouldn't discount much on the scenario. However, the food is a different story. I went here for father's day. We were seated at the very back, close to the dumpster. We were close enough that we could smell the trash from where we were sitting. The tables and chairs were simple, as if they were backup in case there were an overflow of people, but there we're. This place did not even bother trying to make their customers feel comfortable in the environment. But it was covid season so I would understand that aspect. The attendee: The person who attended us will come every 15-30 minutes to check up on us. The other employees who serve us water or actually brought our food, they did a much better job coming to assist us. The food: Initial break. It was good. The olive oil blend was a good addition to the bread as well. Bruschetta was good. The bread was relatively thick enough to balance the ingredients on top. Mozzarella was relatively fresh, generous amount of tomato and basil. My father got the Gamberi Franchesca, the dish with shrimp on it. He enjoyed it very much. I did not get to taste it but he claimed it was good. Special Salad with the chicken. I did not try it but was told the taste and texture was good. They enjoyed it. Pasta Butera-D. Did not eat it all but the pasta was relatively firm, a little too firm for my liking. I would have expect it to be less firm and more edible. Sausage was well seasoned. Fileto. I ordered it as medium well just to see how they cook their meat here. The meat was WAY PAST MEDIUM WELL. It was basically full cooked, firm and dry all around. They tried to compensate the flavor by adding more sauce and throwing the ingredients on there. This seems as if the cook gave up on their dish and just sent it out. Of this place, I think the vegetables were the only good thing on here. Everything else I would not recommend to anyone. I would not recommend anyone to order any type of meat from here if they are not able to cook a simple dish. For this place, I recommend investing in a water cooker to have good quality meat in terms of cooking it. The sauce on this dish was extremely salty as well. I tried to use the sauce to try to juice to the actual dish. The main dish was still a bit hard to chew on regardless. Risotto Funghi. I ordered this to try it as well. The mushrooms were the same as the one from the Filleto. This tells me that they only had one variety of mushrooms. The actual risotto was quite well cooked but the seasonings are what said a no to this. I am aware that I needs to have parmesan and I know what parmesan tastes like. How've, this dish actually had the taste of regular table salt instead of parmesan. Also, I was expecting the dish to be much brighter and vibrant with colors. If they did use table salt, that would explain the color / texture of the dish. Gelatos. They have a lot of options to choose from. I got the Pistachio Gelato. They did see a lot of gelato for us. Although I was expecting actual pistachios on there, the flavor was still good as well. 3/4 way into the dish, I started feeling the sweetness of this desert. I began to taste the immense sugar that it had. ------------------ Overall, I think this place is okay. They could have done better to serve the customers. For the food I have tasted, they could have done a much better job in preparing it. For the aesthetics, I understand it was during covid phase 2 era I believe, but an investment on the chairs and tables will go a long way too. It is uncomfortable to sit down on a checker metal chair.

We have been coming here almost every week for years. The food is consistently good. They have handled the pandemic flawlessly. The main reasons we keep coming back is Dan the waiter. He makes sure you really enjoy your experience there. AND Dee the bartender. She is really nice and makes amazing drinks. They both make you feel like family. One of our favorite places to go!

We had dinner Saturday, 10/10/20. Tacho was our server. He was absolutely amazing!! I ordered something that wasn't on the menu and as soon as I started describing it, he knew exactly what I wanted. He was extremely polite and attentive. I will definitely request him to be our server the next time we are there. I would also like to mention Jemeela, she was incredible as well. Very nice, friendly staff, We will definitely be back!