Rotelli

One ordinary weekday, not knowing what to have for lunch, I joined a couple of friends at Rotelli’s for lunch. The dishes ordered were: Eggplant parmigiana, baked ziti and chicken parmigiana.

The verdict: Don’t get me wrong, I have eaten there often enough that I have tried most of their dishes. Although, this was the first time I had eaten at Rotelli’s in months so I was pretty surprised by the quality of the food. The lunch portions are smaller than the usual lunch portion you can buy virtually anywhere else for 10 dollars or less. The soup or the salad used to come with it but now they charge 99 cents for it (a la carte style). Everything for some unknown reason costs more in this restaurant. The cost cutting measures they have done can be felt in the quality and the quantity of the food they serve. As for the service, I guess they were not really happy to provide us with food because they were stingy with their rolls (just 3 pieces of small rolls?!) and when asked for some garlic, they pretended to not hear us several times.When the food was served, all of the food attendants seem to have disappeared. No one was there to refill our drinks or to bring the parmesan cheese that was supposed to be on the table in the first place. When bill time came, I was pretty surprised as it was not commensurate with the quality or the quantity of food.The upside? The food was mediocre at best. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of good things to say about my dining experience from this branch. I can say that the place looks clean and their ambiance feels alright for an Italian restaurant. Their chicken parm seems to be full of breading instead of a good amount of chicken and there was hardly any cheese on their baked ziti.Overall, this dining experience is something I don’t want to go through again.

I do not recommend going to this branch. Maybe you will have more luck with other local Rotellis. For the price you pay, I would suggest bringing your money elsewhere so your stomach would be filled and your pallet happier.