Amore

Nice atmosphere and music.  Bartender, Brandon, was very helpful.  Our dinners (butternut squash ravioli and spaghetti) were decent.

Sushi in Crown Point? Yeah, a hidden gem. A hidden gem with delicious sushi that is actually fresh and delicious. You have to go upstairs for a young ambiance.

Downstairs is the Italian place. I used to love going here. I always ordered the steak. They seem surprised to bring a tiny girl the biggest steak they have. The first time I was there it was amazing and they were on a streak for the next four or five times. Then came the disappointment. The steak they brought out was all fat and no steak. I sent it back and even the waitress said it was horrible. For a place that claims that they freshly cut every piece when ordered, this is disappointing. When did the cook or chef not notice that this piece was inedible? They fixed he problem with another steak 20 minutes later, this felt like a lifetime when I was already hungry.

The next time, they brought me a steak that was rotten. The smell and taste was bad, my boyfriend called the waitress and then they brought me another piece of bad meat. Did they not smell or check on this? So after a long wait, and a second order of bad food... I decided not to get anything. Not an apology from the manager, nothing. What a disappointing interaction. I went from going there on a weekly basis to not going back. Six months later, no visits.

The good and the bad...

The service could definitely use some help.  We made a reservation for a Saturday evening dine.  We probably did not need it as the restaurant was pretty empty during our entire visit from 6 - 7 PM.  If you do make a reservation, I would recommend requesting one of the two tables by the window that overlook the courthouse.  The rest of the dining room appeared crowded with the tables set close together.

Service:  Despite being seated right away a server never visited our table.  We finally had to return to the hostess and ask for a server.  Pretty sad considering the restaurant was not busy.  Since we had nearly 10 minutes to look over the menu we ordered our drinks, appetizer and entrees right away.  Big mistake.  Our entrees were delivered within minutes after receiving our appetizer.  It did appear that the server felt awkward about the timeliness but still made no apology.

Food:  The house brand of wine is Canyon Road.  We were actually impressed with both the Merlot and Cabernet blends.  The house bread delivered to our table was stale and the olive oil left something to be desired.  The Caprese salad was large and tasted decent.  The same olive oil was drizzled on top of the salad that is given for dipping bread in.  It has too much of a nutty flavor for my taste.  I would still recommend the salad and it can easily be shared by four diners.  My husband ordered a Chopped salad which was very good and topped with just the right amount of dressing.  I ordered the Penne Carbonara and was very impressed.  The portion was generous.  I almost ordered it without the pancetta ham because I don't eat too much meat anymore.  The server said the amount of ham was very light.  She was correct.  I actually think the ham added good flavor and a little bit of salt to the dish.  The pasta portion was also very generous.

Price:  I think the restaurant is a tad pricey compared to other Italian restaurants in the area.  The Caprese salad was $10.  I guess it was probably worth it since it was a good size.  Perhaps they could offer a smaller portion for two diners.  The Chopped salad was $11 which was definitely too high.  Portillo's chopped salad is probably better, bigger and is quite a bit cheaper.  The Penne was $16 which again was too high.  The pasta could merit that price if it at least came with a dinner salad.  The house wine price was okay at $6.

We will definitely give Amore another try since our food was quite taste.  Hopefully the service improves by our next visit.