Felix's Family Ristorante

Excellent food great atmosphere

I have to open this review on a down note, despite wanting to love this place from the reviews: I encountered the worst service I've ever had from the very moment I walked in the door. The food, with the exception of the calamari, wasn't much better.

I made a reservation yesterday for tonight, wanting to surprise my fiance with a good Italian dinner for his birthday. It didn't start well; the hostess seemed very annoyed when we came in, wearing a frown on her face that got even worse when she looked up and saw us. She asked us whether we wanted to sit in the dining room or the more informal side room , and when we indicated the formal room and said we had a reservation, she asked us where we wanted to sit, giving us an option of a booth or a table. I indicated the booth, and she just stood there for about a minute, doing nothing, but seemed to indicate we should seat ourselves, despite the fact I couldn't even see the open booth we were talking about. We started to walk over there and a younger girl- who seemed to be helping with table breakdowns- grabbed menus and ran them to the hostess, who hadn't even bothered to grab them despite the fact she'd been standing next to them when we walked in.

We brought our own bottle of wine, as it's a BYOB, and served ourselves. About 10 minutes later, a waitress, who was talking way too much and kept calling us "kids" despite the fact I'm almost 30 and it was my fiance's 23rd birthday, came and took our appetizer order. She came back in 5 minutes to say they were out of the bread they usually serve and that the appetizer would be out shortly, and then took our food orders. She went over to the table next to us and proceeded to talk to them for about 15 minutes about her personal problems with her 21 year old son and about how stressful her day at work had been. Almost immediately after, the hostess walked by and loudly complained to the couple about how she had a  terrible day and couldn't wait for the restaurant to close.

About 10 minutes after that (so 30 so far), the waitress brought out my fiance's appetizer. She did not bring the salad I asked for with the house made Italian dressing I was looking forward to, and I never saw the salad all evening. After another 30 minute wait, the entrees came out. I was going to ask her about the salad when she brought out the food, but she asked us if we wanted crushed pepper or shredded cheese and promptly disappeared before I could ask her about it.

To the credit of the chef there, my fiance said his calamari appetizer was perfectly cooked, and the presentation and amount of food were amazing. He also very much liked his lasagna. Unfortunately, I didn't fare so well; perfectly cooked pasta was ruined by sitting out too long, either because the waitress wasn't paying attention or because it was cooked too long before the rest of the food, and it was ice cold. The marina sauce, which was delicious, was lukewarm and didn't help the pasta any at that temperature.

The filet I ordered was an affront to the animal that died for it. I ordered it rare, but the center was still purple, cold, and raw. It had a marinade that was well seasoned for the most part, but had a touch too much salt.

I would have loved to have sent it back to be warmed up a tad more, but the waitress didn't show back up until 25 minutes later when, irritated, I asked the manager for the bill and the leftovers to be wrapped. The waitress came and apologized to the next table for the poor service- but not us- and left the bill on our table.  She picked it up and handed the receipt/final slip to my fiance while he was on the way back from the bathroom, which HE then brought to the table, despite it being my card.

It was a letdown of a night, and I think with a little tweaking to the preparation of the food and the timing of it, it would be fantastic. The service, however, needs to come a long way; based on that alone, we will certainly not be going back to the business, and I would recommend others be wary of it as well.

Incredible food, great atmosphere.  I will definitely be back!!!!!!!!