Via Italian Table

Oh dear. Where to begin.
Let me start by giving you a little history of my relationship with Via. MANY years back, my husband and I went to Via for dinner, and had a really rough experience… my dish was awful, (smelly seafood that needed to be returned… ummmm, lets just say foreshadowing), and my husband’s dish was bland… fair. We didn’t understand the hype, and vowed to never return.
In between then and this past Tuesday, I had been back to Via with friends here and there if this was the chosen spot to meet up. It’s got a great location with parking, so I’m assuming this is part of the draw there… plus, it’s pretty inside… modern with great lighting. I was told repeatedly that «everyone knows you should sit in the bar and ONLY order off the lunch or bar menu at Via, because the entrees are BAD». So I did. Time and time again. I have enjoyed many a day and night sipping great drinks and munching on pizzas and salads at the Via bar. My husband joined me on a few occasions as well, and we always got the same things… pizzas, grilled shrimp Caesar salads, sangria. Never a problem. We enjoyed this so much that we forgot about our negative beginnings and trusted our Via process. We shouldn’t have.
Fast-​forward to this week. Hubby and I had a rare chance to grab lunch while our kiddo was at school, so we went to Via for the usual.
The good: Service was great. Our servers were friendly, and took care of the bill at the end of what was a disgusting display of food… all around. I’m serious. Bad. So so bad.
The Ugly: We started with drinks… my husband ordered some specialty whiskey drink, and I kid you not, the entire rocks glass was overfilled with shaved or crushed ice, and there was MAYBE 2 sips of the whisky concoction inside. We laughed about it. My drink was a blueberry martini thingy, and it was, in fairness, tasty. The drinks took forever to come… I think the bartender forgot. The waiter apologized for the wait. No biggie, we weren’t in a hurry.
We tried our hand at an appetizer that looked appealing. It was a form of caprese salad, topped with lobster and a salty meat… sopressata, I believe. Sounds good, right? Holy shit, wrong. When it arrived, my first thought was, almost, «well it looks kind-​of pretty»…BUT I couldn’t even think the whole thought before the smell hit me. OMG, not just fishy, but a VERY rotten fish smell filled the table. We couldn’t believe it. Lobster doesn’t even usually smell fishy at all… this was crazy. I immediately said, «Don’t eat it» to my husband (he wasn’t about to eat more than the tiny bite he took, but I felt the need to warn), and then I called the waiter over. He made a face at the table when he arrived… the smell hit him too. We were all in agreement that nobody was ok to eat it, and he asked (after apologizing) what we’d like instead. We ordered a grilled shrimp Caesar salad, and asked for the shrimp to be charred well done. We figured this was safe … we’d had it a bunch of times prior. On the way to return the app, the waiter said, «Must’ve been a bad batch of lobster». You think? Yikes.
Before the salad came out, our pizza arrived. The pizza wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t good, either. Flat, floppy, undercooked crust. What was going on???
The salad arrived and the shrimp were underdone. Like REALLY under-​done. We were skeeved out x10 at this point and just wanted to leave.
We were just going to pay the bill and go, but the sweet waitress (we had 2 people helping us) noticed we weren’t eating the shrimp, and asked if everything was ok. She looked at the shrimp and knew. We explained that we aren’t the type to complain, (really we aren’t), and she said the feedback was important because they have «new hires» in the kitchen who need to know. She removed everything from the bill except for the drinks, and apologized again.
We will never be back.
A girlfriend of mine and I visited VIA from time to time for lunch, and I called her to say that we need a new place, and her response was that her last meal there was «bad» as well.
Too Bad, really, but seriously… unacceptable. Dangerously poor quality.

I can’t believe we spent so much money on mediocre food.
Dry meats for the meat and cheese board and low quality cheeses.
The salad was the best thing we got all night, which is average. Arugula, balsamic drizzle, and plenty of prosciutto but again, very dry and cut thick — all the meats were dry as though they had been sliced the day before and left overnight. Ugh.
Portions were SMALL. Really small. My Beef Braciole was ok; not sure it was cooked well. The sauce and veggies were tasty. My husband’s Bolognese was so tiny and very average.
Mixed drink was ok, but VERY small and not very strong for a $ 10 drink.
And for anyone with food allergies, the waitress although VERY nice and a bit over-​attentive, seemed quite new which is FINE — but she knew next to nothing about common food allergies and the menu items themselves. So maybe a little more on the educational front there, since that can be a big hit to your business and a potential legal snafu if you make the wrong person sick.
We might like to try the gelato which they make a big deal over, supposedly totally homemade on a fancy machine imported from Italy. But 3 scoops for $ 7 again seemed like a bit much. For all we know it would have been worth the money, but we already overspent based on the quality and quantity we got so we were not taking the risk.
The only thing we might come back for is a late night gelato fix. Otherwise, never for lunch or dinner.

Service: excellent — a full 5 stars. The servers are extremely attentive and always ready to anticipate any needs. They’re friendly and engaging, but not imposing.
Pre-​meal: the bread they start with is really nothing to write home about — in fact, it’s rather underwhelming. Which turns out to be okay because their appetizers (I’ve personally tried their calamati, truffle fries, fondue/​cheesy dip, and fried artichoke hearts) are stellar, and more than make up for the bread. Also, most of their entrees come with a side salad — and their salads are quite hearty with great flavor.
Meal: their portions are sizeable. Most everyone had to pack half their plate at the end of the night. I was very impressed with their lobster risotto which was actually about ¹⁄₃ lobster and ²⁄₃ risotto, which is a hefty amount of sweet, tender lobster meat. Also, my husband got their pork chop and potatoes — oh my goodness, the pork had a wonderfully crispy skin with the most tender meat underneath. It practically melted in my mouth. The seafood pasta was okay, but could have used a bit more salt/​seasoning.
Post-​meal: their desserts are incredibly rich. Best when shared amongst a few people. My favorite was their cheesecake, drizzled in a pomegranate reduction and practically buried in ask different kinds of berries. The crêpe cake is wonderful too — light and creamy.
Price: the cost is on the higher side ($ 20−40/person), but actually quite reasonable for the quality of the food.

We have friends who live out this way and they are always coming out Boston way to visit with us so this time we went to them and they took us here. I first have say this place is huge but not in a bad way. I thought they rehabbed the building nicely and keeping the architectural features well. Being a large space it could be noisy but they put us in a nice quiet corner and we were easily able to have a conversation.
I had a caprese salad that was delightful and light with a balsamic reduction. For my main course, I got their Pappardelle Bolognese. I think a pappardelle noodle could go wrong in so many ways but this dish was perfect. It was not a typical tomato bolognese but rich and creamy with a touch of tomato — Very filling and not boring. I also like that they used beef, pork, and sausage because I do not eat veal and most of these dishes come with a veal mixed in.
I think if I were inclined to drive this far, I would definitely try this place again.

Via has never measured up. Weve gone four or five times hoping that they would learn how to run a real Italian quality restaurant but they never have. Osso bucco is a veal shank dish. Via uses pork shank. Not acceptable but much cheaper for them to prepare and then sell at an inflated price. Tomato sauce has never been good. Their entrees are just not up to par. Service is pretty good but the best thing and only thing we will eat there if we must go there is their grilled pizza and salads. If you want an excellent Italian meal that is high quality and well prepared, drive to Lincoln R I and try Trattoria Romana. That’s where we enjoy real Italian food.