In search of more fine summer patio dining, we headed to La Tavola at 6125 Riverside Drive. Upon arrival, it was a fight to find an open parking spot. We could have used the complimentary valet parking, but I despise valet parking. You may want to consider it though if you find yourself there on a busy night. La Tavola may want to consider fax ahead ordering but we’ll get to that in a moment.
We were greeted by the hostess and news of a 30 minute wait for the patio. No prob, we just headed to the bar and sampled some Italian reds. We were seated well within the 30 minute time frame and began with their calamari appetizer. The patio at La Tavola is fantastic. On the banks of the Scioto River and in the treetops, it has to be one of the best patio dining experiences in Columbus. I would like to go there when it wasn’t so crowded to truly appreciate it.
Our appetizer came out in less than a minute. This didn’t seem too strange until another order of calamari appeared at our table 10 minutes later. Did we get someone else’s order at first? Our calamari was cold, rubbery and bland. Things were not starting off well at La Tavola.
My mom always said to judge a restaurant by the bread. If the bread sucks, get up and leave. La Tavola’s bread was palatable but didn’t leave me with that warm fresh feeling. We put in our orders and began waiting for their appearance. The waiting became noticeable 30 minutes after we had been seated; became very apparent at 45 minutes; bordered on ridiculous after an hour. We began marking time with each dish that passed through the patio door that was not ours. What did Tom Petty say, “The way-ay-ting is the hard-est part.”
Our waitress spied me grabbing some cash out of my wallet and took the opportunity to let us know our orders should be right up. I was going to pay for what had been served and leave. We inquired about cancelling our orders, and she firmly indicated that that would be a big problem at this point (probably because they finally started preparing our orders right about then).
10 minutes later, our orders arrived. I had chosen half orders of the Tortelloni en brodo and the Tuscan style calf’s liver. My companion had the Grilled Black Angus Ribeye Steak. All of which was a marked improvement over the calamari. I can see why La Tavola was packed - the food is excellent.
Our waitress stopped by with a holier than thou attitude to remark on how easy the food was going down. Uhhh, no kidding, Sherlock! Given the fact that we were famished and our stomachs had begun to digest themselves, raw abalone would have even gone down easy at that point.
After spending our entire evening at La Tavola, you would’ve thought they could have comped the wine but no luck. Italy may be a little bit closer at La Tavola but heck, we might as well have started walking.
6125 Riverside Drive
Dublin OH 43017
Phone: 614.760.8700
Fax: 614.760.8730
[email protected]
Popularity: 21% [?]
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How good does the food have to be to compensate for disheveled service and complete disorganization within the establishment?
The parking and people racing from their cars up the walkway was a turnoff, and the wine at the bar was an insult to Italian reds, though my guess is that the wines are not being stored properly.
One client in the restroom remarked that it took at least thirty minutes before anyone served them. The common theme seemed to be waiting around for service and food.
Well, at least we got served, right away, with our calamari appetizer, which was clearly forgotten but intended for some other clients (we saw theirs arrive half-an-hour later, though they were seated prior to us). I have pretty good “bread” control, but when the timing of the whole meal is so wretched, I end up eating a little more bread then I want to…you would, too, if you waited over an hour between the appetizer and the main course. During the wait, I noticed that there was one waitress who was wearing a nylon shirt, short flared skirt, white bobby socks and black loafers, something like you might see in a retro diner. I realized that the lack of homogeneity in the manner of dress amongst the servers was just a reflection of the lack of central ambience in the restaurant.
I am afraid that the experience as a whole was so devoid of anything artful that the food, unfortunately, was unable to sway my assessment of this restaurant. If you are the type of person who enjoys smoking while ingesting food and drink, and don’t mind so much about the timing of your food, then go to this patio; just make sure that you have a designated driver because you are likely to ingest more booze than you would, normally, as a means of entertaining yourself until your meal arrives around midnight.