Cafe La Fontana

Café La Fontana used to be one of my favorite places to enjoy a meal with my husband. He took me there on Valentine’s Day, planned to proposed to me there, we’ve celebrated anniversaries there, the whole bit. The key word in all of that is USED to be. Since they hired a new chef and tried to revamp their menu, the whole restaurant has gone downhill. They broke everything up into a la carte options, drastically upping the price of what used to come all as one. I used to order salmon or chicken parm that would be accompanied by a potato and veggie du jour. On my last visit to Café La Fontana, you had to order sizes separately. The portions had shrunk and the food was subpar. Some of the best menu items were removed, such as the crab spinach dip. Some of our last visits to Café La Fontana involved a longgggggg wait time. It just wasn’t worth it to us anymore. We’ve found we get excellent food that is similar in terms of offerings at Villa Barolo. It’s become easy to pass up this place. Kind of a shame.

Very small portions, everything is ala carte. Who has ever been to an Italian restaurant and ordered veal parmigiana and you pay extra for pasta? Seriously!!! Food is tasteless.

Excellent. Had a perfectly cooked mixed seafood pasta dish. Everything that came to to table was outstanding. Their breads, garlic knots, appetizers and meal were all just great. One of my new favorites.

This restaurant is great. I go here often for lunch and for dinner. The italian food is excellent and lots of it. The prices are good and the variety allows my wife and myself to get a real meal while letting my son have pizza. I highly recommend this place.

First, let me begin by saying this restaurant was our go to date night restaurant for a long time Tonight we had an opportunity to go again, and were met with GREAT disappointment. A previous four and a half star place, it has plummeted to two stars, with using obvious canned ingredients compared to the fresh produce used to prepare once delicious, brightly flavored dishes. We were informed that the menu had changed, and the chef had been replaced. No longer is the delicious potato au gratin offered, but they have also turned to an a la carte format for their menu. I ordered my usual chicken dish there, and was not impressed. Dull flavor, overly salty, bland Caesar salad. No flavor to my husbands pasta dish he ordered. Service was at best mediocre, as everyone was trying, but has the feel of a college campus with all the young kids, I’m only 40ish, but not the atmosphere it once was, to make a long story short, this place is clinging on to life, and this format is not going to be the life boat. It was a good run the times we did go, but we won’t be back. The garlic knots were still good, but I wouldn’t go back just for those. Dull food, diner grade service, mediocre atmosphere (nice tables, though), and unorganized service/​long wait times make this a sinking ship.

Love this place. Awesome food, great staff and excellent prices.
Lots has changed: the menu has good causal food now. Like wings and burgers but they serve them with a great Italian twist.
They still have Classic Italian dishes that are great but they also let me chose what goes with my food for sides and such. Super important to me cause I am a picky eater.
They accommodate my shellfish allergy and my tomato allergy with out skipping a beat which is huge for me. Hard to get that everywhere.
The new chef is active and spends time with customers. I like that. His dishes are adventurous and timeless a tough combo to find.
If you haven’t been for a while… Give it another try… Totally worth it

Had my bridal shower there and the food was mediocre. The service was bad. The staff didn’t ask anyone if they needed anything, and when they were asked to bring a drink, it seemed like they were doing them a huge favor. They seem to never be busy, and if that’s how the staff treats guests, I see why. I would not go back there or recommend this place to anyone.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious — and varied — their Sunday brunch buffet was. We met friends there this past Sunday and were immediately treated warmly by the staff. We had to switch tables since our friends brought their kids and there were more of us than expected. No problem at all. Service was punctual and present during our meal. The buffet itself was vast in it’s selections, and the food was really good! There is something for everyone there. Even something as simple as scrambled eggs just tasted yummier and heartier than normal. So bravo to the chef! I would only suggest that the owners redo the inside if they want to draw a larger and more modern crowd. It is dated. As far as service and food go, this place rocks! (And that’s coming from 2 city foodies) :)

Great food– can’t go wrong with any of their pastas and a dessert.
They just have an older vibe in there which I think deters potential clientele. It would be a beautiful date spot or even engagement/​birthday etc… party location

Service was a bit weak. Our server was friendly, and clarified our orders before leaving the table, but forgot to bring our drinks and needed to be asked 2 or 3 times for bread.
The food was mixed: The chicken saltimbocca was OK, but I’ve had better. The side-​dish of potatoes was very tasty. The appetizer (brie with fruit) and salads were pretty good. The mozzarella sticks were fair and their marinara sauce was poor. The gemelli pollo was pretty good, though the meat was too salty.
The dining room is nicely appointed and kept clean.
The short story: I’m in no hurry to return.

We had the rigatoni and sausage and the raviolis; the former was quite good and the latter was just alright.
A decade ago this place was a 5 — wear and tear has diminished it a bit.
Their cannolies are top notch though.

I will continue to go back to experiment in a dish or two, however after having the Veal Parm that was ok, I to this day never heard of an Italian place charging extrra for pasta with it. Never. Supposedly a potato or veg was to come with it at no charge. Has pasta gone up in price that $ 2 extra is necessary? I have had hundreds of veal parms elsewhere and its a given to serve pasta with it. BIZARRE!

I love bread and they do not disappoint.
Their garlic knots are to die for and they just keep ‘em coming. The crab dip is amazing and so are all of their appetizers. They are half priced during happy hour, so I have tried them all! I have never had a bad meal.
I usually go for dinners, but my cousin had her shower here this year. The brunch food was yummy too. Plus the mimosas were a nice addition.

I am not a fan of this place at all. Rude staff, stale bread and horrible parking. This place has diner food with a huge price tag.

Dude! On Easter Sunday, when I show you that my water glass has a three inch crack in it and you say you’ll be right back with a new glass. I’m still waiting.
I all of my previous experiences at the restaurant, the food was excellent and the service just as good. But no, not this Easter Sunday. It was a much different experience. Other then my wife’s ravioli, which had an awkward taste which ruined the dish, the food was good.
The wait staff and food was extremely slow. Not the norm for this place.
Bread took forever, orders took forever. In some ways it seemed like we were being served by the minor league team.
I’m sure we’ll go back, but more because our experiences at the restaurant in the past have been wonderful.
They may have been an off night, but that’s no excuse, especially in the restaurant business.

So I really hate that I have to give this two stars because generally I really always have enjoyed my meals here in the past. Went here for my birthday dinner and was disappointed to see that the menu looked like it had been chopped in half.
We ordered the crab spinach dip to start and what looked like would be a decent serving because of the size of the dish ended up being like 4 TBS of dip with more crostini than there was dip for. OK I get it if you are trying to cut costs… but add a little more spinach so peeps don’t feel like they are getting hosed on the price.
I had the tortellini with chicken and it was just OK… the chicken I feel like should have been prepped differently instead of a few sparing chunks thrown in. The serving size was decent and I took the rest home, it actually tasted better the next day, haha!
Just sad and disappointed that it this place seems to be faltering a bit… hopefully they ‘ll get it back for 2013!

I’ve been here a handful of times and have enjoyed myself each time. The menu is a little limited though. most of the appetizers are seafood and for someone who can’t have seafood it’s a little disappointing that you can’t share an appetizer. The happy hour is always nice, not too crowded the times I was there. The dinner specials have always been creative and enticing, and I love the desert presentation. I’ll only give four out of five stars because I have thought that the prices were a little high for the food we received but it didn’t break our bank so it’s not too big a deal.

Due to the mixed reviews I feel compelled to give my opinion. My family & I finally tried this restaurant. We’ve driven by for a couple years now, just never stopped. I LOVEd it! We all did.
PRO #1 — to be seated right away on a Friday night is always wonderful!
–Great Service! I wish I knew our waitress’s name because she could not have been better! Plus food was served quickly.
— Cute ambiance! Nice, yet casual & friendly. Loved the lounge/​bar area & dj.
— Huge glasses of wine. Size of 2 typical glasses– needed to only order 1 :)
— Very accommodating — food made-​to-​order. My daughter wanted an entrée from the regular menu & they «kid-​sized» it. Just ask.
— Food was very good, especially the eggplant parm– yummo
–bread, butter, oil, Garlic knots served generously — delicious
–Nice dessert selection, tho I didn’t indulge
— Did not find it overpriced for a nice meal at a non– chain restaurant at all. We’ve paid just about as much at Friday’s!
Overall– We will be back :)

This place was horrible! Sent an e-​mail telling the owner of our bad experience, and the reply was to not come back to his restaurant. They serve cold bread. The waiter (Mark?) didn’t pay us any attention, their alcoholic beverages are so over priced! We were not asked how we wanted our steak cooked. When it came to us, we told the waiter to take it back and the waiter said to us, «We can prepare it only one way.» WHAT!

I was really hoping that this would be an amazing place. However, I was disappointed. We waited a long time for our food, which was okay once we got it. Nothing to really truly rave about. The atmosphere was okay, kind of an older crowd to be honest. They certainly fill up the wine glass and my fiancé’s rum and coke was not short on the rum. Our servers (one in training) were kind and helpful.
I feel like this place could be so much more. I have heard mixed reviews on this place for awhile now. It seems like they don’t have a consistency. At least if a restaurant is horrible, it is consistent. I am not rushing to try Café La Fontana again.