The Veranda

I was going to give a great review until I saw my credit card statement. They charged me $ 25 over what my bill was! I called them up and they gave me the run around for 3 weeks. Each time with another excuse manager not there, etc etc. I even went back and talked to the manager twice. Each time I left with a promise that they would refund my money. Each time I was sorely disappointed. Been over 4 months now and I still don’t have my money back.

The wife and I ate at The Veranda for the first time. We were a little worried, as we arrived at 6:30 on a Saturday evening and there were only three other tables of diners, but decided to give it a try anyway. Very pleasantly surprised. The interior/​décor is a little depressing, but the food was excellent. We eat Italian a lot and have been to Italy, and were impressed. Chef Franco clearly knows what he is doing. We had Bruschetta, Caprese, and Pollo Marsala, and all were very good. We asked Margarita (Franco’s wife) if he has a particular specialty, and despite a considerable language barrier, we took her advice and went off menu for the Gnocci Quatro Formaggio. It was amazing. Best gnocci I’ve had since Tin Angel’s Smokey Gnocci. Do yourself a favor… go to Veranda and ask Chef Franco to make you a plate of his Four Cheese Gnocci. You won’t be sorry. We will definitely be going back, but also intend to try the sister restaurant Per Noi in Sugarhouse.

This place is great. I got the chicken Parmesana my wife got the Carbonara and they were both fantastic. My wife spent years in Italy and was impressed by the food. Legit.

It’s ok, the patio is the best thing about the place, but the food isn’t that good. The place will probably flop.

The location and building have so much potential. The people working obviously do not. Food wasn’t horrible, but not exciting or creative. The bread and oil/​vinegar: pieces of the bread were at least a day old, hard and really chewy. Fresher bread was brought to our table and that was better. Got snapped at when asking for more «fresh» bread, that the bread is baked daily. Very little vinegar was served in oil, we had to ask for more. Four diners at my table, one meal was completely forgotten. Was not busy on Wed night @ 7PM. There were no more than 8 tables occupied (2^nd clue) 15 mins later the pasta dish arrived obviously «thrown together». The garlic was raw and not edible if wanted to have friends tomorrow. Inside needs updating. Was only comped the forgotten meal because I asked for it, not offered to us. Wouldn’t eat there again.

We tried The Veranda tonight and couldn’t disagree with Karin more. It is still in a soft opening mode and doesn’t have its grand opening until next weekend so yes, it’s possible that there were things that hadn’t been done when she and her husband ate there. Yes, the carpet is a bit dated but as our server gave us a tour of the place it appeared that it had been cleaned and I didn’t find it objectionable at all.
There were only a few couples there tonight which is understandable as they have done no advertising and essentially have attempted nothing to let people know they are open. This apparently will change this week and no doubt business will pick up as well it should.
Our experience was a good one. Our server was chatting with the other couples on the first patio on the east side of the building. As soon as we walked in she promptly greeted us and seated us outside on the patio. She asked us if we wanted anything more than water to drink. Having had a fair share at a birthday party the night before we both opted to stick with water which was promptly delivered. The server made a couple of suggestions then told us she would be right back.
She stopped to chat with the other people who had pulled two tables together and appeared to be regulars as the server knew them well. Our server then brought out some of the best bread I’ve had in recent memory along with some very high quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. She gave us plenty of time to peruse the menu and we never felt rushed a bit. Having read the previous review we asked about the background of the chef and found that there is a primary chef and a kitchen supervisor both of whom were born and raised in Italy, one in Sicily, she couldn’t remember where the other was originally from.
My wife ordered the Caesar salad and I ordered the Caprese both of which were served in a very timely fashion. The Caesar was good, the lettuce fresh and well seasoned and the only thing I would have done to the Caprese would have been to put more of the nicely prepared vinaigrette on the plate. Disclaimer however, I am one who drinks a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar every morning not just for the health benefits but because I love the stuff.
For our entrée we decided to split the Quattro Stagioni pizza. Interesting concept. It’s divided into four sections each of which represents the four seasons. Our favorite was without question the Margherita representing the summer. We took two pieces home and were very satisfied.
I am far more optimistic that The Veranda will have a successful run. The menu appears solid and incredibly authentic as both people supervising the kitchen are born and raised in Italy. I can only attest any questions to geographic differences in cuisine. It’s like debating what is «barbecue» Texas is completely different than Kansas City which has nothing to do with Carolina which shuns Kentucky, etc., etc., etc.
Don’t stay away. They might still have some training and protocol things to work out before the grand opening but I see potential for a very good future for The Veranda.