La Fontana Della Citta - Darby Township

How can a 3 inch square of salmon and small side dish of spinach cost $41 in a neighborhood Italian place? New ownership seems determined to drive away regular, local, neighborhood customers--maybe they 'll be able to keep the Bro parties like the one of 15 shouting young guys in the mezzanine dining room shouting some kid of chant in unison last night. Not pleasant. Owner tried to make things better after lots of discussion but the future does not look bright for what was a great spot. :

Tonight (March 13th, 2024) as probably been my worst experience at a restaurant in years. And I 'll go in detail to explain why. Context: we came to celebrate my niece 's birthday. 1. First and foremost, you made my 8-year old niece feel bad, completely unnecessarily. She asked for Fettuccini Alfredo and you brought a dish with a bit of pasta (not much) and some sauce. When she asked where the chicken was (we all thought it was a standard), one of your waitresses said You had to choose between one of the complements . Oh, wait, but you didn 't give us the options when we ordered? And you felt that making a kid feel guilty, instead of offering to fix it was the best option? 2. Entrees took literally 55 minutes to come. One starter came halfway (like 25 min after ordering). 3. When we asked when the food was going to come, your waitress said It 'll come as soon as it 's ready. They have a party in the back, so it 's very busy. Or do you want me to cook it for you? . Well, if you have a party in the back that won 't allow you to serve us in time, then warn us by the time we ask for a table. And apologize, offer some kind of alternative. But what is this response? 3. The carbonara would make any italian person weep. This is not an Italian restaurant. It 's, at best, Italian-American. Cream? No guanciale or pecorino? 4. The bread they brought was chewy and cold. 6. We had to ask them to take out some finished starters ' plates when they brought the entrees. 7. Twenty-something dollars for medium-sized and very mediocre plate is not okay. 8. The starter (octopus) was half burnt. 9. The bathroom had run out of hand towels and there wasn 't any air dryer. There was a spare roll of toilet paper on the sink that had some yellowish liquid stains. 10. And the best: 20% gratuity included (forced upon us). Without any justification (we were three adults, one 8-y.o. and a very quiet baby). Folks, if you (clearly) have no idea how to manage a restaurant when you have an event, just say it. Close the rest of the restaurant. And if you screw up (like you did), then apologize and ask to compensate, instead of giving an attitude. Horrendous. Can 't believe it.

Roberta was amazing, patient, and kind. We had a great early Mother’s Day dinner and every plate was cleared, will definitely be back soon!

Little bit cramped because it was so busy. Will definitely go back but at a time that’s not as popular.

Waited over 30 minutes past 6:30pm reservation to be seated. Table seated at was caddy corner to another table and there was barely room behind my chair and adjacent tables chair. Waitstaff kept squeezing by and bumping into my chair the whole time. I am sure this would be considered a fire and safety hazard. We were rushed through our meal and waitress was pushy, not genuine, and kept asking if our check was ready to pay, while we were still finishing dessert, tiramisu was partially frozen. We only spent 55 minutes eating our meal and was rushed. We were very disgusted and disappointed with the experience. Have dined many times before and it is usually a good experience. Restaurant was clearly overbooked. They should be honest with the wait time (was told 15ish minutes) or stop accepting reservations they cannot accommodate in a timely manner.