Paula's Italian - New Bern

FIRST TIME VISIT: I'm sure that their meals are adequate enough to support the needs of the number of folks that were served at or around 5:25 to 5:45 pm, on October 15, 2023. However, to my surprise, I wasn't made welcome by the frontend staff member. I understand matters, with regards to staffing issues and the like; but to not acknowledge a guest for over 10 minutes and then to make excuses for not doing such is inexcusable. All it would have taken was a few seconds of time to simply welcome me and ask for a few minutes to arrange a table for me. Staffing issues are not a matter a customer needs to hear or be involved with. With all that happened, I excused myself and left, without ever knowing how well Paula's food is.

Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Price per person: $20–30 Food: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3

Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Price per person: $50–100 Food: 3 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5

Staff was very nice and helpful. The table was dirty with crumbs all over when we sat down but not gross. Surprising that it was dirty since the restaurant was empty when we arrived. The prepared meals were delicious. However the vegetable beef was suspiciously similar to Campbell's soup. Overall good experience. Prices were high but understandable since everything is expensive nowadays. Definitely recommend the eggplant dishes. Kid-friendliness: Meals for kids were priced well.

I have only dined here once, so far but was reasonably pleased with the shrimp and chicken Alfredo