This will be my first not-so-postive review :(
After such a postive experience at the Francesca Italian bakery last week; I was interested to try Nino D'Adversa Bakery which I happened by.
I'm not sure where to start but everything was a just a bit off that just made the overall experience a bit of a sour one. The actual cafe/bakery is spacious with clusters of tables in the general middle area. There are small displays/shelves of dried goods such as pasta, olive oil etc. for sale. There are a number of enticing food counters; one each for pastries, cakes, deli, gelato, coffee counter, sweets and cookies and a hot table with reasonable prices i.e. veal sandwich at around $7.00. This was probably where the problems started.
The hot table was the only place were visible prices were posted. The rice balls looked yummy but having tried it at Francesca, decided to go for something different. I sampled the small gnocchi in tomato sauce for $5.50. Not a particularly good price for a small dish on its own but I was willing to give it go even if it was dished up by a rather sullen looking server. It was warmed up slightly in the microwave but by the time I've finished ordering pastries and coffee and paid for everything, it was just lukewarm. I also started snapping some photos but one of the employees there called out saying no photos were allowed. Thinking that she's thinking I'm a competitor or something, I explained that I'm a social blogger and that the cafe was very lovely and I wanted to blog about it. She waved or hands and rudely said to go speak to the manager though she didn't indicate who the manager was and/or the manager was in the cafe at the time.
While coffee was being ordered, it only seemed right to order a pastry or two. No visible prices could be seen anywhere and the no one looked particularly friendly or interested in answering queries about the pastries. In the end, two Portuguese tarts where quickly ordered to get away from another less than cheerful person.
The total bill came up close to $17.00 which just seemed a bit much considering that for a couple dollars more, you could probably have had a nice dinner. Turns out the large coffee was $2.50 and the tarts were $3.50 each; much more than expected. They were kept in the same display case as some of the cakes so there were cold and the shell hardly flaky. (Visited a supermarket recently and saw a box of 6 for $4.99 and at various other bakeries, one can get them for less than $2.00 each).
And while I'm unhappily eating away my now barely warm microwaved gnoochi and my cold Portuguese tarts; a lady behind me asked to have her coffee changed to tea...Perhaps she found it too strong or something. One of the employess called out, "That's how our coffee is!," and "People like our coffee!".
Overall, this really wasn't a good experience :(
After such a postive experience at the Francesca Italian bakery last week; I was interested to try Nino D'Adversa Bakery which I happened by.
I'm not sure where to start but everything was a just a bit off that just made the overall experience a bit of a sour one. The actual cafe/bakery is spacious with clusters of tables in the general middle area. There are small displays/shelves of dried goods such as pasta, olive oil etc. for sale. There are a number of enticing food counters; one each for pastries, cakes, deli, gelato, coffee counter, sweets and cookies and a hot table with reasonable prices i.e. veal sandwich at around $7.00. This was probably where the problems started.
The hot table was the only place were visible prices were posted. The rice balls looked yummy but having tried it at Francesca, decided to go for something different. I sampled the small gnocchi in tomato sauce for $5.50. Not a particularly good price for a small dish on its own but I was willing to give it go even if it was dished up by a rather sullen looking server. It was warmed up slightly in the microwave but by the time I've finished ordering pastries and coffee and paid for everything, it was just lukewarm. I also started snapping some photos but one of the employees there called out saying no photos were allowed. Thinking that she's thinking I'm a competitor or something, I explained that I'm a social blogger and that the cafe was very lovely and I wanted to blog about it. She waved or hands and rudely said to go speak to the manager though she didn't indicate who the manager was and/or the manager was in the cafe at the time.
While coffee was being ordered, it only seemed right to order a pastry or two. No visible prices could be seen anywhere and the no one looked particularly friendly or interested in answering queries about the pastries. In the end, two Portuguese tarts where quickly ordered to get away from another less than cheerful person.
The total bill came up close to $17.00 which just seemed a bit much considering that for a couple dollars more, you could probably have had a nice dinner. Turns out the large coffee was $2.50 and the tarts were $3.50 each; much more than expected. They were kept in the same display case as some of the cakes so there were cold and the shell hardly flaky. (Visited a supermarket recently and saw a box of 6 for $4.99 and at various other bakeries, one can get them for less than $2.00 each).
And while I'm unhappily eating away my now barely warm microwaved gnoochi and my cold Portuguese tarts; a lady behind me asked to have her coffee changed to tea...Perhaps she found it too strong or something. One of the employess called out, "That's how our coffee is!," and "People like our coffee!".
Overall, this really wasn't a good experience :(
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