Al Di La Trattoria
Brooklyn, NY 11215-1201
Phone: (718) 636-8888
06/20/2007 Posted by corkpullernyc
Want to talk Over-Hyped??? Let's talk al di la. This restaurant has truly spot on Northern Italian fare, yet the menu NEVER changes. They've been running the same rotating list of specials for 2 years. This wine list is exceptional, but there are tons of great wine lists in Park Slope. My big beef is the atrocity they call service. Clearly, this restaurant is busy, and I don't expect great service at 8:30 on Saturday night. But, I do expect at least adequate service on monday at 6:30. Fat chance, it probably won't happen. The staff just isn't interested in the customer. The wine service is where i get really upset. The owner Emiliano (who has a good palate, and knows proper service) has 2x tried to stick me with bad wine. The first time i was on a date with my girlfreind and i ordered an obscure bottle of red(obscure is the name of the game here). When the taste was poured, i questioned the bottle as it had a little bit of carbonation. I asked them to decant it to see if the Co2 would blow-off, which they did. Once the wine was in the decanter it became evident that the wine was refermenting and actually gaining steam. At this point i outright rejected the bottle. Emiliano then came over and said that was the way the wine was supposed to be. I was on fire. I mean really, in less than 5 minutes, the wine went from pettilant to full frizzante (we aren't talking about lambrusco here). So as to not make a scene, i ordered a second bottle of something else and paid for both. On another occasion Emiliano refused to take back a corked bottle of amarone. Little did he know i had tasted at least 5 cases of the exact same wine. Its just rediculous. Even with all these complaints, I still go at least 6 times a year. Its a strange irony, the Bacaloa is great, its the service that stinks!
Pros: Good Wine List, Tasty Food, True Neighboorhood Vibe
Cons: Wine service as bad as I've encountered, Servers who coouldn't care less
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