Review :
We were looking for a place to eat dinner for my birthday, just my husband and I, before my actual birthday party the next day. Just a nice quiet dinner for the 2 of us. I insisted we go somewhere that we could use our Entertainment Book for, because all the deals expire on 11/1/09, and we like to try new places, and what better way than to get a discount at the same time. We were in the mood for Italian, and the menu in the book for Vittorio's appealed the most, so we called to make a reservation. We called the number listed in the Entertainment Book, and drove to the address listed in the Entertainment Book. My husband asked the hostess if they do anything special for birthdays, the answer was no.


We got there, it's located in a crappy strip mall by a pharmacy, and a bunch of other little places. Were seated immediately, the hostess was very friendly. Our table was a booth toward the back. We talked a bit about how it looked like the place had recently been re-done, all the paint looked fresh and clean, everything looked great, like it was new. Nice ambiance.


Our server eventually made it over and we ordered wine. It took 15 minutes to get my glass of wine because as it turned out, they had run out of that bottle. Our server, Allison, told us it was her 2nd day, and we felt for her, and it wasn't her fault that they were out of the wine anyway. Funny though, her boyfriend is the wine rep for the restaurant, so we told her to give him a hard time about them being out of the only Sauvignon Blanc they carried. I reselected, things were fine.


We ordered the calamari appetizer, and put in orders for our food. While we were sitting and enjoying the wine and appetizer, we overheard the table directly behind us telling Allison that "you just can't stop taking the Entertainment Book, we only came in because we found you in the book." We of course eavesdropped, because we were in the exact same situation. She told them that she'd send the manager over. After she left their table, we interrupted them and asked what the problem was, and they told us that their Entertainment Card was not being honored. We told them how we only chose Vittorio's because we found them in the Book, and waited for the manager. The owner himself came to their table, and proceeded to tell them that "We don't have no contract with them! We were closed for a year and I'm the new owner, and we don't have to take the Entertainment Book" While this is true, they should have posted a sign telling people that the Entertainment Book is no longer valid at this restaurant. In addition, he was so INCREDIBLY RUDE that I was about to have a fit. I could not believe how he talked to the people behind us. We piped up and said that we were there under the same pretense, and he completely ignored us. He made some completely lame analogy to them, saying that "If I sell my house, it's not my house anymore. We don't take Entertainment." Whatever that's supposed to mean. I wanted to punch him in the face.


Here is the deal. If you buy a restaurant, you should know what advertising they have out there. I also don't understand how if you've been closed for a full year and have re-opened under new ownership, how there is even an ad in the Entertainment book at all for you. They print yearly. Also, see the pictures we took...the logo for the restaurant, the menu, the signage on the restaurant, the phone number and the address are all the same. How are we supposed to know that it's under new ownership?


And, is it really worth $17 ??? The way that a**hole treated the people next to us was appalling. Instead of creating 4 people that hate your restaurant, and will tell 10 people each, and on and on...take the frickin' $17 off and make some regular customers! Let us thank you profusely for honoring the Entertainment Coupon when you didn't have to!


The food was great. Allison did her best, considering that it was her 2nd day at work, and she had 2 tables fuming over the Entertainment Book thing. It was my birthday dinner and I was livid. There was fire coming out of my ears I was so mad. My husband told Allison to make sure the owner did NOT come to our table, because I would be likely to rip him a new one and ruin everyone's night.


To the owner: You just lost a ton of business. I am a small business owner, and I love to support other small businesses. I know a ton of business owners in Huntington. I will be telling everyone I know how terrible my experience was, and I hope you go out of business. You cannot treat people that way! Fine, don't take the *free advertising* from the Entertainment Book that the previous owners paid for. And learn some grammar, while you're at it. Oh, and more imprtantly, learn some manners!


Do NOT support this business! And, really, you can get decent Italian food just about anywhere, it's not that difficult to master. Go somewhere else.