Via Alto: Clinton, MA

2 Forks: Needs improvement.


We ate here and were underwhelmed. I will agree that the service is lacking. They need to get career wait staff in the restaurant if they plan on being as upscale as the decor suggest.

The restaurant is set in a nice location and has a very comfortable feel to it. At least that was until I got to the table. I took my fiance and her mother and brother out to dinner and we were seated at a booth. The restaurant was not full by any means. The hostess sat us at a booth that was too small on one side. This means that there was not enough room to comfortably fit a person between their body and the table. I am not a large person with a large gut and I am not small either. I asked the hostess and she giggled and told me that they had mesaured wrong. Never offered to move us to a different table. (Note to ownership, build your restaurant correct). I know I seem to be off on a bad start, but I did only give it two stars.

Now for something positive. The food is served in the traditional italian style. Multiple courses. I have been to Italy and this is how they do it. Another issue I saw from another review was the water. Also like in Italy, you shouldn't drink the tap water :). The restaurant should have a bottle of Peligrino sitting on the table for you to purchase at any time.

Ok, more bad now. The food was not very good. The chicken from the chicken parm was thick and had no flavor. The pasta was nice, but the sauce lacked in flavor. It had too little spice, with nothing more than a thick tomato base. The steak was stringy and took way too long to chew. The wine was served in a carafe. This might seem cute, but I want to see the bottle of wine that I just paid $24 for. This is a faux pas as far as I am concerned. The price was adequate if the food was better, however I would have been upset paying $20 for the food as apposed to the $180 I paid for four people.

I will not return any time soon. Better to go into beantown.