Tavolino

Emily put together an exceptional birthday celebration for twelve of us. We had one in our party with gluten allergies but she made sure that everyone had plenty of delicious food to eat. My niece with gluten allergies said that this was the best meal she’s ever eaten! We had such a great birthday celebration at Tavolino! I highly recommend you go there for their awesome Italian food and kind service. This is a local Athens business that deserves all of our support!

We ate at Tavolino today for lunch in a large group of 10 (first time any of us had tried the restaurant). We made reservations almost a week in advance and even called the morning of to verify we could be accommodated, and indeed, there was a table reserved for us when we arrived. Despite the reservation, it seemed the staff was over-whelmed/not prepared. The server described the dish as a gnocchi and chicken & a salad with house dressing. She described the full portion as a “large plate” and so most of us ordered the half portion. We received the salad within 20-30min, however, the main course took another hour. We arrived at 11am and were not served the main course until almost 12:30. Not only that, it appeared they forgot the chicken part of the dish, we were only served small, saucer-sized plates of gnocchi. (Even the “full portion” was very small, just served on a larger plate). None of us had the nerve to complain bc it seemed the staff may have had some mishap or were overwhelmed? But they offered no apology or explanation for the wait/skimpy portions/missing chicken, so perhaps not? I know higher end restaurants tend to have smaller portions, but this was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a meal. We all left hungry and then went to actually buy lunch. On a positive note, I will say, the quality of the food was 5-star. The gnocchi and salad/house dressing were delicious. They were also able to accommodate a vegetarian and a gluten free member of the group (this was also information that was shared in advance so they had time to prepare). If I were to return to the restaurant again, I would make sure I had no where important to be for hours, and I would not go hungry.