Food ︎︎︎︎︎
Service ︎︎︎
Location ︎︎︎
I had the opportunity to dine at Alta Strada for a friend’s birthday. Upon entering the restaurant, it reminded me more of a TGIFridays rather than an Italian restaurant. But hey, not every restaurant has to be pretty.
Once we sat down and checked the menu, I was stunned by the prices. Especially the cocktail prices. Most cocktails were 15 dollars, a glass of Prosecco was also 15 dollars. This absurd pricing made me slightly angry. This restaurant had NO BUSINESS making drinks that expensive. Why? Well I wasn’t paying for a nice atmosphere and my Italian Gin and Tonic was mostly water.
But whatever, hopefully my food would be better.
The food was fine. Really nothing special. I got meatballs (mine are better obviously) and shared the fried calamari with a friend. I’ve grown up going to Italian-American restaurants so there really wasn’t anything to rave about. The red sauce was spicy, which was a bit strange to me. The menu made no indication that the sauce would be spicy.
Some of my friends ordered chicken-parm and at every other italian restaurant that would include a side of a pasta ... THEY CHARGED US EXTRA FOR A SIDE PASTA. The waiter, made no mention of the extra price when he asked if my friend wanted a side of spaghetti (she opted for the penne, smart choice). Very misleading. He also offered to add protein to the penne alla vodka. Neither the waiter nor the menu mentioned that adding a protein would cost extra. This is a sleazy sales tactic (I’m in sales) to offer something with that hidden price.
As I mentioned earlier, we were celebrating a friend’s birthday. So naturally we told the manager that we were celebrating a birthday so the staff can bring over a slice of cake with a candle in it. Very common. Nothing strange here. Except when the waiter came out with a slice of tiramisu with a lit candle, he dropped the plate in front of the birthday girl and walked away. EXCUSE ME? This was the first time at a restaurant that the staff did not come over and help us sing happy birthday. And this was an Italian restaurant! Very very disappointing. I was furious. We were paying literally top dollar for sub-par food and drinks, the very least they could do is sing happy birthday for our friend with us.
The service overall was fine … but I’m gonna have to demote a star for that.
The location was good. Near a lot of other restaurants and two metro stops.
Overall, a mediocre restaurant. I don’t recommend it. It is way too expensive for the quality of food. Like maybe if the food and drinks were cheaper, I would suggest it. On top of that, two of my friends felt very sick afterwards and had some pretty gross symptoms that I do not wish to repeat on this food blog.
We contacted the restaurant the next day to tell them that two of our friends got sick and they emailed us back with a 25 dollar gift card. WOW. That won’t even cover two watered down drinks. I can’t believe this place gets away with insanely high prices. There are far better Italian-American restaurants in DC. Avoid this place!