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View Full Version : Review: Pacini Pata & Grill Ristorante



shadowz
06-20-2011, 09:54 PM
Pacini Pasta & Grill Ristorante
111 Freeport Blvd NE, Calgary, AB T3N 0A3

Located in the Acclaim Hotel by Park 2 Go

- Food: 1/5
- Ambience: 3/5
- Service: 2/5


When you walk into this restaurant you are plesantly surprised by its modern interior and high ceilings. We did have a reso for a party of 8 which we only had to wait a few minutes. The place was packed and had many people waiting which seemed promising.

Our waitress did take 15 minutes to tend to us initially, following our orders we were able to go to the complimentary bread bar, this offered a couple types of breads, butters, oils and vinegars. You are also able to grill your bread over a large open grill. Honestly this and the beer were probably the best part of our experience. Our apps showed up about 30 minutes after we ordered, the soup of the evening looked and tasted more like a canned version you could find in your cupboard. The snails came with cheese that was not fully melted which gave it a chunky cold/warm taste and texture. Following that it took a additional hour for the entrees to arrive. The pasta and sauces we less than subpar, every dish (all eight individuals) were luke warm. The pasta was well undercooked, the meat balls on one spaghetti dish looked like vietnamese noodle soup balls. It really did feel like I was eating a frozen or re-heated dinner for $22 dollars. I really do not recommend going here unless they decide to make some major changes. Following our dinner I went on urban spoon and found many similar reviews.

Civic_Drift
06-25-2011, 06:44 PM
I was there two months ago and I can say the pasta wasn't the best I had either. The bread bar is pretty awesome though!

phreezee
01-16-2012, 03:13 PM
Went here last night and there was a big bday party which caused a huge delay in the kitchen.

I was there 6:30pm and didn't get food until 8pm. Horrible service. The only saving grace was the bread bar kept me from starving, but due to this I only managed to eat 50% of my entree.

Probably won't be back, no wonder they get scores in the 60% range on Urbanspoon.

adidas
01-16-2012, 03:55 PM
Good thing this place is attached to a hotel, otherwise it wouldnt withstand 2 months on its own.

We were there about 2 months ago now and and the price does not reflect the food.

Steak was hard, their special "fries" that were "worth a try, as nothing in the city compares" was down right horrible. It was practically like taking a mouthful of oil and then adding hickory sticks.

The rest had some combination of sandwiches, and pasta. Out of the 5 of us, only 1 thought their meal was decent.

shakalaka
01-16-2012, 03:59 PM
I had their food on two different occasions when I was staying at the hotel at two completely different times with two different girls. Neither of them didn't like their food much and neither did I on both occasions. First time was at some point in 2009 and second was roughly March or so last year.

Xtrema
01-16-2012, 05:57 PM
Horrible place. I don't think they have enough business for good turnover of food and ingredients.

You will only eat there if you are stuck around there.

lilmira
01-16-2012, 07:10 PM
I've only ordered a tiramisu to go and the lady friend wasn't too impressed. It didn't look half decent neither.

It's unfortunate. It looks like a nice place. Ah well, check one off the list.

eglove
01-16-2012, 07:27 PM
Went there probably about 6 months ago with the gf. Pasta was so-so. Bread bar was definitely the saving grace. G/f agreed with me, wouldn't be going back there again.

TomcoPDR
01-17-2012, 12:46 AM
Originally posted by shakalaka
two different occasions when I was staying at the hotel at two completely different times with two different girls.

Review of the girls :poosie:

Wow, sounds like the crowd has spoken

dino_martini
02-04-2012, 01:32 AM
So I read this thread, but my girlfriend still convinced me Pacini was worth a try so we went there tonight. And I do have to say that it was out of the way of like everything. Anywho, we arrived at Pacini and were promptley seated, and the host informed us about the bread bar. Our waitress came around, introduced herself and told us about their complementary wine tasting. I'm not much of a wine person, and neither is my girl, so we both declined. She took our drink orders and left us to go visit the bread bar and look over the menus.

I had previously viewed the Pacini website and had seen a combo platter for two with: a 10oz steak rubbed in salt, asparagus wrapped in proschutto and grilled, a spoloumbo sausage, and shrimp chrochettes. When I looked at the menu this item was not on there. So I asked our waitress about it and she said we had been seated with the old menus and that this two person special was on the new menu. So my girlfriend and I ordered it, not knowing exactly how much it would cost.

The bread bar is kind of cool. There were five types of bread with six different types of butter. The grill surface was too small in my opinion, and the bread bar area got kind of crowded in my opinion when I was up there.

Then we get to the platter. And I would just like to say that the overall meal was fairly bland. There was no real taste or flavor to anything on this platter beyond squeezing the grilled lemon that came with the platter over everything. The platter cost $52.99, which I was not surprised but that was incredibly over pruced when it came to what you got in overall quality.

So to sum up, I definitely will not be back. The service and decor were fairly nice, but the food was bland and disappointing. I'd rather spend some real money at a non chain and eat real food.

Lesson learned, when beyond gives a restaurant a thumbs down you guys aren't kidding

msommers
02-04-2012, 05:34 AM
Good cheap pasta? La Viena on Kensington Rd.

95EG6P
02-04-2012, 09:15 AM
Originally posted by msommers
Good cheap pasta? La Viena on Kensington Rd.

:werd: