La Fontana Della Citta

How does a restaurant survive with more extremely more

This place has fantastic food, Start with appetizers (half gnocchi entree) and go from there. Everything on the menu is perfect. The service is very good. We went with another couple and we all had great meals. more

Having my rehearsal dinner here made me change my mind about ever going back... I recently had my rehearsal dinner at LFDC and we picked this BYO because we loved coming here with friends on a regular basis. However, after dealing with the manger, I would not recommend this restaurant for any party events. 2 weeks before our party- the manager tried to nickel and dime us on every aspect (even though we had a contract for 7 months!) and then he tried to move us in a smaller room. It is ridiculous that a business man would treat his customers like this- and regular customers- for planning their rehearsal dinner at this restaurant. Once we got there, there was also a ""frat party"" in the main dining area that was completely out of control all night. Honestly, if I didn't have the family and friends that I do have, it could have ruined the night. This frat party had people standing on chairs, yelling, shirts off, going into the womens bathroom, coming into our party because they were so drunk, and passing around bags of wine like its the first time they ever drank wine (which is completely possible because they looked like HS students or freshman). The manager didn't try to stop any of this because they were ""future patrons"". REALLY?! Once we got the bill, AGAIN the manager tried to screw us out of our SET CONTRACT AGREEMENT and add additional charges to our bill. I've never seen more dishonest, disgraceful, and sneaky business man as I have seen at LFDC. Sadly, the manager ruined our experience here and I would honestly never go back here even though I live 6 blocks away. The bright side was the waiters are excellent! Sadly, the service is masked by the horrible management this restaurant is under. I DO NOT recommend this restaurant for any events unless the manager changes which he probably will not since it is completely clear his only interest is in getting his money and not of his customers, providing any type of service, or being the face for his restaurant. Disgusted more

This is one of the rudest restaurants I have ever visited. We were so disappointed that I decided to speak... more

It was so packed that nobody could move around. The waiters even had a hard time. We were rushed and told repeatedly that our table will needed for the next party. The menu on the very back page does have a set of rules that everyone must follow including, being considerate with volume, paying extra if you share, 20% tip will automatically be included, etc. The food was too buttery and the meatballs microwaved. I ended up speaking to the owner. After I spoke with the owner he said that it was because our friends had arrived late and it was a wasted table. I apologized for that, but it was still unnecessary to give us poor service. He said, VERBATIM “I’m sorry you think you had bad service, you and your group may leave now or I will have to remove you from the premises.” I don’t think that was really necessary because I wasn’t demanding anything or even trying to insult his restaurant. I was simply telling him my feedback and slightly hoping for an apology and that they will try better next time. more

This is one of the rudest restaurants I have ever visited. We were so disappointed that I decided to speak with the manager. I ended up speaking to... more

I tried out La Fontana Della Citta during restaurant week with a group of friends and we were all highly disappointed.\r \r First, we had made reservations for 7 people at 8:45 we waited on the sidewalk for 50 minutes. Once we sat down the waiter quickly came and got us water, bread, and opened our bottles of wine, so I felt like they were going to redeem themselves. I was wrong. It took the waiter another 20 minutes to come back to take our orders, at which point he told us they were out of 2 of the six appetizers and 1 of the 3 pastas. There was a 20-30 minutes wait in between each of the courses. The pasta substitution they offered for the gnocchi was awful. It tasted processed and not fresh. \r \r Finally, it was time for dessert. They were out of all 4 of the desserts they had listed. They brought out sorbet instead. The whole experience was such a disappointed and we were stuck there for over 3 hours because of all of the waiting and I was not impressed with any of the food. The pasta I boil on the stove at home tastes better. Never again! more

I came here for my birthday and made a reservation for 15 people a week in advance. Thank God i called again to confirm because the have NO RECORD of my reservation! After we sat down, 3 of my friends didn't want to eat but the waiter told us we all HAVE to order food. So my friends try to order an appetizer as their entree but were told NO, they HAVE to order an entree otherwise they'll be charged $15 for a SITTING FEE. I was outraged because i'm there for my BIRTHDAY and i have 15 people with me, 12 of which are all eating full entree and appetizers so i'm sure they are not losing any money from our table!!! On top of that they friggin RAN OUT of lamp chops which 4 of my friends try to order....Anyway So my 3 friends were forced to order food even when they did not want to eat it, which made me feel TERRIBLE, and when the bill came they already included 15% gratuities due to the large group, which is fine. BUT he DARE to say to my finace that ""you can add more, you know""!!!!! What a stupid rule about having to order, which they don't even tell you! And i'm shocked by the lack of accomodations or understanding for such a large group of customers! They embrassed me on my birthday and eventhough they're food usually is good for a value price, i much rather go to Branzino across the street Pros: Great value, location, BYOB Cons: Not accomodating and silly rules more

Four of us had dinner there in 'prime time' this past Saturday evening. It was an uncharactestically warm March evening---diners sat outside until well after 9 pm! Dinner was perfectly pleasant; service was attentive for the most part. On of four entres was served 3-4 minutes after the others had theirs--not good. All in all, however, hostess and servers did a nice, unobtrusive job. All of us enjoyed our appetizers (salads) and entrees. Desserts were rather tasteless (refrigerated too long or had been frozen --would recommend skipping them). One pet peeve (and it's not unique to La Fontanna) is that the server cleared plates while my girlfriend and my buddy's wife were still finishing their dinner---definitely not cool.\r \r Would not hurry back mainly due to the cost: cost per person with tip was $45 which, from my persective, is way to high for a BYOB with average food (one person out of four had a ""special"" which was probably a cost driver; the rest of our party selected entrees from their menu). Pros: Pleasant wait staff and the street scene with the sidewalk dining Cons: Expensive for a byob; desserts were, at best, ordinary more

The above review left by 'fixhu' is fake. Somebody used that nick name to promote the restaurant and to write fake good reviews. From the writing you can tell that it is not fixhu because he does not write broken english like in the comment left above. It is for sure one of the owners (former shpeherds) that barely speak english. They write reviews about their restaurant to make it sound good indeed, if you want your night to get ruined this is the place to go to. Bad service, bad food, horrible atmosphere. Pros: Nothing Cons: Everything more

I've been to a fair number of the (many) BYOBs in Center City, and would say that La Fontana is good enough, but not really anything all that exciting compared to some of the other choices in the area. The menu is fairly traditional, ""old school"" Southern Italian -- which can be fine, but it is not as unique or innovative as say Melograno or Mercato. The bread was bland and the olive oil on the table for it was flavorless. Portion sizes are generous for the prices, but nothing I ate on a recent visit truly ""wowed"" me. If given a choice, there are many other places nearby I would go to first (Casta Diva, Roberto's, Bronzino) whether for traditional dishes or something a little different. I had no real issues with the service, but was there on a quiet weekday night. Pros: generous portions Cons: not especially thrilling food more

This is a poorly run restaurant- and we had a horrible experience. We had a group of 13 people for a 7:30 reservation. We arrived on time and were told seating would only take a minute. Unfortunately, that was far from the case! We waited patiently for ten more minutes. The hostess was completely frazzled- the place was crowded and lots of people were waiting for tables. We were constantly being told we would be seated soon, they were just waiting for another party to leave. This went on for another 15 minutes, then the hostess sat another large group before us around 10 of eight! When we asked what was going on, she had the audacity to say it would only take another minute- she said she couldn't control how long people took for dinner! She should have had a table ready at 7:30!\r We were watching the food go by while we were waiting for our table, and it did not look good. There were a ton of people waiting for tables and there wasn't any space to stand, we were practically in the kitchen and people were cramped. I saw the wait staff reuse bread by putting half used loaves back in bread baskets! And all the desserts were frozen and in packages. The waitstaff were completely rude, bumping into people and running around like chickens. The food going out just did not look good, and nobody finished their plates- we saw a ton of food go in the trash because people weren't finishing their meals.\r Finally at five past eight we said if we didn't get seated in 5 minutes we were leaving. The hostess could care less- she wanted us gone so she didn't have to deal with our table.\r Now, I don't mind waiting- I know things get held up, but don't tell me it's going to be a minute then expect us to wait for forty five. Don't trust this place with a large group! Cons: Hostess was rude more

I went last week to La Fontana Della Citta resturant . When I walked the atmosphere was warn. I didn't have a resevation, but they found me a table with out waiting five minutes. I had for appetizer a fried calamri ,for dinner veal chap comb which was grilled veal chop with shrimp, procini mashrooms in brandy demi-glaze sauce and for dessert a homemade tiramisu all of this food was amazing.The service was the best and food amazing.Thank you La fontana staff ,I can not wait to come again and visit your place. more

If you like to eat the real italian food go eat to la fontana i go to lafontana and they treat my like a king the servic was the best more

We just had dinner there tonight. We had 11 people in our party and we had been there before and were very excited for a good meal and nice dinner. I guess since we went during the week and early, it was much better. Tonight, was SAt night. \r \r It was HORRENDOUS. We were seated next to the door that the waitstaff go in and out of--11 people!!! Not to mention, the 11 of us were at a table for 8 people so me, my husband and my father (who is 64) had to sit in the aisle. The waitstaff were nice, but they bumped into us a million times, my dad had a few plates bump the back of his head, we had the dirty dishes from other tables lifted over our heads the whole meal as they entered into the kitchen and the table was very wobbly. I was kicked in the back and bumped by the waiter who was serving the table behind us because there was not enough room! Everyone was squashed--it only seemed like that on the upper level, but unfortunately, that is where we sat. We literally had to scream to talk to each other and I was about to be arrested if the stupid wait staff dinged my head with a dish one more time.\r \r We were there for my brother-in-laws 40 birthday. What a shame-we could not even all sit at the table together, the food was brought out at many different times and I couldnt hear a word in that place due to being so overcrowded. I understand want to make money, but sitting a large party of 11 people near that door was ludicris.\r \r I will never go back there and I will be telling all my friends what a horrible place it was. \r \r The food was eh. The salad was 7.00 and all it was, was some lettuce on a plate. Come on-at least put a tomato or something. I got chicken cacciatore and it was 17 bucks for a flattened piece of chicken that was prob 3 oz with some tomato, onion and roasted pepper. NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN Pros: The food was hot Cons: Too expensive for what you get, too crowded, too loud, everything else. HORRIBLE more

I understand that Friday night is a busy night for La Fontana, but this does not excuse the fact that they rushed us--in an unacceptably rude manner. My party arrived 20 minutes late, but I had called beforehand to notify them of this and they said it was fine. \r \r When me and my party of 9 arrived, they said that there was a party arriving one hour later and that we had to finish our meals by then. Again, I understand that it was a busy night and that we were a little late, so we didn't mind. However, the server told us this in an impatient, arrogant manner. I must admit that I was taken aback by this rude attitude; however, not to ruin the mood of the evening, I just brushed it off and forgot about it. \r \r During dinner, the waiters, though polite, rushed as and we definitely felt their persistent pressure. They told us to quickly choose our options and also physically took away our bread plates long before we were finished. TO ADD FURTHER INSULT TO INJURY, at one point during our group's conversation, the same server (who had rudely talked to us early) was passing by our table, turned to us, and loudly SHUSHED US. Excuse me?! We felt like children being berated by a schoolteacher. I did not think that we were, by any means, being louder than to our surrounding chatter and, absolutely by no means, loud to the extent that warranted a rude SHUSH. He could definitely have been polite about this.\r \r These types of actions are not only absolutely unacceptable from a classy BYO but from decent human interaction.\r \r Furthermore, if the food is a consideration, it was so-so and by no means spectacular. I feel that their selling point is more about the portion size than the quality.\r \r There are too many excellent BYOs and good restaurants in Philly for you to waste your time in this one. Pros: Cheap Cons: You pay for what you get: poor, rude service; loud, cramped environment; sub-par food more

I went to this restrount right after I proposed they were amazing. I droped off a bottle of champan earler in the day when I came in with my new feince they knew right away to bring out the champan with out any direction from me or me asking for it. The service was great and the food was amazing. I simply love this place! more

I go to La Fontana Della Citta alaways.It,s remeber me the the Italian food i eat in Roma.Milano and Bolzano.If you want to eat the real Italian food go and eat to La Fontana Pros: good Cons: GREAT more

I went here for my birthday with about 10 friends. We were seated approximately an hour after our reservation time. In the meantime we had to wait outside ( what if it was raining, or freezing cold?).\r \r The food was definitely good. I was a little bothered that one of the waiters brough a plate of veal in a cream based sauce my friend ordered and it had a puddle of tomatoe sauce in it. He actually told her that some spagetti sauce had accidently spilled in it......Ummm so why would you even bring that out...:-/.\r \r I mostly gave 4 stars because the hostess was very nice. helpful and apologetic and pretty much did the best she could under the circumstances.. She is certainly their best asset. We also got some appetizers on the house for the delay. The food was good and all in all i had a good time.\r \r I reccomend you make reservations for no more than 2. Anything over that seems to be a little overwhelming for them. Pros: Good food, great hostess,BYOB, friendly waitstaff Cons: Poor reservation management, Poor reservation management, Poor reservation management! more

We went to Fontana for my friends 25th birthday dinner. We made reservations 2 weeks in advance and arrived 10 mins before our reservation. We were not seated for an hour! To add insult to injury, the owner was indignant when i complained about the absurdity of the situation to him! ""What do you want me to do, its full"" he retorted. They had nowhere to seat us because there is no bar or foyer so we had to hang around in the corner until they were ready to seat us and HOUR after our reservation time. I only gave 3 stars because the food was EXCEPTIONAL! I will certainly give them that. I'd recommend going only when you have nothing else planned for your evening. Pros: Great Food Cons: Terrible Service more