Don't eat here if you're looking for vegan options. When I requested spaghetti with tomatoes, I was told first by an employee and then by a manager, "We don't have just pasta and tomatoes, so we can't help you." When I pointed out that there was plenty of spaghetti on the hot bar as well as plenty of tomatoes on the salad bar, I was told, "We don't have spaghetti, we only have penne." I replied, "That would be great. Can I get penne with tomatoes or olives?" Then I was told, "No. We don't have a way to charge you for an order like this." "You're supposed to be an authentic market," I replied. "I just got back from a trip to Italy, and ordering vegan meals there was no problem. Your restaurant is not very authentic if I can't order pasta and tomatoes." At that point, the manager raised her voice and told me, "This is America, not Italy! We've been serving this food for 100 years! If you don't like our food, go back to Italy! In fact, why don't you just leave! Get out! Go now! Leave right now!" At that point, I said, "Oh, don't worry, I will never come here again." Unfortunately, my husband had already paid for his food, so I ordered a portion of artichoke salad and we headed upstairs to sit down and eat. We were stopped at the elevator and told, "You can't bring food up in the elevator." The greeter tried to take our tray of food away from my husband, explaining she would carry the food upstairs for us if we wanted to take the elevator. He explained to her, "No, I don't want your germs on our food--my wife has cancer and she has to be very careful about who handles her food. This food isn't covered, so just give it to me and we'll leave." THEN we were told we had to put his pizza in a to-go container before we could leave! Shocked at the continued mistreatment, we ignored her orders and left. My husband and I ended up eating in our car in the parking lot. It was a terrible experience, and we will never eat at this restaurant again. Please call JoAnn at 715-296-8924 if you want to make this right.
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