Canaletto

02/17/08

Sorry to say---Just OK

by crazy4twins2 at Citysearch

My husband and I were really looking foward to Canaletto. We had looked over the menu online and it looked great. I looked at the reviews and even though they were mixed we still decided it was a good chance to take being in the Venetian where the show we were seeing was at.

We had 6:30 reservations and arrived around 6:15 and the hostess was friendly and had no problem seating us early. After we sat down a man who was the busboy came up to the table and took 2 of the place settings away without uttering a word. He just looked really grumpy! We just laughed.

2 appetizers were ordered. 1 was Capesante gratinate-baked scallop dish and crab cakes. The capesante was good but it tasted only of artichokes. If I did not see the scallop I would not have even known it was there. The crab cakes were like breaded tuna salad. Not good crab cakes. We each ordered a salad. Insalata di bietole which was greens with beets. The dressing was like straight vinegar! Not very good. The Insalata di pare was wondeful with pecans, gorganzola and pomegranate dressing. I ordered the Canneloni Di Pollo. It was really good and looked like italian enchiladas. My husband ordered the Filetto di bue al gorgonzola. Grilled beef tenderloin with grilled polenta and spinach with some sauce. Really skimpy on the sauce and it was basically a filet steak on the spinach and polenta. I thought the polenta tasted like dry baby food! My husband said the steak was very good though.

The service was not very good. Ran out of tea 3 times and the bread was never refilled. Like I said our waiter was friendly but the busboy almost ruined it. It was like he was trying so hard to be unfriendly. He came to our table several times and not ONE word! Even if you don't speak english you can still smile especially when you pay $130! Honestly I have had better food and service at Olive Garden. They just don't care though since it is for tourists who most likely not be back anyway!

• Pros: Location
• Cons: Food and service

10/09/06

Great Food, Nice Atmosphere

by daneswim at Citysearch

Before a 9pm show at the MGM on a Saturday we made 6pm reservations at Canaletto. There really was no need for the reservations, but again it was earlier than usual. We were seated right away, and we decided to sit out on the patio. They did inform us that this was the smoking section, but a lot of non-smokers sat out there. They were right, the smoke was not bad at all. We had very prompt service and a great meal. The atmosphere was great too, there was a wedding going on behind us on the one of the bridges, and when that was over there was a jesters act and opera on the other side of the canal. It made for a very entertaining dinner. And the price was more reasonable then Postino which was across the way. We would go back.

• Pros: Food, On-goings around the canal
• Cons: There can be smoking on the patio

10/15/05

Beware: terrible service in "Venice".

by mikimilano at Citysearch

I visited several times this restaurant, on various occasions. Food was tasty but service was always below average. Doesn't even matter if you're dress up really well (expensively) result is same: a nasty, snobbish attitude. Last time (just 2 weeks ago) my guest & I went to check out the menu. Several people were obstructing the menu window, so I asked kindly the hostess to get a menu. She threw one to us with an ironic facial expression, turned her back to us, whispered to her colleagues, then looked back at us as if she was showing them a couple of clowns. We were flabergasted; since we aren't clowns, we just left. Hope your experience will be better!

• Pros: View to "Grand Canal", Food is decent
• Cons: Worst service & staff, Smokers all over, Noisy environment

08/18/05

Great Italian Meal, Great Price

by action_jackson at Citysearch

Our initial feeing with Canaletto was a little sketchy at first. We had made a reservation about a month ahead of time and still had to wait approximately 20 minutes before getting seated (and of course we were in a hurry). The food was spectacular my wife and I both had the roasted chicken entrees (excellent!). The other party with us had steak and salmon which they too thought were very good. Everyone thought there side dishes were also terrific. The service was a little slow though. Our waiter seemed like he was new and could not speak English very well. We sat inside the restaurant as opposed to sitting in St. Marks Square outside which seemed to be much louder. Overall awesome food and the price was pretty reasonable.

• Pros: Authentic Italian, Great Food, Reasonably Priced
• Cons: Service little slow

08/29/04

Vastly Overrated

by megalosaur at Citysearch

This is a standard shopping mall restuarant: owned by Il Fornaio but hardly up to their standards. The food was mediocre: the seafood was tough and all the other dishes were uninspired. The artichoke appetizer sounded great but was simply bad. The risotto was fine, but that was it. The ambience is a loud shopping mall, hardly conducive to fine dining. We would not go back.

• Cons: , Loud