Julia’s 2-star review:
I must begin by stating that I did NOT end up eating here. But I felt my experience should at least be shared.
Ernesto's is a block from our apartment, and friends have always told me this place is great! Home-style, delicious Italian. So last Friday night my boy-friend and I decided to finally try this place (seeing as we eat at all it's neighboring restaurants and live 1 block away, it seemed crazy that we'd never tried this place in the 7 months we've lived here!)
When we arrived it was around 6:30 and the place was PACKED. We gave our information to one of the waiter's and sat down to wait. Because Ernesto's is so cozy, there is absolutely no privacy-- as a result of the close-quarters, we began to notice that the seated diners seemed pretty perturbed.
The couple seated in what appeared to be the worst seat in the house (right next to the drafty door, as well as just feet from the "waiting area") couldn't get their check, and we watched as they tried to flag someone, anyone down, to pay their bill for nearly 5 minutes. At the other tables we noticed noone had anything but bread, and there was only 1 server manning the entire place, which was packed. The bf and I finally decided to go somewhere else when we female patron cried, sounding completely exasperated, "Can I just get my freakin food already?" A gentleman at her table then proceeded to stand up and handle the situation, at which point we decided that even if we ever DID get seated (a larger party of 5 who came in after us was seated first) it would be so long before we actually ate that we knew the experience wouldn't be enjoyable.
So, after about 10 minutes of enjoying the rambunctiously crowded room (apparently this is a popular place for children, and lots of them!) we bounced over to Hard Knock's, just down the street on 27th and Clement. They never do us wrong, there!