Lallegria - Madison

My buddy brought me here for lunch, during my lunch hour. It was really nice inside, no one else was there eating. Didn't discourage me... my buddy said the place was really good. I only took away a star because we did tell them a few times I was on my lunch hour and everything kind of took a long time. WHICH I get when making fresh but even my cocktail took a very long time. And for no one else being there, I was hoping for a faster service Besides that! The bread was very yummy! We got an assortment. I had to stop myself because I did not want to get full. My friend ordered us a type of charcuterie board which was delicious . My friend ordered the bolognese and I got the chicken marsala. So saveoy and delicious. I never had polenta before and that was actually really good. I could have kept eating that haha. Everything was superb . The pricing was a but much for MY pocket but was glad to be treated out since they are down the street : Oh and the tiramisu was fantastic as well!!! Which we were able to get to go haha

When you walk in, the place is very nice, as is the staff. It has stone work around the bar which I thought looked great. Our drinks were taken right away and food came out well paced. For appetizer we ordered the octopus with a tomato sauce. Octopus is one of our favorites, unfortunately it fell flat. It didn't have much flavor and was over braised, almost mushy. I ordered broccoli rabe and sausage agnolotti. 3 of my favorite things in one dish, I was excited. The dish came out and the pasta was massive, about the size of a fist. This took me by surprise being agnolotti are usually like small ravioli or a big tortellini. The stuffing was decent, the sauce sauce didn't taste like anything. I even went back in with bread to make sure. Just not seasoned at all. The theme continued with our other dish, veal saltimbocca. In a dish with an inherently salty meat, prosciutto, you couldn't taste any. The spinach was bland, the sauce was also not seasoned well. One the plus side, the veal was cooked well, able to cut it with a fork. It could have been an off night as there was decent foot traffic for a Tuesday dinner service but our meal was a fair 2 stars.

Although the food was absolutely delicious. The service was atrocious. Our waitress did not even come by once during the entire meal to ask us how everything was. If it wasn 't for the poor gentleman bussing the food asking us, I don 't think we would 've gotten asked at all. I finished my beverage shortly after the appetizer and the empty glass wasn 't even acknowledge by our waitress, so I had nothing to drink with my meal except for water. She walked by our table at least 6 times without any acknowledgement and at the end of the evening she never asked how was everything just do you want anything else? The unfortunate part is that quality of the food at this place is exceptional. However, they really do need to hire better wait staff or train them better because it really destroyed the entire experience.

I was a little apprehensive about coming to L'Allegria for my a birthday dinner with my family after reading some of the reviews. It is unfortunate that others didn't have a good experience here and I am hoping this review will help those who may be skeptical. The restaurant is quite and classy. If you're looking for that kind of experience, give this place a try! The service we had that night was five stars. Our waitress's name was Susan. She was FANTASTIC. I hope if any of you do go here, she can attend to your table. Absolutely excellent. The menu has so many options that sound delicious I really had a difficult time deciding what to get. Everything sounded so delicious. For appetizers we ordered the burrata, octopus special, and warm fig app. I would order all again! The apps were on the smaller side but really delicious. For salads I ordered the eggplant salad. Wow. Might have been the highlight of the night. As an entree I ordered the Bronzino. It was good but I think the apps and salad were better than my entree. However, they had no problem accommodating my requests, which I appreciated! Others at the table orders the salmon special that had sun-dried tomatoes, the zuppa, and the shrimp. Everyone was pleased. Dessert was a home run here. Definitely save room for that! They brought out a desser for my mom for her birthday which was a nice touch. I would definitely come back to L'Allegria for a nice date night or to celebrate a special occasion!

This was our first time dining in this restaurant and we were disappointed. The man that greeted us seemed so put off that we walked in with our young daughters, even though we had a reservation. We waited a while for menus, and it wasn't clear who our waitress was because we were asked the same questions several times. The food was decent, but would choose another restaurant before this one due to the service and the fact that we weren't welcomed when we arrived.