Vaticano Italian Restaurant Fort Erie

My husband and I ate at Vaticno shortly after they first opened. The wait staff, while still finding their footing, were very friendly and attentive. The overall ambiance was incredible. The extensive renovations to the space combined with the our view of Niagara river made for a lovely meal indoors on an otherwise cold and bleak night. The food was delicious. I had the pasta special and my husband had the gnocchi. You can tell the pasta is fresh and made in-house. My husband still describes his dinner as the "best gnocchi" he's ever had. Although the fair might be a bit more expensive than the average Fort Erie restaurant, you are paying for a quality meal and the overall experience. I would definitely recommend Vaticano for a romantic date night or if you want to treat friends/loved ones to a high-end dining experience without making the trek all the way to Niagara-on-the-Lake.
8 years ago (21-04-2018)

We decided to try Vaticano last night with friends. The restaurant is pricy but food is amazing! We were greeted by the hostes and shown to our table in good fashion only to be greeted by our waitress who was a nice person but not suitable for the job. She came over and all of a sudden said "Bear with me we I'm busy ya know" what a greeting!! Anyway my observation was the place was not that busy and she was totally in a tizzy and not trained to act professional in this high end environment. Hence the average rating. We waited for awhile before she returned to take our wine order. When we asked her recommendation between th Côte de Rhone and another and the year her response was ."I don't know I don't drink wine" Really ?? Should you not be trained in the product you serve? We then placed our orders after awhile and our group ordered the lamb,veal and sea food pasta.I ordered a Cabrese salad , blackened sardines as the antipasto and had seafood pasta as my main. I expected to finish the Cabrese first then have the antipasto then my main in a timely manner and eat the same time as our guests. All my food came together so trying to enjoy the dishes as they are suppose to was impossible timing was way off! Our guests and my wife's food arrived 20 minutes later almost felt like I should be at another table! Everyone enjoyed the food and my dishes were superb to say the least! The waitress brought the bread which was not warmed mid way through the meals instead of on the first bottle of wine, we were all nearly done when she returned to ask if we wanted parmagan,. We were not informed of the Zupa or of any dinner specials and on a funnier note she could not open our wine and my friend had to show her how to operate a cork screw! No joke honest truth ... Not once but twice! If Viticano wishes to convey a top notch eating experience the staff need to be top notch for top notch food and dining. Not have someone from a chain that knows burgers and fries. Product knowledge and service is mandatory in this environment. They have just opened so hopefully the service can improve as the food is worth the trip. Might return in a few months and hope to see a major service improvement
8 years ago (29-04-2018)