[courtyard]

We went to MezzaLuna for lunch a few days ago. Loved the Eggplant Parm...generous portions...service was great...would definitely go back!

[donb9006]

Originally Posted by CFrance

A single diner is not going to split an entree with anyone! The restaurant gets the full price of a meal out of a single diner without having to do twice the work and soil twice the dishes and silverware.

And the tip is reflective of the entire cost. I wonder if the entree splitters tip on the price of what it would be if they both had full meals? The waitstaff loses out here too.

What "twice the work"? Bringing 2 plates instead of one is twice the work? Thats like saying grabbing a PAIR of socks from the drawer is twice the work of just grabbing one sock. It's an empty plate and a bundle of silverware. The cost of washing the extra stuff...a dime, a quarter maybe?

A single diner takes up a whole table, be it a couples table, or a table for four. Should you pay depending on how many diners they COULD have served at your table? A couple at a table for 4 should pay the "penalty" too...?

Speaking of tips...being a waiter/waitress isn't a career to be raising a family on. And why does a server who happens to be employed at a less expensive restaurant get half or less the pay of someone at an expensive one? Shouldn't there be a "standard rate" for servers? $5 for a couple, $10 for a party of 4, etc. I've never noticed a real noticable difference in quality of "service". I tip the cheap restaurant worker a higher percent than I do at the expensive place where they usually get the minimum "acceptable" tip. I'm not handing some idiot $40 for doing...really nothing. But the other guy, doing the same work at a different restaurant gets $10? Because his restaurant has lower prices?

They don't lose out THAT much for the ocassional couple who shares a meal.

[Bonny]

Reading some of these responses sure makes me glad I was never a server. LOL

[tainsley]

Originally Posted by courtyard

We went to MezzaLuna for lunch a few days ago. Loved the Eggplant Parm...generous portions...service was great...would definitely go back!

We went for dinner Tuesday evening. Waited 50 mins for our food to come out. I had eggplant parm. The cheese on top of the eggplant was as thin as the eggplant itself. I asked the waitress if there was eggplant on my platter! She told me it is just sliced very thin...more like shaved. I think that our dinner order was misplaced. Our waitress was good and kept apologizing for the wait.

[OpusX1]

We split entrees at Carrabba's all the time, no split charge. We each have two martini's, split the mussel's and split the entree. Always have great service and always tip 25 percent. The servers know us and treat us well. Our bill is around $50.00 plus a $12-$15 tip. The take home is just not that good reheated.

[BarryRX]

Originally Posted by skyguy79

I haven't been to Mezza Luna yet so can't really comment on the OP. However, I do wish they would launch their website (mezzalunagrill..com) complete with their menu. Every time I check out their website, I get nothing but the sounds of crickets... and that sound is generated in my own mind. Unfortunately, I can't get out to restaurants like most of you can, and frequently have meals delivered through The Villages Delivery Service. But I haven't been able to order since I don't have access to an online menu to make choices. I hope this changes soon!

BTW, I can add this about Mezza Luna... I've seen comments about ML both here and on other review sites, and have heard mostly positive comments along with some not so positive ones with one outside of TOTV being extremely negative. To me this further proves one thing, and that is that there's no substitute for finding out for yourself just how good or bad any restaurant is.

Sky guy , if you'd like, I will gladly get a menu from them and drop it off at your house. Just pm me and we can get it done.

[DianeM]

I've never heard of entree sharing but it just seems wrong somehow. It is as if one person eats free but still uses the services. I would not permit that if I owned a restaurant.

[jpharmat]

Great because I had a wonderful meal with great service at Red Sauce!!

[CFrance]

A chain like Carrabbas... I don't know, would they have enough income over all their restos to suck up the sharing-an-entree thing? A private resto like Mezza Luna might not.

I agree with Gracie... buy a meal and take the leftovers home. A little savvy with the microwave... even musels can be reheated.

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by BarryRX

Sky guy , if you'd like, I will gladly get a menu from them and drop it off at your house. Just pm me and we can get it done.

Thanks for your generous offer, but it won't be necessary.

After posting this morning, my wife had to run to Publix to pickup a prescription for me. So I decided to call Mezza Luna to see if they had what we knew we would like. They did have what we had in mind, so we ordered and my wife picked it up while going to Publix. During the discussion with them I asked about menus and was told that their menu is not finalized yet. So I guess I'll wait, especially since I'm trying to lose weight and won't be ordering from there all that often.

In our order I had angel hair pasta with mushrooms, one meatball and one piece of sausage. I really enjoyed it and next time will try it with meat sauce instead of the meatball. The pasta reminded me of the Olive Garden's Capellini Pomodoro, which is one of their under 575 calorie selections and with enough that it could be split into 2 meals. My wife got eggplant parm. Like another poster mentioned, the slices were thin, but I had a half eggplant sandwich from my wife's left overs. It was yummy and the thickness of the slices was a non-factor as far as I was concerned.

Again Barry, thanks for your offer!

[travelguy]

i heard that the food is fabulous so we will be going there for dinner tomorrow evening. am sure that whatever kinks there might have been have all been eliminated.

[bluedog103]

Originally Posted by Bonny

Reading some of these responses sure makes me glad I was never a server. LOL

Glad I'm not an owner or manager either. Tough crowd to please. Whew!

[patfla06]

We really liked it when we went.
I would each order an entree and enjoy the leftovers.

[Shirleevee]

Originally Posted by mickey100

I'm originally from western NY and our Italian restaurants always carried those dishes. It was considered standard fare. Based on that I doubt one only has to be from a large metropolitan area to encounter that type of Italian food. I expect you have to be in an area that has a larger Italian population that serves authentic Italian food. I would also not pay an $8 split fee. I guess they feel they can get away with it, with all the snowbirds back and restaurants are packed. Thanks for the heads up.

Mezzaluna has Saltimbocca (Veal) no red sauce either!

[jblum315]

Mezza Luna is not like Cheesecake Factory where one entree would serve a family of four. I think their portions are just right, not too big not too small. And delicious. Plenty of choices that don't involve red sauce.