text: Think this was another instance where raving yelp reviews set my expectations too high. I think its a cute place, I have no problem w it being in a strip mall. I think its really odd to have a bar AND a bartender when you only serve beer and wine. Our server was nice, but nothing exceptional. We were waiting for another person to join us, so after getting our bread and drinks we were basically ignored until she showed up. I tried to wave down the waiter a couple times to order an appetizer but he just flew by. \nThe freshly baked bread was great but like someone else mentioned, it was in sections and some were toasted to sh-t on the outside - basically big croutons. We started w the mussels which were just ok, definitely not worth $15 for 6 mussels w panko on top. It was an excessive wait until we got our salads. I went w the Caesar - awesome dressing w a kick to it.  I got the rigatoni w meatball. Huge portion of pasta and a big meatball for an additional $6. Great dish - pasta al dente, creamy cheesy sauce, meatball was tender and flavorful. Was it worth $25....I guess so? \nI was a little miffed that I wasn't offered a free cheesecake like the majority of yelpers seemed to get, but whatever. I just had coffee instead which when we got the bill I found out was $4. Iced tea was also $4. My fault I guess for not looking at the bevg section, but I think its ridiculous to charge that much for a fountain drink and regular perculated coffee. \nI'll probably be back someday, but I'm really disappointed in the overall experience. Food was good but pricey, service wasn't the best. Even if i didnt walk in w a preconcieved notion of what it would be like, I'd expect a small neighborhood place like that to have great friendly staff. Its nit picky but he didn't even tell us the daily specials which even crappy olive garden does. I meant to ask what French pork chops were but totally forgot by the time he came back.\nToo bad it wasn't a better experience because I live close enough to have become a regular, but not based off this visit. I'd prefer to go to stratta for the whole dining experience and a full bar for the same price.