Detail for Pane Vino Dolce : Restaurant, Italian

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Open for lunch Mon - Fri; dinner served daily. An austere storefront houses this tiny place that specializes in rustic Tuscan-style cooking. The food is always outstanding, while the atmosphere ranges from outgoing to tardy. - sys, 03/20/2005

I have read the reviews given to Pane Vino Dolce and feel that they have been misrepresented. I have been there a hand full of times and my experiences have ranged from fine to outstanding. First and foremost the food is fantastic. Recently, I was fortunate enough to try the duck in blackberry reduction-perfection. I always induge in the steamed mussels and a tiramisu. My third time dining there my server remembered my face and my previous meal and thoughtfully suggested new dishes I might enjoy. She also refilled my wine at noextra cost claiming "we appreciate regular customers". There have been loud weekend nights that I have waited for a table, but the food is worth it and the staff is gracious. - Anon, 01/11/2006

I have never had a difficult experience here. It's a small restaurant, so sometimes we've had to wait around to be seated...but this is not unusual for such a popular location that is as small as this. The atmosphere of the place is so perfectly romantic and bohemian - and the service is extremely good once you're sat down. The food is excellent too! This place is perfect for a date. - claudia, 02/15/2007

It was “date night” so we went for a walk around lake Nokomis. We decided to try the restaurant “Pane Vino Dolce”, a place that we’ve never visited before. We were lucky and found a parking place right out front. There were about 20 other people out front waiting for a table when we got there. I asked a young couple about the wait and their response was: “They say 10-15 minutes but it’s more.” I asked them how long they’ve been waiting and “40 minutes” is the answer. We decided to wait it out and Carlos returns with a bottle of their house red “Tres Ojos”. The wine was good and my wife and I had a nice chat while waiting. The young couple we had talked to earlier finally gets seated. After some time, I notice that the young couple was leaving and couldn’t imagine that they could eat so quickly. I asked the young lady what she had had for dinner. She said that she didn’t order and that they were leaving because of the poor service. I was surprised by this as they had waited to get a table for so long. Not too long later we were seated, (to a different table then the young couple.) and the waiter handed us our menus, with some difficulty ( it was 2 separate pages and he couldn’t find the 1st page). We had seen the menu hanging by the door earlier and decided to get the beet salad. We ordered our salad and from that point on, our waiter never returned. The secondary staff brought us some bread with oil and vinegar and then our beet dish. Having waited so long to be seated, we were rather hungry and the beet dish didn’t last long and was very good. We were somewhat puzzled that our waiter had never returned to take our order. After waiting quite some time, (our beet dish had been removed from the table and we had been offered more bread) the waiter finally return. He asked us how we were doing and we responded “ Not good” He said, “It’s me isn’t it?” and we said “yes”. We asked for our check and to talk with the manager.. This is where the twilight zone part of the night really kicked in. Not having seen Carlos the manager for some time, we asked a staff member if we could talk to a manager. She informed us that he had left and that she could help, we explained our situation, what had happened to the couple before us and that the same thing was happening to us. We asked for our check. She was very kind and apologized for the service, explaining that people really enjoy this waiter and ask for him specifically. I never did get his name but he’s the only one there with dark curly hair. She said that she would get the bill. We explained why we had made our decision to leave without completing our meal. He tried to get us to stay and offered to pay for our bottle of wine and beet dish but we declined. He then started to say that he had “a nice place over on Pillsbury and 28th” with the intent of inviting us over for something to replace the experience we were having with him. I looked at my wife and we both had a “What the…” look on our face. He kept trying to negotiate and we finally came to a painful agreement that we would pay for the wine and he would comp the beet dish. We finally got the bill and I handed over my credit card to pay for it. Within moments our waiter returned to our table with our check and mixed up which credit card was ours. After signing the bill, we walked out without incident. This had to be, by far, the most bizarre restaurant experience either of us has ever had. We both decided that we’ll never set foot in that place again. - Anonymous, 05/22/2005

Well, needless to say I've heard all of the hoopla and was ready to try it. I hadn't eaten good italian since leaving the east coast six months ago. We had reservations so waiting was not an issue. The menu was very limited and not very imaginative. Our server was overbearing and faked graciousness. We were seated for possibly 5 minutes and she approached us 3 times to take our order, there goes the romantic atmosphere. The food was mediocre with small portions. On a positive note the tiramisu is wonderful and their espresso just right. - anonymous, 01/11/2006

Tell us about your experience at Pane Vino Dolce
1 planet: Below par, skip it.
2 planets: Has redeeming facets.
3 planets: Decent, worth checking out.
4 planets: Excellent, we'll be back.
5 planets: Stellar .. out of this world!
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