It seems clear that Wallingford is the test location for taking Tutta Bella into the chain restaurant business. A sad mistake. I have been there three times and only the first time had good service. I'd previously eaten at the Columbia City location, so was doubly saddened by this turn of events.
The crazy part is, if you look around even at peak dining hours, it looks ridiculously overstaffed. The wait staff and bussers roam in groups of four or five, but they are too inexperienced and poorly trained to do what they're there for.
On my second visit our waiter forgot to put our order in to the kitchen, and apparently forgot we were there, because it never occurred to her to check to see why we didn't have food when all the later arrivals around us did. It took forever to get her attention - a problem on our subsequent visit, too - to point out that we had no food yet. Then because she was going off her shift, she wanted to list all 13 of the gelato flavors and get our dessert order when we were on our first bites of pizza. I realize that it's a casual place, but there is no excuse for such unfamiliarity with the flow of a meal.
There were no comment cards in the restaurant, so as much as I'd have loved to whisper in their ear, I'm telling the world instead of the owners.
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