Anima

I have been going here since it first opened and did not have a name. The quality, service and food have only gotten better! The happy hour in the bar section is until 8pm... which is unheard of in most places. They have great food...and you need to ask for their home made chips! Finally... they give away sooooo many freebies... bread, chips olives etc. (but you need to have gone a few times). Finally... the menu is filled with delicious options and they accmadate to your needs... don't get me started about the fact that they are going to have a stone oven for pizza and they deliver! Oh and the bartenders are usually really cool! SOOO... go check this place out! It's awesome!

I have given this place numerous chances to redeem themselves because i want so badly to have a positive dining experience here. I love italian food and while Anima's isn't bad, it's never quite what i ordered or quite how it really should be. My most recent and decidedly final visit to Anima was for brunch on saturday. Dining room was NOT busy, so i won't chalk any of this up to a slammed restaurant or servers "in the weeds". We were greeted and sat pretty immediately and for such a warm day it was nice to find the dining room was a pleasant 70 degrees with some lovely fans. This is the best part of the whole experience. The servers are very sweet and eager to please, but that's about it. I don't believe they have a clue about the menu or anything else. First my drink, a campari and soda with a splash of oj came with no soda after 10 minutes and it sucked that i had to send it back and wait another 10 to get it back. Next, we were told that we couldn't order an item listed on the menu not because they were out, just because it was a side, and according to our very pretty but dimwitted server we needed to order it with an entree not an $11 appetizer. following that i ordered a burger with fontina which arrived with cheddar. needing to kill time before a matinee, we ordered dessert. i got zabaione with berries which turned out to really be just whipped cream in a glass with berries, not bad, but if i'm paying for zabaione don't try and fool me with whipped cream. seriously? My sister who was dining with me ordered strawberry sorbet and they arrived with freezer burnt strawberry gelato. I chalk all this up to bad management. The servers just simply have no idea what they're doing, they never have and they don't get any better. No one is holding them accountable for knowing anything about anything in that place.

nice atmosphere but not much else.

I went there on sunday for brunch for my boyfriends birthday and it was PAINFUL. We sat for over 10 minutes with no menus...then another 10-15 minutes went by before we were even acknowledged! There was no waiter assigned to our section (we were in the small area in the back near the kitchen), and everytime we tried to get someone's attention - ANYONE'S attention, we were ignored. Finally someone took our order - it took 15 minutes for our cappucino's to come, and they were luke warm when we got them. Went through 2 baskets of bread...waited for another 30 minutes and finally got our meals. When you're angry food doesn't taste as good. I will never go back for brunch again.

I ate at this place a handful of times when it had just opened, and thought the food was really tasty, as well as a great value. Apparently though, there is now a new head chef and it seems his arrival is marked by overly greasy and salty dishes that are too big and ambitious for their britches. I was also really disappointed to see that the best pasta dishes have been taken off the menu and replaced with some less impressive choices. It's too bad cuz the wine selection is nice and it's really close to my place.

It took 1 hour to make two sandwiches and a salad. There excuse was that there were two tables ahead of us. Including us there was only 10 people in the entire restaurant. The food was very greasy.

PROS: Nice decor and fair prices. CONS: Eager to please but spotty service, inconsistent food quality and flavor, poor choice of music (Latin Rumba) and a very brusque and slow bartender. OVERALL: It's just another Italian take it or leave it kind of place. Wish it were better!