Contorno's Grill (CLOSED)

4 of us from work walked over to Contorno's today for lunch after reading Alexander Heffner's WSJ NY LUNCHBOX review on Jul 24, 2012 called "Affordable, Family-Style Italian Fare." Here is our review: Yes, it is very affordable. Lunch for 4 was $55 before tip. It is Family-Style Italian Fare. True. Here's the other side though. We were told on the phone that we didn't need a reservation. That's b/c when we arrived, there were only two other tables eating lunch. But lunch menus were "tough to come by." Why was this shortage not anticipated? Once we scored menus, we decided that we would order tapas-style to share and sample more dishes. Our server then surprised us by asking if he could relocate 2 of our menus to other tables in the meantime. More lunch patrons had shown up while we studied our menus. Why not just take our complete order first? After my first delicious iced tea, they ran out when I asked for a refill - "sorry, there is no more." (Summer in NYC is like 100 degrees which calls for an iced tea refill or two in my book, but maybe that's just me?) We actually ordered one more dish, but 20 minutes later while he was delivering our other entrees, our waiter informed us that the gnocchi was not available today. So here's my bottom line: It is a nice solid dining room, but the room feels slightly out of place off the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express. The fried calamari, the steak fries, grilled zucchini are all terrific highlights, and for the price, it's definitely a good value. No argument. But a sit-down lunch requires service that is less uneven. My suggestion: Raise the price slightly since the food is tasty, and apply the greater revenue to an effort of improving the service for a better dining experience. This restaurant should be teeming with business people eating a decent lunch here. Let me know when that happens.