Faro Italian Grille
 

We tried Faro Italian Grille.

They did a wonderful job redecorating the building. The interior decor is a bit more sophisticated than previously. They've added a number of dividers to create smaller and more intimate dining spaces and they painted.

We had the mussels and bruschetta for apps and a couple of pasta dishes for entrees. All were very good. The pasta was a true stand out. It was obviously very fresh. I think they have quickly risen to the top when it comes to Italian options for Laconia, Meredith, and Gilford.

We sat in the bar area and one thing that was a little uncomfortable for us was the behavior of the other guests. Very loud and a very frequent use of the F bomb. This never seemed to bother us in the past when the place had the feel of a roadhouse , however now with a more sophisticated feel it just didn't seem to fit.

I'm certain we'll dining here again.

Faro and Bike week
 

I'll be curious to see what happens at bike week next year will the tents go up and will the crowd go for the fine dining experience or will they go italian food served in black leather. How about we come up with some new specials for that week, Road House Ravioli's :laugh:

Faro was REALLY good!
 

Me and a few friends went there Friday night for dinner and drinks... Everyone had a great meal... we spilt an Antipasto (Incredible) the gf & I split an order of the Sachetti and got a side of Penne with Vodka sauce... both were in a word Excellent The desserts are straight out of the Modern in the North End! Unfortunately we were too full to try them... :)

We will def be back to try a few more items! Good luck to Rich, Mike & the rest of the Ray family!

Woodsy

Faro Italian Grille
 

Faro has set the bar for authentic italian restaurants in the lakes region. Real homemade pasta. Homemade sauces. Best of the best meats, cheeses, breads and desserts! There are other good restaurants here but as far as Italian cuisine is concerned, this is it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

where is it?
 

i live in meredith

Is This the Place?
 

Faro Italian Grille
70 Endicott Street N
Laconia, NH
866-654-5565

There's also information about Faro (the old Lobster Pound) in this thread:

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ad.php?t=18391

Please post any reviews of Faro here in this thread.

Thanks!
 

Thanks, Don. I overlooked The Lobster Pound thread on my visit this morning because historically speaking, past LP threads have not been my kind of discussions. :laugh: I wish them well in their new endeavor! 🇮🇹

For those that have been to both how does this place stack up against Rossi's?

Never went to the LP, but we did go to Faro's on Saturday night. It was very good, not over-the-top fantastic, but very good. There are many pasta dishes on the menu, reasonably priced. My only complaint is that a salad is not included, so you have to pay extra for that. The bread was good, and there was a nice dessert tray presented for you to choose from. We will definitely return!

Coming up between Xmas and new years. Where's my money better spent in your opinion Rossi's or Faro's. Don't worry won't hold anyone accountable - hahaha...

Not sure about Faro's as I haven't been yet, but you can't go wrong at Rossi's.

Across the street from the (historical) "Weirs" sign.

I know spelling doesn't count and correcting it is frowned upon but I feel I must tell you that you spelled hysterical wrong! ;)

Now THAT's funny


.

Went there today
 

Hi all,

We thought that we would give Faro a try and see for ourselves. We went over this evening at 5:00. The restaurant was partially full and they don't seem to be using the full facility. We were told that it was a 45 minute wait with one party in front of us. Really!

We left and had a nice meal else where.

Jetskier:cool:

Hahaha! So you blame an establishment for trying to do the RIGHT thing??? Rather than sit you, essentially over promise you and let you experience a really awful dining experience. Geez shame on them!

There are two McDonald's located in Meredith and Laconia. They should be able to meet your "eat now" expectations. Enjoy.

[emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bumble I like your restaurant, the pizza was always great but your antics on this website are not earning the establishment any character.

I agree
 

I wouldn't have waited either, so where did you go?

That's even more of a laugh! I don't own Faro or work there even. I don't even own a restaurant. Haha... That made my night though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We went over to Fratellos

Really!
 

First, I don't know who you are or your connection to the establishment.

Having to wait 45 minutes at 5:00 on a Saturday when the establishment is half full simply tells me that this restaurant is not really up and running. That was the point...as for a really awful dining experience, I will take your word for the fact that this is what this restaurant provides...personally, I was willing to give them a try. My mistake.

Jetskier:cool:

First Jetskier, I sincerely thank you for coming to Faro Italian Grille! Before working in the restaurant industry I had experiences similar to yours and wondered why I couldn't be seated earlier.

I was working at Faro last night, and what may not have been noticeable is that we had two large parties for dinner - one, a party of 25, was seated in the back room which is not visible from the lobby.

The Management at Faro is committed to providing an excellent dining experience to all guests and believe great service is an important part of that experience. Rather than seat a guest and disappoint them with a long wait for their meal, the manager chose to inform guests of a wait for tables, and accepted the risk that guests may choose to dine elsewhere. Please believe that none of us like to see a guest leave, but it is preferable to us providing a disappointing experience.

I believe we met before at another establishment (we had a discussion about Chefs and their love of heavy metal music ;) !), and I truly hope that you consider visiting again!

Way to ignore the point of my post. But whatever makes you feel that your original post was justified I guess.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great explanation.

I feel guests being told of a long wait at a rather empty restaurant need to be made more aware of the situation. If I was simply told the wait was 45 minutes and the place was rather empty, I would not have been happy. If I was told the reason behind the long wait, I would have either sat down and had a drink waiting for a table or I would have left happy knowing the restaurant was doing the right thing.

Thanks for clearing this up. Keep up the good work!

R2B

Karen, why wouldn't somebody have explained to Jetskiier the situation-large party etc.????

Professional Response Appreciated
 

Hi Karen,

Thank you for the professional response.

I think that the reception desk folks can use a bit of training. If they explained that there were a couple of large parties and the kitchen was currently capacity limited, I would have been happy to wait. When you look at a relatively empty dining room with no one waiting in the reception area and are simply told that it will be 45 minutes it becomes a "huh?" moment.

The other suggestion is that you strongly recommend reservations. I don't think that you are really ready for walk in traffic that might strain your current capacity.

We will give it another shot another day (with a reservation :-) ).

Jetskier:cool:

It seems like the number of cars in the parking lot would have given you a hint that something was going on there.

Not really
 

The parking lot was pretty sparse....I would guess that there were about 30 cars total. The side room was empty and the dining room visible from the front was only a few filled tables. There was no one waiting in the foyer. It was about 5:00 on a Saturday (early) and off season.

As Karen indicated, there were a couple of large parties in the back and that is what fully subscribed them. If we were told that, we would have probably stayed. However, an empty looking restaurant with a long wait did not compute.

I think that Karen provided a good explanation and we will try it another day. My conclusion is that they are capacity limited at this point (reasonable) and it makes no sense to go there without a reservation. That is what we will do in the future.

Jetskier :cool:

Thank you all for your responses! I will definitely pass on the recommendation that guests be informed of the reason for an extended wait for a table. Our hostesses do a great job, I think possibly (like myself) they did not know the reason for a delay would impact someone's decision to wait or to leave. I learned something today!

Can't win!
 

I think it's better to be honest, as in this case. Just because there are tables open doesn't mean a restaurant isn't busy. We don't know what it takes to plan and staff every night. On the other hand if someone was seated wiith no mention of a wait time we'd be reading about how slow the service was! Can't win. To me, wait times might suggest something worth waiting for.
DC

KarenM -- glad you jumped in .. I think you did a great service for Faro by doing so - showing you are watching the "Critic's" Reviews & responding professionally.

It is a good sign that a Restaurant is listening.

To others, regardless of where you go to dine ... be aware that another very common experience is that there is a wait for tables ... as you look around you see many open and available and you begin to get suspect .... . in reality, for any number of reasons, the establishment simply does not have on enough wait staff. This can be due to poor planning or simply an unexpected slam of larger parties.


.

30% Discount
 

Here is link to Dollar Saver for 30% off certificate for Faro.
http://nhdollarsaver.dollarsavershow...rtiser_id=4757

I am happy to see the proactive approach from Faro, it to me shows they care and want to be a positive and prosperous business in the lakes region. Kudo's to the Ray family and their team members.

I completely agree. Their approach to communication is what is needed to be successful. I cannot wait to eat there sometime very soon. If it was not for the proactive communication, I would not feel this way. Well done KarenM!

Good luck to the Ray family with Faro!

R2B

Okay -- Finally got the opportunity to stop in and have dinner.

To begin, I must admit, I have never been to the "Lobster Pound" in the past as neither the building nor menu held any attraction for my wife & I and thus cannot speak directly to the amount of renovations that may have been done... but with that said:

We went over Friday night after Christmas, surprisingly, as it was just after Christmas, the place was reasonably crowded. Perhaps the newness?

Immediately upon entering we were greeted by two hosts with smiles on their faces and arranged for "High Top" seating in the lounge area -- our preference this night. My wife & I immediately went and took a tour of the place and I must say QUITE impressive ... with a larger Barn like room apparently for functions and very quaint table seating arrangements throughout the rest of the facility. The notable aspect was the patio ... which if managed and laid out correctly could be a "Home Run" for the facility in the Summer months. The lounge area was very comfortable with sofa and chair seating on both sides/ends which mixed with the High tops perfectly... plenty of "wide screens" (volumes off).

To the food -- our service was impeccable with our waitress constantly checking back . Our service began with a selection of breads -- I highly recommend the olive bread (yummm)

Our meals were "very good" -- Great is a highly reserved word --it is clear the Chef takes pride as there was careful consideration of "dish presentation". I had the Bolognese and my wife had the parmingian -- neither of us could finish which speaks to the serving sizes.


Overall -- a GREAT addition to the area .... I sincerely hope they do well.

.

Phantom, a quick note on pricing would be helpful. Thanks!

Sorry --

Overall I would say it was very "reasonable" ....

My wife's comment was "this place could be dangerous" (meaning a place you can frequent)..... the average plate pricing certainly won't break the bank aka a night at "O".

Our night cost $85.00 (with Tip) ... that included 4 wines, Chix Parm, Pasta Bolognese and one decadent desert (we split).

To us, that is quite average !

Great, thanks!

We stopped by early last evening and had a good experience. We sat at the bar and there were several other couples in the lounge area and a family group in the corner with the 2 sofas and large tv. The atmosphere was pleasant with quiet conservation and low key background music. Of course this was a Tuesday evening and the lounge may be quite different on a weekend with a Pats game on TV.

Here is a link to the menu sans prices:
http://11713776.sites.myregisteredsi...s/97472834.pdf
Most entries are in the $16 to $24 range.

I had the Ziti alla Buongustaia which the barkeep said I could order even if I could not pronounce it (she could not either). I found it to be good but not quite a very good rating, did bring some home for lunch. My wife had the Ravioli del Giorno, last evening it was stuffed with portobello mushrooms with a cream sauce. She rated it as "Yummy" or very good. We both appreciated the fresh pasta.

My only complaint was the limited draft beer choice although we both had a pale ale that was good. For some reason all of the available beer glasses were frozen, maybe ok for bud lite but not a good choice for a decent draft. I had to have her reuse the same glass for a 2nd beer.

We do plan to return and try other items from the fairly extensive menu.