Le Farfalle - Charleston

Beautiful restaurant! The food was absolutely delicious. The pasta was made in house and the best I’ve had in a long time! Only recommendation I have is making a reservation ahead. We tried calling earlier that day and it was all booked. They take walk ins. We waiting for about 30 minutes and never got a text. When we went in to check they tried to seat us in the corner of full bar there was multiple open tables outside which they sat us at after we requested. Would have avoided if we reserved earlier.

On a 5 pt scale, dinner at Le Farfalle is a 4.41. My scoring methodology weighs food quality at 65%, service at 20%, and ambiance at 15%. The ambiance is inviting as you walk in the courtyard and see lights stringed over the table. As you arrive at the host stand you see the expansive bar filled with patrons drinking cocktails and wine. The dining room tables are spread out, almost not utilizing the space to its best use. The volume was low, as most partons were quiet and there was not any music. Our server was knowledgeable and provided good suggestion about the wine and food although service was a bit slow. I wouldn’t suggest the house wine. To start things off we had the meatballs and rosemary focaccia with 3 dipping sauces. The meatballs had a nice spice to them but were a bit different from the normal. The pine nuts threw me off a bit. The focaccia was great. It came out in cast iron with sauces. The ricotta was very light and the tomato sauce was good. The chicken parmesan had a bit of a twist with basil layered under the heavy amount of cheese, it was paired with house made spaghetti that was cooked perfectly al dente. The Fideos was tasty and interesting. The crunch in the toasted angle hair was nice and there was plenty of excellent lump crab meat. Le Farfalle can be hard to get reservations. It appears to be understaffed and not using all of the seating available. I found it easiest to get a seat by having Resy notify me of last minute openings.

Drinks (Letter 23, Repotation Changer, and an Espresso Martini),

This is one of the restaurants you MUST have on your list if you are traveling to Charleston. I had a reservation for a table for 2 but ended up with an additional person in my party. The staff moved things around and accommodated us. I got the rosemary focaccia, octopus carpaccio, and fusilli lunghi. The portions were perfect and the octopus carpaccio was just amazing!! I sure will be visiting again on my next trip to Charleston.

Atmosphere: The restaurant is beautifully decorated; however, it is excruciatingly loud in the dining room. Had difficulty hearing people at my own table. Hanging some acoustic panels from the ceiling could go a very long way, as there are few soft surfaces and the noise just blooms. Service: Great service. Our server was knowledgeable about wine pairings with entrees, was attentive without being intrusive, and was the high point of the evening. Food: Where everything fell apart. Over two hours to get entrees and we did not receive one of our ordered appetizers. To be fair, that may have been lost in the din of the dining room. The hours long delay was confusing when we were told from the start that Chef likes appetizer orders and entree orders together, and they will work out your meal. When the food arrived, my squid ink spaghetti was audibly crunchy in places from having been under a heat lamp I expect it was too inconsistent to have been simply undercooked. My partner 's agnolotti was cold, meagerly portioned, and mostly cheese; we were looking forward to the richness of a duck confit involved dish, but the protein was hard to find. What made it even more disappointing was that the food all had the flavor markings of something really special, but the execution was embarrassingly off the mark. Management: Clueless. We politely and without incident did bring to our server 's attention that the food was not up to expectation, which was also true of our other dining companions: overcooked filet, cold grouper special, etc. She graciously sent the FoH manager over, who simply offered to send some bread to the table and gave an uninspired Sorry, with little else. It was at that moment I understood we would be best served to cut our losses, overpriced though they were. It sounds from other reviews and our dining companions ' past experiences like Le Farfalle has the makings of a fabulous dinner spot, but sadly it also sounds like there are a number of back of house and management issues to resolve. Unfortunately I don 't think I 'll be returning to find out if they manage it.