Lombardi's Neighborhood Italian of Ballard

its good

Posted 06/04/09

Fabulous food, very attentive serivce and a great value. I'm a flight attendante and I've traveled a lot in Italy and I know Lombardi's has truly outstanding Italian food. Great local ownership who gives back to the community. It's on top of my list for great Italian food.

Pros: Great value, great wine selection, great food, and very friendly service

Cons: I would like it to be nearer where I live

Posted 11/24/08

I've been to Lombardi's five times and have never been disappointed. Twice I was with a large group for lunch and was pleasantly surprised by their service (I know serving a large group can be challenging). The other three times were for dinner, with one or two other guests. The baked ravioli is one of the best dishes I've ever had, as is the chicken parmesan. Their pizzas are good -- filling, good toppings, and a good value. I'd give their Caesar salad a B+. I also have to echo the thumbs-up on the $14 wine offerings. Parking is a bear, but it's downtown Ballard, so it's kind-of expected. It's on major bus routes, so that is always an option (especially with those $14 bottles of wine!). Lombardi's is a standard on our list for affordable Italian food with a nice atmosphere.

Pros: Good food, good price, good atmosphere

Cons: Parking, of course

Posted 09/02/08

Being in the neighborhood I have had several opportunities to give Lombardi's several chances. The food was OK each time but the service went from questionable to unforgivable. Perhaps the entire staff can not be criticized but I won't go back to see if my luck improves. The first few times some younger waiters were unfamiliar with the menu's offerings. Once an older gentleman really scored with a wine suggestion. However the LAST time I was there, a middle-aged balding man was extremely rude to me and my date when we asked to be seated in a pleasant area instead of the congested areas he had suggested. When we overheard him from the kitchen talking of those difficult customers (us), we decided to boycott this place for life.

Pros: It's in Ballard

Cons: Some staff is the downfall

Posted 08/03/08

I have been to both Ballard and Issaquah - Live in Issaquah - have to echo everything that was said about the Ballard location but I want folks to know that I would, and have, taken a date to Issaquah - it is a little more intimate - nice lighting - nice decor and, while I am continually impressed with the menu, I have seen the service improve tremendously over the last year. It used to be a place we would go once in a while - now its our weekly date night. The staff and managers always seem to remember us, what we like, what table we like and we are treated like part of the family!

If you are on the east side it is definitely well worth the visit - Both stores have basically the same menu and the quality is equal! Check it out

Pros: Ambience, Service, Food, Great Neighborhood Happy Hour too

Cons: They have become so busy on the weekends you have to wait if you don't have reservations

Posted 01/24/08

If you like garlic, this is surprisingly great food for the price!

Oil and roasted garlic is accompanied with fresh bread for each table. Nice caeser salad with garlicky dressing that doesn't overwhelm (although the store bought crutons do diminish the experience a bit).

The butternut squach ravioli was savory and rich without being overwhelming. I usually avoid this dish because it to served sweet (like pumpkin) or else it is too rich. Lombardi's squash was hearty and garlicky in a creamy sage sauce that struck the perfect balance of flavors.

Overall a good value. We will definitely eat here again!

Pros: value, garlic, portions, food

Cons: noise, tv, service

Posted 01/20/08

There's not a lot to Lombardi's to bring you in. It's really plain, cheap furniture, no decorations, hosts who are young and don't care, etc., but the food is terrific! I really enjoy my meals here. I wish they could offer bread to start.

Posted 12/13/07

I've been to Lombardi's in Ballard a few times. Each time I have been very satisfied with my meal. The chicken parm is excellent, and during the winter I had the winter pear salad which had this amazing cider vinagrette on it. I recently had the steak salad and I thought that it was pretty tasty too. I tried the spaghetti and meatballs, and it was good (really, who could mess up spaghetti?). Best of all they have $14 bottles of wine on Sunday-Tuesday! We were there recently for $14 bottle night and received a full story on the bottle of wine that we ordered which was very cool.

Pros: Good food, $14 wine nights

Cons: Street parking

Posted 04/04/07

Service here was great. There is a nice selection of mid-range wines, and a good liquor selection. The food is great, but a little overpriced. It's a great dining experience, but I suggest visiting on a weeknight. It has a much more relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere then. It is going through a bit of a musical identity crisis, but I'm really enjoying it!

Posted 11/11/06

Short of the bartender delivering drinks at the drop of a hat, there was nothing impressive about Lombardi's, be it service, atmosphere, or food. If you are hungry and waiting on a reservation elsewhere it may make a great alternative, however, other than that, it's probably best to keep walking.

Pros: Quick seating/drinks

Cons: Slow service, little atmosphere, poor food.

Posted 11/10/06

I was actually your waitress, maryann, you may want to change your story because I was there too:(

When I took your order, you said that you wanted a "steak salad" I repeated it back to you. Perhaps you should have read the menu and ordered correctly because a steak salad and steak caesar are significanty different dishes. You also failed to mention in your dishonest review that I offered to have the salad remade which you refused, in which I replied, "just let me know how that works out for you, if you us to make you a caesar we will, it's an easy fix." I could have made you feel stupid for ordering wrong and showed you the menu where the steak salad is printed; instead, I took the high road... I acknowledged the mistake, made myself accountable for it, apologized, offered to replace it and you chose to eat it and
you said it was good everytime I checked on you, and you ATE THE ENTIRE THING. FYI-if you order a med-rare steak, it's going to come out dark red.

Unfortunately there are some customers that come in with the expectation of being disappointed, but I tried to make your experience enjoyable. It was quite obvious by observing you and your husband that there are some communication problems that you need to work out. To the readers, maryann's experience was completely fabricated and it's obvious that her and her husband are amateur diners. I checked on them four times, they ordered the free bread like it was an appetizer refilled their drinks, did everything I could to correct the problem when it was presented to me. I guess the only thing that would have made them happy is if it was free.

Posted 10/20/06

My husband and I live in Ballard and Lombardi's is very close to us. We have given this restaurant the benefit of the doubt many a times but it's never failed to let us down. The service is always bad, the waiters never fail to screw up our order somehow and the food isn't good enough to put up with it all. We have had medium well steak served to us so bloodly that we didn't even eat it. Last night instead of getting the caesar salad with steak like I ordered I was brought a salad with steak. When I mentioned that I had ordered the caesar salad with steak, my waitress told me to try the salad she brought me. Lombardi's has a fabulous location right on Market Street and I believe the potential to be great but they need to do a complete overhaul on their waitstaff and possible the menu too.

Pros: located in downtown Ballard

Cons: service

Posted 10/01/06

Hated it. We had to wait 20 minutes for the waitress to take our order and then 55 to actually get our food. When it came one of the stakes was rare when it had been ordered medium, when we told the waitress she just smiled made a dumb comment, offered more drinks and left. That was it, we were astonished. I hated every minute of the service. Besides that the food was great. I still would not recommend the place, their food is great but not the best for me to put up with their lame service.

Pros: Food

Cons: Service, Second floor dining area.

Posted 09/20/06

Food at Lombardi's is always great...it's the service that's sketchy. If you like garlic and aren't too particular about the service you get from the wait-staff--this is a great place. The chicken parmigana is to die for!

Pros: great food, good wine selection

Cons: hit & miss waitstaff

Posted 08/26/02

I just love their food. Nothing could possible top the perfectly roasted garilc and bread!!!!

Pros: Good Food, Good Prices, Nice People

Cons: Parking, the wait

Posted 07/28/02