Bergamos Italian Restaurant

(score 1-100) - 92.  Great restaurant with Singing Waiters that serve you as you get your food.  I loved it but is NOW CLOSED.

CLOSED!

I have been living in Orlando for 5 years and have never heard of this place.  One day while flipping through a "tourist" magazine they give away for free at hotels I came across this place.  My best friend and I love Broadway and we thought it would be a fun place to go.  The place itself is beautiful!  We immediately commented on how fun it would be to have a birthday there.  We went on a Wednesday night and there were only 5 or 6 tables there at 8:30pm, however we were told that during convention season it was better.  The wait staff all has masters or doctorates in music, and even the manager sang a few tunes!
The food itself was amazing and the wine selection was huge.  I ordered the chicken ravioli and I was not disappointed!  This place does run around the $25 range not including wine but it was worth it!

Best thing about this place is you get a couple glasses of wine in you and when the waiters sing opera; every song is your favorite.  "Oh my god!  I love this one!"

Great atmosphere and it's just beautiful inside.  Great for large groups and business events since it has an entertainment factor and you can drink.  Let's face it.  This place is much better a little on the tipsy side.

Food was good, not awesome.  Kudos to the wait staff when we visited since they were short staffed and had to stop and sing throughout the night.  They never really missed a beat when it came to service given the circumstances.

I didn't see the bill since we were being treated to dinner by one of our partners (gotta love that).  But plan for the $25 range without the wine.

I really wish I could do 3 1/2 stars on this one.  The food is what brought it down.  Over cooked lobster...blah.

So I've noticed that this restaurant hasn't had a review since it has moved from I-drive to Festival Bay Mall.
I've visited it numerous times over the last few months and each time has been just as good as the last. The food, while not the best, is well prepared for the price range.
The wine list however is really lacking. A single glass of each type is simply unnacceptable for a restaurant of this style.
The liquer drinks are reasonably priced and the menu is pretty diverse.
Where this restaurant really shines is with the staff. The service is top notch, especially considering they have to go and sing on stage every 30 minutes or so. The concept is really cool and once you get a few drinks in you you actually have to stop yourself from trying to sing along.

I had asked our hotel concierge for something fun, casual, good for a large group (15 people) and with good food.  This place was perfect!  It was a very cozy, warm, but fairly large restaurant with professionally trained singing servers.  All the appetizers were amazing (calamari, bruschetta, steamed clams...) and my entree, linguine vongole, was delicious!  One of my co-workers (he's of Italian descent) had the linguini pescatore which he said wouldn't be on the menu unless they were authentic and could do it right and he loved it.  Prices were reasonable ($15-$25) for entrees and excellent wine choices - Italian and Californian - of which we had plenty!  I highly recommend this place for a romantic or fun evening out with friends, coworkers, family..  A little loud with all the singing (songs from musicals), but worth it for the food and overall experience.

I visited Bergamos for the first time with a large party of approx. 20 people. I would NOT recommend this place to anyone. Most of the problems are due to poor management. The concept of the restaurant is that the servers sing Broadway tunes as they serve. That leaves them very little time to do the actual serving and there are no food runners or extra staff to help once your server is singing. There are also times when all the servers on staff are singing at the same time, which leaves almost no one to help customers.

Our group was a large party so a little wait to get drinks and our orders taken is expected. However, once our orders were taken, we were not served our food until we had been in the restaurant for 2 hours. While we waited, hungry, it was hard to find anyone to order more drinks or ask for more bread. The food itself was also horrible. After waiting 2 hours, and for dishes costing $25-30 on average, we expected something good. The particular table that I was at, with 6 people ended up sending 4 of the dishes back. The first was a ribeye that was so charred (ordered medium-rare) that it was dry and there was too much burn on it. When he made his complaint to the server, she was very rude in her reply and basically asked "well then, what do you want me to do". I've worked as a server and this is not how you treat a guest. You apologize and find out how to alleviate the situation. After that, 3 of the other dishes were sent back due to similar issues. The larger table had a couple of dishes sent back too. We later realized that a couple of the orders had been mixed up and a med-rare rack of lamb went to the table that ordered the med-well and vice-versa.

When the manager came by to ask why the dishes were sent back, we answered, and he just left. No apologies, nothing. Then when it was time to finally give the bill, the server came to our table with tears in her eyes. As a professional, even if she was upset, she should have cleaned up before coming to our table like that. At least the manager should have told her to do so. We weren't being mean or trying to cause trouble, we just wanted our food cooked as we had asked.

I understand she had a bad night, the food was not her fault, and the restaurant was packed, but there was no line waiting. For a restaurant that size, on a Saturday night, they should at least be prepared to handle one rush of people. It is ridiculous to pay those prices for that level of food and service and have a dinner take 4 hours.

The only positive thing I can say is that our server was the best female singer of the night.
So if you want good food and good service, skip this place. If you really like Broadway tunes and maybe want a glass of wine, you may enjoy it.

A friend of mine heard a radio personality plugging the restaurant, and decided he'd like to try it out.  Well, 4 of us in all, went one rainy, windy night.  We arrived at the restaurant, 5 minutes prior to our 8 o'clock reservation.  And we were promptly told we had a half hour wait ahead of us.  A dubious start.  As we were waiting, we noticed it was rather packed, but is to be expected from an establishment off of tourist central, I-Drive.  Being a local, I tend to steer away from places down there, usually all hype and no substance.  In the end, that's exactly what this was.  Now I've worked in the food service industry before, and know what happens during the "hell" times.  So I was alot more patient than my friends.  After we finally got seated, I looked over the menu (a decent amount to choose from, typical Italian fare, ranging from $12-$30 depending on accompaniments).  I was not in the mood to be experimental with a restaurant I knew nothing about, so I played it safe and had the Spaghetti and Meatballs in a marinara sauce.  Not something difficult to make.  After a half hour wait for our food, the waiter arrived with our choices.  As I took a look at my plate, a few things caught my eye.  There was an excessive amount of pasta water at the bottom of my dish, which rendered the sauce pointless, and the meatballs.  The meatballs were still partially frozen, the outsides only being warm.  I knew the reason for this.  The kitchen was slammed, and trying to get everything out as fast as possible.  Needless to say, I was nonplussed, and decided instead of trying to hassle with the waiter, I would just leave it.  All of my friends had similar issues, an overcooked steak, wrong items on the plates, etc.  Needless to say, I will NEVER go back, and I encourage those of you with smaller parties (under 6 people) to go to Olive Garden or another one of the franchised Italian places on I-Drive, where they won't look down on you because they're not guaranteed a hefty tip.