BOTTO’S, Swedesboro – Restaurant Reviews, Photos & Reservations – Tripadvisor

Nine of us went to Botto’s to celebrate my sister’s birthday. We got there at 530pm and it wasn’t too busy that we could see. We ordered our meals at 6pm. The waitress asked us if we wanted the salads and soup to come out…before our meals. What?? Of course we did! Goodness. Maybe she was new, we thought.

Our meals didn’t start coming out until 730pm. A full hour and a half after we ordered. And they didn’t all come out at once. My sister’s husband had finished his meal before she even got hers! My mom’s baked potato was cold by the time they brought her some butter, so that was useless.

When something was said to the hostess, she sent over the manager, who admonished us about telling the hostess. No apology. No explanation. Just feeble excuses. Maybe HE was new, we thought.

My sister’s husband spoke to him again alone and managed to get a free cake for my sister. But really, that didn’t make up for the incredibly slow service. And we also discovered the poor waitress not only had our table of nine, but also 2 other tables in our section and MORE TABLES in the main dining room!

It came down to poor management. I was a waitress in several restaurants, from a diner to a fine dining restaurant. I was never given a lot of tables when I had a large group. Doing that is inconsiderate to customers. If you had no customers, you’d go out of business. And unsatisfied customers don’t come back.

It did get super crowded at one point, so maybe they’re busy enough to not care if we come back. Well, that’s fine. We don’t plan on going back – and this was our first time at there! We heard such great things about Botto’s, we were all very excited to try it.

All that said, the food was delicious. A bit pricey for some things. For example, the special appetizer of the night was lamb rib chops for $14. You only got TWO. They were wonderful, but $7 a rib chop? If you aren’t familiar with lamb rib chops, they’re small.

None of the dinners came with salad. I’ve never been to a restaurant that didn’t include a side salad with a dinner. Some of our meals were almost $30!!

So if you want to try Botto’s, allow yourself lots of time.