Tony and Luigi’s italian restaurant opens in Old Town
September 19, 2008 at 6:47 am , by Jenel Looney
| One of the frequent grumblings I’ve heard around Georgetown is that we don’t have enough nice restaurants. Restauranteurs have heeded that call. The latest is Tony and Luigi’s Italian Mediterranean restaurant, at the intersection of Church Street and University Avenue (aka, Highway 29), right in the heart of Old Town. A friend told me on Wednesday that he and his wife were having dinner at Tony and Luigi’s. I asked when it had opened. He said for now, it’s having a “soft opening.” The owners want their staff to get some practice cooking and serving meals so they can have an efficient system in place for the grand opening, which should occur within the next few weeks. | ||
| I told my friend to ask whether the restaurant would have a dog-friendly eating area on their outdoor patio. Later that evening, my friend called with a report. He said the folks at Tony and Luigi’s said they had no plans to make the patio dog-friendly. But while my friend was eating there, three separate Old Town residents walked up with their dogs and asked the same question! As far as I know, Georgetown doesn’t have a dog-friendly restaurant. (If you know of one, please post a comment here!) I think that’s a real business opportunity for someone. After leaving the dog home all day while we work, many of us pet owners would welcome the chance to take our dogs to dinner. There are several dog-friendly restaurants in Austin, so I know it’s doable. We ate at one, The Dog and Duck, which simply had some picnic tables under a tree outside, and the waiter gave my dog a large Milk Bone. | ||
| My friend said the food was delicious and the portion sizes were generous. If you know of anyone looking for a job, tell them that Tony and Luigi’s is hiring. |
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by Michael Ludlow
On September 30, 2008 at 7:56 am
Hey my name is Michael Ludlow and I am the executive chef here at Tony and Luigi’s. I would like to let everyone know that we will indeed have a pet friendly patio. We had a couple in here yesterday that just wanted to have a couple glasses of wine and chill on the patio with their dog. We welcome anybody to enjoy the patio with their family and being a dog owner myself that includes our best friends. Thanks
Michael Ludlow
by Elizabeth - Georgetown Resident
On September 30, 2008 at 10:33 am
My daughter and I had dinner at Tony & Luigi’s last evening - the atmosphere is great, the service was quick and friendly, and that was probably the best lasagna I’ve ever had - superb! Kudos and keep up the good work. We’ll be back! (I don’t own a dog, but dog-friendly wouldn’t bother me).
by Big news on the dog-friendly front! | HometownGeorgetown.com
On September 30, 2008 at 12:48 pm
[...] of Tony and Luigi’s Italian restaurant at the corner of 29 and Church posted a comment to the article I wrote about them last week. Click the link and then scroll down to read the comments. Hint: You [...]
by Jenel Looney
On September 30, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Michael, Thank you so much for posting your big news to HometownGeorgetown.com. I’m THRILLED to know that Georgetown now has a dog-friendly restaurant. May I suggest that you do some marketing at the Bark Park? You’ll find the park packed with people on the weekend, and this is a crowd that is sure to be excited to know they can bring their well-behaved dogs to Tony and Luigi’s. To get to the Bark Park, take Austin Avenue north to 2nd Street. Turn right on 2nd and go all the way until it dead-ends into Holly Street. Turn left on Holly. The dog park will be on your right about a block down. This section of Holly Street is so new that it doesn’t appear on Mapquest, but follow those directions, and you will find the park.
Thanks again! I’ll see you soon!
by Jenel Looney
On September 30, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Elizabeth,
Thanks for the review of Tony and Luigi’s. It’s wonderful to know that Georgetown has another fantastic restaurant choice. Can’t wait to try it myself.
by Matt Wilson
On September 30, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I hate to be the “negative” one, since I’m normally a very positive person, but I wanted to share with readers that my first experience wasn’t great at all. Although my pork tenderloins tasted excellent, the rice was barely cooked (hurt my teeth on the first bite), they kid’s chicken tenders were close to being burnt (i.e. too crunchy for kids to eat), the house wine wasn’t very good (I know, I know, it’s “house”, but I’ve had too many excellent house wines to not mention it), they had no menus ready for us by the time we were seated, etc.
To be fair, we did get a 5% discount for the rice issue.
It’s a brand new restaurant, so part of me is willing to cut some slack, but another part of me thinks that a restaurant’s first few months in businesses is the time to *shine*.
Anyway, assuming it remains in business, we’ll give it another shot in a year or so. Good luck, Michael! I really hope you make it so we can try you again!
by Jenel Looney
On October 2, 2008 at 6:36 am
Matt, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t have a great experience at Tony and Luigi’s. I went there Tuesday night, and I loved it! It was so nice to sit out on the covered patio in the comfortable evening air. I brought a friend and my dog, so it really IS true that they’re dog-friendly. I had linguine with pesto and chicken and a side salad, and it was delicious. It’s not your typical Italian restaurant; they have cuisine from all parts of the Mediterranean, including Bosnian food. I’m going to have to try that out next time.
by Sue
On January 7, 2009 at 6:38 am
My husband and I live in NW Burnet county and often use Georgetown for shopping and dining, rather than drive to Austin. The weekend after New Year’s we had been in Houston and were driving home on Sunday. We noticed Tony and Luigi’s another time when they were closed, so we decided to try them that particular Sunday and stop for a late lunch - this was about 2:20. When we were seated, I asked our waiter if we were too late for the buffet (even though it was still set up)and he replied in the affirmative and proceeded to bring us menus.
I chose the stuffed veal, and asked if I could substitute pasta for the roasted potatoes since those are not one of my preferred sides, and the waiter replied no. He then proceeded to ask me what 2 sides I wanted with my meal, which totally confused me since the menu states that green beans and roasted potatoes come with the meal and I was under the impression I could not substitute anything. If a restaurant is going to offer 2 sides with the entrees, along with soup or salad, why insist on serving certain sides with only a few of the entrees??
After the waiter left with our order, a woman in regular business clothes (so we assume she was management) cornered our waiter and proceeded to chew him out for giving us the lunch menu, telling him that since it was after 2:30 that he should have given us dinner menus. My husband and I are both managers where we work, and I work in food service, and one thing we never do is criticize or chastise an employee where somebody else can overhear.
So, though our food was good, we will never go back due to the management issues. Judging by the comments, it seems we are not the only ones, and the restaurant has been open long enough to be working out the kinks by now. And the $60 that we were charged for “dinner” (no alcohol or dessert) at 2:30 was just too much.