A “free dessert next time” does not compensate for bad food, unprofessional service and a terrible dining experience! My family and I have been dining at both 410 Bank Street and Fresco’s for years. And we’ve always had a delicious experience until last night. We arrived for our 7pm reservation at Fresco’s and were promptly seated. Our waiter opened our wine, took our dinner orders, and our wait began. A half an hour later, neither bread for the table or our appetizers had arrived and our waiter had not returned to check on us. After being served our appetizers by the ancillary wait staff, we thought that the experience was surely improving. However, we were wrong. A second wait ensued. As it approached 9pm without being served our entrees or approached by our waiter regarding a possible problem, we asked to speak with our waiter. Our question was met by the acting manager, who informed us that it was so busy in the kitchen that he had to help cook the meals himself and that we should not “give his staff such a hard time.” Our dinners were finally brought out but they were poorly cooked: the veal was dry and cold, the duck was missing the advertised special sauce, and the mashed potatoes were lumpy. When our waiter finally returned to check on us, we reported the findings about our meals. A bottle of Cape May wine and the deduction of one entrée from the bill was offered as recompense for the evening and we were informed that out of the three-hundred meals served that night ours was the only one that encountered difficulties. We ended our disappointing meal by speaking with the senior manager of both restaurants. Her response to our experience was: “you’ve ONLY had one bad meal here over the years? How about we give you free dessert the next time you come?” No, thank you. Dinner last night was during the start of summer season, but I suspect that it was also the start of the change in seasons for Fresco’s, one filled by lackluster service and food.

Frescos is located on Bank Street, nestled off of the main area of town. It is an Italian restaurant that offers a slightly different take than most of the restaurants in town, although seafood plays heavily on the menu.

Cape May is replete with excellent restaurants. Frescos is often overlooked. It shouldn’t be as it is very good.

I admit I didn’t have italian, I had duck. Why? I always feel the need to eat duck if it’s on the menu. And it was good duck. The rest of the fam had italian; osso busco and chicken penne. It was well done, but not amazing. They only sell bottles of wine there; it’s BYOB otherwise. They don’t have a liquor license. The apple tart was great, worth the wait.