Orto - Charlotte

The Penne Pasta was incredible! It featured house-made sausage, bell peppers, onions, roasted tomatoes, and a creamy sauce. I highly recommend it. The Orto Meatballs were also delightful, generously topped with cheese. The Tomato Buffalo Mozzarella had a great flavor, though it had a foam on top that I had never encountered before. My only complaint was the Linguini, which came with clams, shrimp, parsley, and lemon garlic. There was an unusual crunch to it, giving it a sandy texture throughout. In hindsight, I probably should have sent it back.

I visited this restaurant to celebrate a birthday, and it was a fantastic experience. The food and atmosphere were both excellent. This restaurant is a sister establishment to The Stanley, which we've always enjoyed. The service was attentive, and the food exceeded our expectations.

**Cocktail:** I ordered the Bongo Cha Cha Cha and gave it 4/5 stars. It was delicious and visually appealing (if that's your vibe!). I swapped gin for tequila to give it an extra kick. **Meal:** I tried the Bolognese, which I’d rate a 3/5. It was a bit too salty, and some of the noodles were undercooked, which surprised me since the restaurant was not busy at the time. I tend to get nervous about returning dishes, so I didn’t mention it. **Dessert:** The chocolate and hazelnut torte also earned a 3/5 from me. It was a bit disappointing—served cold with a chocolate and berry glaze, and just a few hazelnuts on top. Overall, my visit was decent. The staff were friendly and all wore masks, which I appreciated. The restaurant has an intimate feel with a lovely patio area. While the food and dessert could have been better, I wouldn’t hesitate to return to try something different.

The failure of Orto was a vision that was coming at anytime. Having been to Heritage for many visits, something was lost every visit to Vericas restaurants in Charlotte. From the food being bland and tasteless, portions being nonexistent, to just overall a terrible experience. We were soooooo excited to see the concept of Orto being a fast casual style pizza and Italian spot. What we showed up to the first time was fine dining. Nope! I’m not paying fine dining prices for a square pizza.Being called two days later that our bill was wrong and three times the price because they provided us the wrong check, yeahhhhh what’s with that. That comes across as a hustle. Verica turned into a hands off owner and deserves Orto closing. He wasn’t there the times we went or the times recent to Stanley. His restaurants are like a bad relationship with us we know how good he was to us in the beginning at waxhaw but now he just keeps letting us down. We go back “just one more time. Be good just this one time…..”The food is bland, tasteless, and way overpriced. Read your reviews and you will see this is a consistent pattern. Nowhere near the level of a nominated chef.Reading his interviews. Pffttttt. Pizza boxes? Every pizza place can source them but yours are to precious and in no supply. It’s called making adjustments and moving finding options. Not excuses. Maybe you should listen to feedback on both your restaurants failures from customers instead of blaming everyone else. It’s pizza. Delivery service is expensive but it would have kept your lights on. Being an active part instead of a never present owner and chef would be a start. We went to Orto on a busy Saturday night after you opened. The server “chefs not in tonight. He’s way to busy to be here”. Stopped on the way home at the Stanley the bartender laughed and said “yeah we’re not graced with his highness”.It should be an obvious sign it’s not an issue with suppliers when all our favorite servers, the gm, mixologist, chef ashley and even his chef son have left to go elsewhere. So he had loyal staff. He chose to treat them badly from what the bartender spilled to us. I predict the Stanley is very close behind. 12 18 months of closing.Verica wants to put himself at the level of Joe and Kathy Kindred which reservations are booked for weeks, have them same issues with supply cost and staffing, but makes excuses that he’s closing a $1.2million space due to pizza boxes. Maybe work in your restaurants to save costs and buckle down instead of always being gone and shocked when your restaurant fails.Let’s see if Gordon Ramsay can “save the Stanley. Will Chef Verica be to narcasstic to listen or see a lifetime of debt and failure and ask for help”. It would be yelling, plate throwing, staff returning to spill the beans on the core toxicity. At the end the a heartfelt hug.Verica's food has gone downhill NOW, he treats his customers and staff with rudeness, and speaks so lowly of others chefs in the community that surprisingly try to support him.THE CUSTOMERS HAVE SPOKEN. GOOD RIDDANCE.

Fantastic Food; a feast for the eyes and the taste is exceptional inviting atmosphere; awesome staff. A must for Charlotte’s foodies. Enjoy.