Strano By Chef Josh - Memphis

We loved Strano when it was in Cooper Young. It seems to have changed a lot and we were willing to give it a go in it's new location. We had tried it out when it first reopened and were not impressed, so we were somewhat reluctant, but nevertheless curious to see if it had gotten any better. Unfortunately, we were not impressed. The restaurant is indeed classier and the location is fabulous. the service was spot-on and the noise level tolerable. But...the food? Isn't that what is supposed to be the attraction? We were both disappointed and gave it a "meh" rating. My husband had the chicken caneloni and said that it was mushy and unappealing. There was too much sauce. I had the chicken picatta, which I was really anticipating. My high hopes were dashed once I tasted the chicken. I have never had chicken picatta with so much breading. It was like having a fried chicken cutlet with capers. The linguine was over-cooked and the sauce was dull. The price is right, but the dish is not. All I could taste was the breading and the chicken was dry instead of moist like I expected. I scooped up the capers to try and get some flavor, but it just wasn't there. It was a two-fer for us. We won't be going back and that make me sad

Thank you excellent food and excellent service on March when I joined several old friends for lunch. Extra thanks for my eggplant parm being available for lunch as requested! Everything was delicious and we plan to make this restaurant a regular place for our get-togethers

We got to the restaurant about for our reservation. We were told our table was not ready yet so we went to the bar and they would come get us. At I went to check on our table. I was told “oh, no one came to get you”? Once seated for dinner we ordered the meatball/sauce appetizer. It was at best a “luke warm” temperature.. Less than minutes later it was room temperature. We are ordered our entree when the meatballs came. It took a long time for our entrees to be brought. Two other tables that were seated after us, and they were brought their entrees before we got ours.. My wife’s shrimp pasta dinner and my salmon dinner were also just luke warm. Our waiter was nice enough but not the most responsive. For our first trip to Strano I would rate it a C or at the very most C+

Entirely disappointed in this dining experience. Our Valentines Day Reservation was for and right off the bat, we waited or minutes for a server to come by before going back to alert the hostess. He arrived shortly afterward and redeemed himself by being quite helpful despite the negative first impression. My first course smoked portabello appetizer was so tiny that my husband and I laughed about it.... literally what appeared to be of a very small portabello (so, a chunk) with some scattered watercress greens and a small dollop of balsamic – infused caviar. I joked to our server about the kitchen running out of portobello, and he noted that it had been a very busy night, but did not deny it. Hubby’s corn chowder app was good. Second course wedge salads were thankfully good. Then, minutes before our main course was to be served, we were informed that they ran out of the NY Strip steak (one of only three meal options, due to the prix fixe menu) and would my husband like fish or chicken. After an emphatic “No, I really wanted the steak” our server went back to the kitchen and came back to say they’d found him a tenderloin they agreed to substitute. It was good, but arrived rare instead of med-rare and needed to be sent back and cooked up. My airline chicken breast was not good — no trace of the Brie that was supposed to be inside and terribly dried out. Definitely overcooked. While the side dishes were good, they were disappointingly the highlight of my meal instead of the main course. Although we appreciated the tenderloin substitution, it was hard to justify paying per person, before drinks, for what we received on what was supposed to be a special occasion. I doubt we will return — and definitely never again on Valentines Day

The food was excellent. We went for the course dinner for Valentine's Day. I would recommend the restaurant. We intend to go back and try their regular menu