Toscana

Went to Toscana to celebrate my wife's birthday, I mentioned this in the reservation.
To our surprise there was a birthday card wishing my wife a happy birthday when we arrived at the table.
We started with the Beef Carpaccio (wife LOVED IT) and Bruschetta (I wish the menu had stated it came with balsamic vinegar). For main dishes my wife ordered the Mare (LOVED IT) and I ordered the Pollo Medici (REALLY GOOD).
Overall a great dinner and the staff were fantastic.
I would recommend for a special occasion or family celebration.

Excellent service and wonderful Italian meal.
Came here with my colleagues for dinner.
They were extremely busy which was a great sign.
We got one of each appetizer and were all delicious.
I ended up ordering the halibut special with crab meat and pasta.
Halibut was perfectly seared and cooked.
Looking around at empty plates everyone else liked it as well.
Dessert wise the canolli was my favorite.
Flavorful but not too overtly sweet.
Awesome little Italian gem here in Charlotte.

Yet another unfortunate experience at Toscana.
Really unsure if I will return to what used to be one of my favorite spots for high-end Italian food and dining experiences in Charlotte.
About 3+weeks ago, I went in person to make reservations for a special birthday celebration, asking that our reservation be for a table in the back room so it would be quieter.
Upon arriving for dinner recently, we were taken to a table in the middle of the restaurant near the very noisy bar area.
I mentioned that we had requested a table in the back room and the hostess indicated that a family with young children had come in for dinner and asked to be seated there so their children could run around and be noisy while the parents ate dinner.
The hostess indicated that she would be happy to seat us in the back room, but upon walking back there, it was what the hostess indicated.
Unbelievable that parents would do that at a high end restaurant like Toscana, but even more unbelievable that Toscana would allow that - including basically "closing" off the back room from other guests who could have enjoyed a nice evening in a less than noisy bar atmosphere.
Service (waiter was Ryan) was solid, but the food (albeit the prices are on the higher end) the quality is in no way reflective of the price point.
One last point, it felt as if we were being rushed throughout the dinner - as soon as you took the last bite of your food on your plate (and often while food was still on your plate), servers (who seemed to be hovering over our table) would ask (or simply do so without even asking) to remove your plate, thus giving the feeling of constantly being rushed through the meal.
One of the things I truly enjoyed about dining in Italy, was the relaxing meals that would last several hours.
So although Toscana is trying to give the feeling of dining in Italy, the experience of a relaxing meal, the quality of the Italian food and so much more is clearly missing the mark.
Such a shame that Toscana has declined in its past status of a great Italian dining experience and that the Conte Group has let Toscana drop to this level.