Elena's Italian Restaurant, Café, Gelato & Pizzeria

2 months ago

My experience at Elena's was disappointing to say the least, the staff outright ignoring patrons who are asking questions to dine at your establishment is very off putting and body language aloof, this should've been my first clue of what was to come. Anyway because of the Marina views, I decided to give it a try plus the atmosphere was very lively with the many locals it appears comes for their brunch. My server who appeared to be going through something was very unprofessional in her tone as if I was bothering her, eventually sat me at a table by the railing and disappeared...one of her colleagues saw me looking around and assisted then brought a cocktail I ordered. Then I saw my server again 25 minutes later...I proceeded to tell her I'd like to order some lunch...it's now 11:45am, she said its brunch time lunch doesn't start until 12:30pm...attitude still the same, menu still in my hands, she disappeared again. Five minutes later a party of 5 sat down, arms reached from me, she did her thing, she took their order, ain't acknowledged me again...after she'd finished and left the table...I asked someone in the party what did they just ordered? the lady said lunch...I said thank you! I settled back in my seat, its now 12:05pm, server came and took my order...there's so much I wanted to say to this young lady about her unprofessionalism and behavior it was infuriating...I said nothing and proceed to place my order of a salad with grilled chicken. When the food did arrived...it was tasteless with no flavor or dressing, chicken was tough and chewy, I asked the server if she could take the food back in and let the chef cook the chicken some more as it was very chewy...it came back out 10 minutes later, but was just heated up in the microwave basically. Needless to say...If I'm ever in SLU again I would definitely avoid this restaurant, service and food standards is very poor...staff needs training in how to interact with customers, food quality was mediocre for what is suppose to be an Italian restaurant..I say not even close as I've been to many Italian restaurants, the rating given is for the location being on the waterfront...otherwise it would be zero.

5 months ago

Was skeptical after reading the recent one star reviews but my daughter really wanted pizza so we gave it a try. We walked in the front, the gentleman told us pick a a table and make ourselves at home. Once seated near the water the waiter was there taking drink orders. Once the drinks arrived we ordered our pizzas. Within 30min both were brought to our table. Overall I'm glad we decided to not let others one star reviews sway us away. We were in and out under an hour. The gelato/waffle cone is also extremely delicious. A++ all the way around!!!!

a year ago

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ I've been on the island for just 2 weeks and guess what? I've already eaten here 4 times 😄🍽️ That should tell you everything! We've tried: 🍕 their yummy pizza 🥞 pancakes for breakfast 🥗 a few fresh salads 🍹 local fruit juices (so good!) 🍦 and of course... the ice cream! 😋 But what really makes Elena's my fave spot isn’t just the food — it’s the location! Sitting by the water, enjoying a meal while watching the boats go by with my kids ⛵👩‍👧‍👦 = vacation magic ✨ Service? Not terrible, but not the highlight either — a little slow and not always the warmest. But honestly, the view and food keep us coming back. Pretty sure we’ll sneak in another visit before heading home... even if it’s just for a scoop of that ice cream! 🍨☀️

a month ago

Upon visiting this restaurant to collect an order, I waited for more than 10 minutes before I had to approach a staff member to ask for assistance. I was then told that the manager would be helping me. While I was explaining to the manager why I was there, another customer began directing explicit verbal abuse towards me, including insulting comments about my mother. Throughout this incident, the manager made no attempt to de-escalate the situation or intervene. Instead, I was told that it was “between me and him” to resolve ourselves. The lack of customer service and concern for customer safety was extremely disappointing. No customer should be left to deal with harassment from another patron without any support from management. Based on this experience, I would not recommend this establishment to either tourists or returning locals. The level of customer service I received was unacceptable and far below what I would expect from any business.

4 months ago

New Yorker and pizza enthusiast. Stopped here after catamaran tour - no prior knowledge of the place. We were prepared to be completely disappointed but we were starving and options were low bc it was sort of in between lunch and dinner services at the other spots in the marina. Ordered Carbonara, Bolognese, Margharita pizza and St Lucia pizza. Legitimately delicious pizza. It really had no business being this good. And not just bc of low expectations. We would have been happy if it had come out of our local shop in NY. It was genuinely delicious. Highly recommend. Service gets a little lower score. They were very nice and no different than service experience we had across the island. It’s just different. I understand island time. But it’s still just different.