Via Locusta - Philadelphia

Food great, portions terrible! Felt like we got ripped off!I always love trying a new place during restaurant week in Philly. The menu looked good here, so I decided to give it a try. It was $45pp and would be served family style, so me and my guest had to agree on each course to order. We placed our order and the waitress asked if we also wanted the foccacia bread. I asked if it was included, it wasn 't, but we decided to try it out anyway. The bread was really good and the honey butter was a great pairing. After we ate that she starting bringing out our courses. The fried zucchini (a little salty was a decent portion. Then she brought our side (Brussel sprouts and pasta (agnolotti courses. My guest and I looked at each other like that 's it? I said something to our waitress and she admitted the portions are on the small side, but that was an understatement. The Brussels were cut in half, so in total we may have literally had 5 on the plate. The manager I guess heard my comment so he brought us out another smaller bowl of pasta to try and make up for it. BUT then we were served our main dish (branzino and it was ONE filet. Like wouldn 't one normal portion be one filet? Why are you serving us portions for one person and it 's supposed to be family style? Then the icing on the cake was the dessert was advertised as an olive oil cake, but instead we were served this super small jar of caramel pudding...that we were supposed to share. They left two spoons on the table and we couldn 't even fit two spoons in there at the same time. Absolutely ridiculous. The whole point of restaurant week is to market your business by offering a great deal and enticing people to come back. Instead, they tried to get away with charging for two people, but only serving enough for one person. If it wasn 't for the bread (which was extra! we would 've still been hungry! The food itself was good, but the skimping on the portions and trying to get over on us really ruined the experience. And given the food was good, I 'd be tempted to give it another chance but now I don 't even know what the real portion sizes may be, so don 't want to risk it. We spent $145 total to leave not even full. Such a waste.

I love it here! Max is a great bartender—drinks were lovely. It’s so pretty inside. Food was great. Never want to leave!!

The highlight of our trip to Philly! So good we came two nights in a row. Everything was outstanding but especially loved the focaccia with honey butter, and the agnolotti. Ambience is perfect and service was fast and

Fantastic food, cocktails, service for a little celebration. We hit a home run with the Tasting Menu. Not the least expensive not out by a long way, but really one of the most memorable. Props to Max and his creativity at the bar.

My spaghetti and crab was entirely underwhelming. The flavor was a bit on the bland side. The pasta texture was phenomenal.Also they gave us a mozzarella ball with nothing to eat it with. Nothing to dip or spread it onto.If you’re visiting during a heat wave, I’d advise against it. The dining area was uncomfortably warm.The server was nice.