We were so looking forward to the food but our experience was awful. The restaurant is too large with modern decor with hideous red plastic/leatherette chairs but at lunchtime it had no character. There was no background music. The waiter was young and inexperienced. It seems that now that Lidia is famous she is no longer involved in the cooking  so the food is like any larger chain or worse without the quality control. Table cloth was dirty, the staff was not friendly and the decor and furniture were unkept. The best part were the breadsticks and dips with olive oil. Would not recommend it.