This our third time at this restaurant and our experience this time was not what we remember. To start, the hostess seemed frazzled, when we came in, I had open the door for my wife and the hostess cut in front of her. I ordered a drink that they got wrong 3 times, by the 3rd time I just took it because it had been 20+ minutes since I ordered. We ordered the 3-course meal. The Bolognese tasted great, the Risotto was OK. When it came to dessert, we ordered the Chocolate Cake which was tasty and the Tiramisu which was awful, no taste whatsoever. On a positive note, our waitress, Allison, was great. Very attentive and apologetic for the drink issue. read more

Really great staff. Fun happy hour selections and a great wine list. Add to that the consistent high quality of the food and you have our must stop for both Ballard and Kirkland. Little secret, late happy hour half price Single Malt Scotch. Going back and back. read more

The first couple of times I ate here, I really liked it. Have been here for lunch, dinner and happy hour. Was there last night for happy hour again. Nice service -- our waiter was very attentive and timely. Unfortunately, the menu has become very stale. They have been serving the exact same things for happy hour now for 3 years. Really needs a revamp and some new items. Last night the food seemed very lack-luster, under-seasoned and just not that impressive. Think I probably won't be going back. read more

Yelp & maps say open until 11pm but told they close at 10pm even as there are people in the restaurant and bar and bartender is mixing drinks. Clearly they don't care about potential customers. Given the impression that we were a bother and that they needed to chase us out and lock the door (which the bartender did promptly at 10:25pm). read more

We just had an absolutely wonderful meal at Volterra. We went in for Happy Hour and the prices are so reasonable. Our server Steven went above and beyond to make our experience absolutely wonderful. The Spinach Gnocchi was delicious as were all of the dishes we had. We will absolutely be back. read more

We love coming here and having dinner at the bar. Super friendly staff, great cocktails and their Lamb Meatballs are amazing.

After reading many outstanding reviews we decided to celebrate New Years Eve as a party of 4 at Volterra. The pre fix menu was $90 pp, and offered several options. Unfortunately, we were less than impressed, we were very disappointed. We ordered a variety of items and found most of the choices to be marginal. We understand that restaurants are not always on point on major holidays, but it was not that busy. The wait staff was ok, but inattentive considering the $800 bill. Not once did the waiter inquire if we were enjoying our meal. Given that 2 of the main entrees were barely touched, it was obvious we didn't enjoy the meal. In fairness the wild boar was very good, but the halibut, risotto and lamb were marginal at best. read more

Came with friend for restaurant week. Awesome food, good ambience, and efficient service. I'd recommend the lamb shank and chocolate cake with gelato. read more

Volterra - lamb shank - Italian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

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Food 4 stars Service 1 to 3 stars Overall 1 star. A wonderful night ruined by the service experience. This is really too bad. I wanted to like the restaurant. I went to Volterra with the girls to celebrate a girlfriend's birthday. Volterra took us on a roller coaster ride of experience. Below is the sequence of events. 1: (good) I walked into a lovely modern atmosphere. First thought was, I have to come back with hubby on a date night. 2: (bad) My friends that arrived before me informed me that there is a surcharge of $3 per person cake cutting fee. This charge still applies even if we cut the cake ourselves because they have to supply the plates. Total cake cutting fee for six girls would be more than the cost of the cake. This is very unusual charge for a fine restaurant. 3: (good) Friendly waiter, great appetizers and wine recommendation, great first bites. Highlights were mushroom salad, polenta, eggplant ravioli, handmade fettuccini noodles. I described the restaurant as the best homemade pasta you can get on the Eastside. 4: (bad) A friend found a cardboard in her pasta. They politely took it back and offered to replace her entree. Minutes later, another friend found a stretchy string in her pasta. Again, they politely took it back. 5: (bad to worse) They replaced both full size pastas with appetizer size. This is the first for me in a restaurant. Very unusual and disappointing in such a upscale restaurant to do such a thing. 6: (trying for redemption) After pointing out what they did was wrong, and discussing amongst ourselves that I would be writing a yelp review which they overheard, they gave us free birthday tiramisu, waived cake cutting fee, and gave us complimentary coffee and tea. 7: (bad ending) They charged us for one of the replacement dishes, and the meal ended with a spider hanging on a pendant light, hovering over my friend's head. Overall, there did not appear to be a general manager in the house. I believe the person who was in charge was a lead hostess. She left before our check came. I came home and shared my experience with hubby. He used words like perhaps we were unfairly targeted because we were Asians or that the way they treated us was like we were low class criminals, as if we planted the foreign objects in our dishes. He stated that he will not go to the restaurant with me in the future for a date night. (I recently reviewed another restaurant solely based on the food even though I found a hair in my dish. They handled it properly. I could have given Volterra 4 stars and forget about the foreign objects found if they handled the situation right.) read more

When I found out that Volterra had branched out of its' Ballard location, I was thrilled!! But, after trying the Kirkland location twice now, I have come to the conclusion that there restaurants share nothing but the name. I came here once for dinner, and another time for lunch during the Dine Around Seattle (3 courses for 15). However, each time I was disappointed with lack of flavors or too salty. Nothing wowed me, like the Ballard restaurant has done before. To be honest, I can't even remember the dishes I had because there were that unmemorable. However, the one thing I do remember is that I will not be coming back to the Kirkland loaction, at least. read more

We generally go to the Volterra in Ballard which we love. This new Kirkland one has some kinks to work out. 1. Acoustic are horrendously bad. While they do play music, who can hear anything but the base. As a matter of fact, who can even hear what the server is saying let alone the person sitting within earshot of you. Its LOUD. Did I say LOUD?? 2. The servers need to learn some of the basics, like when you bring the second glass of wine, you take away the empty glass? Or not reaching across a person's space when serving someone else. Walk around the table, serve the dish to their left. This is waiter 101. We can put up with a lot of fundamental restaurant protocols but when you can't enjoy a romantic dinner because its WAY too loud, is something is left to be desired. Also, please remove the blue duct tape from the white wall tile. Looks strange. Other than that we thoroughly enjoyed the house salad and the fish stew. Place has promise but we wont return till the acoustics have been greatly improved. Thank you, Yin Yang Reviewers read more

I have called a couple times to order take out. I was first told they don't do it on a Friday night because they get too busy. I went to eat at the bar and they weren't that busy. Food was good. I called again on a Sunday night, the hostess checked with the kitchen and was told they weren't going to allow it tonight. Maybe remove the 'Take out - YES' read more

Came highly recommended but even my friends didn't care for the new menu. Ordered from the happy hour menu: Mussels and clams: in tomato base. Lots of slivers of garlic. Flavor was off, watered down. Potato Spears: spendy for sure. Translated to $1 per piece. There were 7. Blood orange martinis were flavorful but conservative. Can't say I'll return in spite of the free bread, olive oil and fennel seasoned salt. read more

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It's always uncertain how an extension of a fave restaurant is going to do. The Hostesses could not have been better. I'd like to tip them directly for their effort if I could in finding our [last-minute] group of 8 a table on a packed Saturday night. I mean, these ladies went above and beyond to make it happen. Our server was great though others at the table would have disagreed. He made a few blunders but none of them I'd have noticed had others not pointed it out. Overall the food was on par with the Ballard location, the ambiance was great, and I think it's a wonderful addition in a happening area. Might sound vanilla but sometimes vanilla is just what you need in knowing you'll get a sure thing. read more

We love the food at Volterra and dine there frequently, always in the bar area. On Saturday we had reservations because we wanted to take some friends to one of our favorite spots. The food was delicious. The way the staff treated us, however, was downright insulting. The table that they had ready for us was extremely cramped for four and was the closest table to the bathroom. It's also right next to the kitchen, so it was very hectic. When we got there we asked if there were any other tables and the answer was a flat "no." There was no offer to accommodate, no validation or our feelings about it being a terrible table, thanking us for being frequent guests, nothing... just a no, take it or leave it. I suggested a couple of things and was literally told a flat "no." Because the food is so good and we were unlikely to find a table anywhere else on a Saturday night, we squeezed into the table by the bathrooms. Things improved from there but then we had an incident where, because the table was so cramped, we tipped over a half full $15 cocktail and the glass broke. While the server very promptly cleaned up the glass, there was no offer to replace the drink.. even partially. This stuff matters. We just came from Napa where we had excellent and friendly service. Our Volterra experience reminded us that we were back home. read more

Woot! Digging Volterra and can't be happier they've opened up a location in Kirkland. My general problem with Kirkland is that the restaurants and bars are either super old and charming, or too cookie cutter and bland.... Or they try too hard. You never hear people say "oh man, we need to go to that restaurant in Kirkland to eat XXXX." Kirkland hasn't been known as a foodie spot for some time now and I feel that the coming of Volterra has helped add some of that missing charm and with a decent menu. Great ambience and layout. Very chic and swanky and fits perfectly into the scene. Very busy and packed which showed they are definitely getting their love. Sat at the bar with a friend and the service was impeccable. The bartenders were friendly and very knowledgeable about their bourbons and wines. (Great date spot btw if you're planning something in K-Town). Tried the polenta with mushrooms and have to say that it was crazy delicious. The bruschetta was average but that was ok. My only feedback was that I wish they had more wine by the glass selections. Otherwise they have a pretty good wine selection by the bottle. Would buy again. // read more

My boyfriend and I have been to Volterra twice now. The first trip was great! The food and service were both excellent! However, our last visit on Sunday, April 12th was a terrible dining experience. We have been on a diet for the past month and decided to allow ourselves one nice cheat day since we had been doing so well. The first place I thought of was Volterra because I had fallen in love with their fuscili pasta with pesto cream sauce and it sounded like the perfect fattening cheat day treat. I booked our reservation on Wednesday to make sure we had a seat. This place is small and fills up pretty quick. We showed up on Sunday and were seated right away... That's where the good times stopped. Our waiter was a very rude man with a grey goatee. I can't even tell you his name because he never introduced himself. He asked us for drink orders and we let him know we were ready to order. I asked for the fuscili pasta and was surprised when he said "oh I think we our out of that" let me check. I mean it was 6:45 on a Sunday. He came back and confirmed they were out and my heart sunk. I had been looking forward to that all week. What followed was even worse. The waiter never apologized for running out and didn't even help me pick out something else from the menu. He acted like it was rude for me to even ask for more time to decide. I ended up getting the Wilde boar with gorgonzola sauce and my boyfriend got the lamb ragu. When the waiter brought the food he reversed the dishes but plopped it down so fast we didn't have time to have him switch it so we had to awkwardly trade plates ourselves. I always ask for cracked pepper but none was offered and he never came back to check how we were doing so I never had the chance to ask. He never even asked us how our food was! Mine was alright but very small. The ragu was delicious but you can get the same thing at Brix which is about a mile away and it's half the price (and better in my opinion). I finished my wine and it sat empty for almost my entire meal. The waiter came back and dropped the dessert spoons but again didn't stay long enough for me to ask for more wine or anything else. He finally came back to ask me if I wanted another drink but by that point all I wanted was a box for my left overs and to get the hell out of there. We felt extremely unwelcomed and actually uncomfortable. I asked for the box for my food and asked that my dessert be boxed as well. He replied " well they have already plated the dessert".... As if that matters! By that point I was ready to create a scene but my boyfriend pacified me and got the bill. We left a 10% tip on our $100 meal. Which was too generous since we barely saw our waiter and when we did he was being a jackass. I will not be returning to Volterra EVER. I guess I will just make my own fuscili pasta from now on. read more

Went there a couple weeks ago and ordered linguine w clams and the seasonal dessert. Linguine had absolutely no flavor and probably the least tasteful Italian dish I've ever had. I was thoroughly disappointed and had to come home and eat something after spending a good amount of money. We were there celebrating a friends birthday and 3 out of 4 were not happy with their meal. The seasonal dessert which included grilled nectarines, were very sour. Very disappointing read more

I didn't want to write this on Yelp, but I thought the owners might want to know, so I tried sending an email to the address on their website. It apparently isn't a valid address, so I'm posting here. Sorry. I had dinner here last night at about 6:45. It was the first time for both my companion and I. We were both disappointed. The restaurant was nice looking, and the service was great, but the food was not. The bright spot was the beet salad, which we both loved. We both chose the wild boar entree from the Dine Around Seattle menu. It was okay. The fingerling potatoes were lukewarm and hard as a rock. They might have been good at one point, but they seemed to have been sitting around for quite a long time. The delicata squash was NOT good. It looked like it was haphazardly sliced by a cheap food processor. It was cool. Not an attractive dish at all, not particularly flavorful, and it seemed strange that the skin was left on. We each had the pear dessert, which was also okay, but our waiter told us it was being cooked as we waited, yet it was barely warm when it reached our table. I'm sure Volterra can do better, but I won't likely be back. I really wanted to like this restaurant, but I don't. read more

We decided to have a nice Sunday dinner here. The Kirkland location was pretty nice, very clean and cozy. We had made reservations and were seated right away upon arrival. Our server Rachel was very friendly and engaging. She went through the menu and specials. We opted for the Dine Around Seattle Menu. I ordered a Peach and Thyme Bellini, it was an okay drink you couldn't taste the peach at all. Rachel brought bread and olive oil out, she mentioned that they make their bread unsalted because its meant to be used with the house made fennel salt. I poured some olive oil out and sprinkled some of the salt over it. The combo of olive oil and salt with the bread was excellent! It was rich and savory and very hard to stop eating. The bread itself was great, chewy and soft, it went well with the meal. I started with the Wilted Chicory with White Anchovies. It was a flavor explosion in my mouth. The salty anchovies paired well with the warm chicory, it was the perfect salty and savory bite. Mike (my bf) got the roasted cauliflower and it was amazing! Perfectly cooked and you can't really go wrong with fried prosciutto. For my entree I got the Wild Prawns with Fingerling Potatoes which was a good dish. The prawns were cooked perfectly and came with a nice sauce. Mike ordered the Wild Boar Tenderloin, which was pretty awesome. I think I actually liked his entree more than mine. The Gorgonzola sauce went so well with the boar and it melted in your mouth. It was nice that it wasn't too gamey either because boar can be gamey sometimes. His Yukon potatoes were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.. I liked it better than my fingerling potatoes. For dessert I opted for the Tiramisu, which was good. It had nice coffee flavor and was light and rich in all the right places. Mike ordered the chocolate orange cake, it was a bit rich for me and I'm not a huge fan of orange with chocolate. We had a really good time here. Good food and nice service. The parking is convenient as they have their own garage. My only complaint is the space is rather small so I can see how it can feel crowded when it gets too busy. The seats are very close together, so your basically eating dinner with the couple next to you... It's a bit awkward...other than that I'm a fan. read more

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Came for Dine Around Seattle. Underwhelmed with the food. Server was rude, made my party and I feel as though we were inconveniencing her. Food was overpriced, and overall not worth as the portions are very small. read more

Bad service at the bar! Really upset. We went after work for couple drinks and appetizers, everyone is disappointed read more

This place was hyped up to be super special, romantic spot with amazing food. Not so much..... We were greeted and lead to our seats, smooshed so close to our neighbors that all could hear our / their conversations. Dinner; Salmon - plain, slightly overlooked. Not well seasoned at all. Disappointment. Noodles - limpy, not very interesting, boring. Wine selection - nice options, but again, nothing you can't get somewhere else. Desert - was written up as a warm oozing chocolate cake. What it was really was a coolish (temp) brownie with solid cool ooze on the inside. Not so great. We left saying we were glad we finally tried it, but confirmed we wouldn't go back. And, the next day that decision was solidly confirmed when I checked my bank account. I had 2 charges. One, correct charge for our dinner. Two, $355 for someone else's dinner. I called. Manager called back promptly explaining he would figure out the mishap. He called a bit later to say that our waiter 'had told us' that he accidentally ran my card for a neighboring table, and had immediately reversed it.....that conversation never happened. And, when I inquired why my bank account had two charges, but no credits, the manager explained these reverses take a few to five days to process. Really??!! So I'm out $355 for a until the bank reverses the charge. Furious. So, the managers parting words "I am so sorry, I know you come to our restaurant all the time. I recognize you. I will make it up to you next time you are in". Uh no, that's the first and the last time I will be in....... read more

The boss took us out here for a lunch meeting. I didn't know it even existed! Oh, what I'd been missing. Our server was great, and made excellent suggestions. I ended up ordering the portabello sandwich, giving my tummy a little celebration. A couple of us also got the frescas, which were mocktails they created. After overhearing me mention that I had just had a birthday, our server brought out a big slice of tiramisu at the end of the meal. Not some mediocre store-bought tiramisu. This was probably the best I'd ever tasted. Overall, I love Volterra and hope to return very soon. read more

Tried this place for restaurant week. The service was great and the ambiance and music was perfect. Had the cauliflower, lamb shank and mascarpone. The lamb and polenta was perfectly cooked but was a lacking in salt and seasonings. The mascarpone, however, was perfection. My husband had the lamb meatballs, boar and chocolate cake (which I of course also tried) and they were all delicious. FYI portion sizes are large so come with an appetite! read more

Went to Volterra for lunch, since the lunch menu for Restuarant week looked great. Got there and the doors were shut. Looks like false advertising. Disappointing since I went out of my way for this with 4 other people. Net/net, don't go to Volterra. Its not open when they claim it is. read more

I've been privileged to dine at both the Ballard and Kirkland locations as well as a private dinner event in Ballard but you cannot go wrong at either. The salads, especially the charred pear and fig as well as the Caesar are excellent! As are the mussels and sausage if you aren't into a salad. For dinner any of the pasta's are fantastic, my favorites are the lamb ragu and the pork jowls with mushrooms are excellent but so is the sausage risotto. For entree's I always seem to gravitate to the wild boar tenderloin, jumbo prawns or the lamb shank. Again, you cannot go wrong with any of them, seriously. Do yourself a favor if you are in the area of either location, mangiare! read more

Came here on a whim because the place we originally had planned on going to had over an hour wait on a Tuesday! We were sat immediately and service was very professional and attentive. Great wine selection! I had crab ravioli and husband had a vegetarian dish. Creamy tomato sauce was very good, the portion of ravioli looks small to begin with, but the crab was very rich so actually hard to finish all of it. I think my husband would probably order something different next time, however his pasta was still perfectly done. I'm sure we will be back at some point. read more

Kirkland's newest restaurant is on point to become my new favorite date/girls/fun/drinks/whatever spot. Loving the vibe here with champagne cocktails and well-rounded wine menu & a interesting menu...finally! Volterra is on Kirkland Ave just up the street from the water. It's small space is just big enough to accommodate, and not too large that it lacks attitude and a lil' swagger. (*chandelier at entrance romantic and swanky). Bar area is begging for girl's night out. My champagne cocktail (thanks to James!) was delish. Smiling service was sweet and attentive. The receipt had our names on it (novel and cute!) Favorites: Beets + arugula salad with asiago. Prawns w/ black pepper linguini Can't wait to go back and try one of everything else. Voterra will be a staple in Kirkland in *NO* time. Just opened, expect a tad bit of a wait. Well worth it. read more

I have loved this restaurant from the beginning. The last two times I went in before the pandemic, I was surprised by the crankiness of our server and our meals were not what we had become accustomed to. We are going to try then again for take-out. Hopefully they just had a couple bad nights. read more

I ordered the seafood stew and it was incredible. It was rich and creamy and just the right amount of spice and saffron. I don't normally enjoy how mussels are seasoned, but I ate every last mussel and scooped up as much of the stew as I could fit in my belly! The food itself gets 4 stars, but the environment takes away a huge part. The sound carries really strangely in this place and I found it so hard to have a conversation. The tables were really oddly long and I wasn't able to reach out and touch the person sitting across from me. I don't recommend this place for dates - you really wouldn't be able to hear each other unless you're yelling. The service was fine, but the estimate on wait was really far off! I guess they can't help that - you can't really tell how long or short people will be sitting there. We were told an hour but were pinged maybe 15 minutes later, just as we were next door sitting down for tea. Erf! Ended up having to chuck our tea out. On the flip side, if you need to hang out some place for an actual long wait, the tea joint two doors is a good place to hang out if there's no room in the Volterra bar. Overall, this place is a great addition to downtown Kirkland. Someone with a better idea of of sound physics please give them some tips! read more

Its really 2.5 stars. I loved this place last year when we visited for Seattle Restaurant week, but this year it was just meh ! The menu had been reworked a little, I got the oil soup (yeah), spicy sausage something and the chocolate cake (which was essentially a brownie with vanilla ice cream on top). The oil soup tasted like Indian dal, the spicy sausage thing was good, especially the sausage, however for some reason there were totally unseasoned beans in it which spoilt the taste. I also ordered a fresco drink, last time I ordered I remember there was a nice thyme stick and it looked like the bartender had taken time to make it, this time it was just syrup, ice and water. The service is polite but slow. All in all, not very memorable. read more

I'd give them no stars if I could. The pic of the their sign is the closest we got to Volterra. The restuarant was completely empty at 5pm but we learned that the ENTIRE place was reserved for a large party. We couldn't sit in the bar because my daughter is under age. Really? The entire restuarant reserved? Sorry Volterra, definitely not acceptable. read more

Volterra - Only got to see the entry of Volterra. The entire place (accept the bar) was reserved. NOT acceptable. - Italian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

Long ago we went to the original Volterra location in Ballard (and last summer we went to the namesake city in Tuscany), and it was nice, so when we needed dinner last night, we were happy to find that they have spread to Kirkland! We shared a starter of tasty, cured meats. The not so hungry wifey then had a burrata with prosciutto, which I stole from and can testify was pretty nice. I picked today's seafood dish, which was scallops with fingerling potatoes and a saffron sauce. Not very Italian, as far as I can tell, but very Pacific Northwest, and tasty. The Valpolicella Classico Superiore that I had a glass of was ok, the Volterra-branded red that the wifey had was good. Prices are not cheap but manageable. A good meal, a place worth returning to. read more

I'd like to give this a two and a half but there was one item that blew my mind. We went here on a regular evening and the first thing to mention is that most of the tables are far too close to each other to have an intimate conversation. We started off with the caprese which was okay. I was expecting to be wowed and I wasn't. I forget what my entree was which is probably not a good sign. My wife had an eggplant ravioli and it came to the table undercooked which was terrible. The service was again, decent - I expected to be wowed but was not. The only reason I am giving this place three stars is that the espresso cocktail was simply divine. It had the right flavour, the nice kick from the coffee, was smooth to drink and had the right texture. Overall, not worth the money in my opinion. read more

We love the Volterra in Ballard, so decided to try the one in Kirkland. The atmosphere is very different. Where the Ballard place is intimate and homey, the Kirland store is contemporary and a bit colder. It wasn't bad, but I prefer the more traditional setting. Regardless of setting, the food was up to the Volterra standard. Everything we got, from the appetizer to the dessert, was top notch. The food was timed to perfection, and served at just the right temperature and freshness. The wine recommendation was spot-on, and the service was attentive but not intrusive. The place is a bit loud when it's full, and the menu is on the spendy side, but I can heartily recommend Volterra Kirland -- if you can't make it to the Ballard location. ;-) read more

Katie S. apparently loves everyone these days... Oh well, the sun is out. Volterra is always top notch! Love the lamb shank! It's my parents favorite restaurant! read more

Volterra - Katie S. strikes again. Recurring theme across all venues... - Italian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

I was pleasantly surprised! We came for the last night of RW and the food was good, the service was good, the place was nice, and the portions were generous (my usual complaint about RW) I tried the cauliflower (tasty! but probably very fattening with all that cream), boar tenderloin (It was a tiny bit more cooked than I'd prefer but it was still very tender so I was impressed), and tiramisu (YUM - can't go wrong here). And again, the plates were very large. My husband got the lamb shank and he couldn't even finish, it was like a pound of lamb shank. I also thought the restaurant had a good ambiance, modern but still felt cozy, not very large. A great spot in downtown Kirkland. I'd come back if I'm in the mood for a nice dinner in the area :) read more

Middling Ambience: 4 Food: 3 Drinks: 3 Value: 2 We came here for the restaurant week and selected their signature dishes, the lamb and the wild boar. We were told that these were the same quality and size as the regular menu (because... restaurants sometimes put out an inferior menu for the special). And even though we were aided by several beers and a couple of glasses of wine, it was still only ho-hum. The meat were not very flavorful and the meat, while nicely cooked, were too lean. The sauces were completely lackluster. The appetizers were decent, as was the desert... but... read more

I came here for happy hour and it was great. I got a few of the appetizers which were spectacular. The polenta, clams, and pasta really hot the spot. The atmosphere is cozy and the pasta of the day was so delicious! read more

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