Lou M.
Yelp
Osteria Basilico came highly recommended from a friend and as my two friends and I were starving we decided to give it a try! When first arriving to the restaurant we were kindly greeted by a waiter. He informed us that due to covid and keeping a safe distance between tables, he is unable to seat us inside but would be able to seat us outside. We were very happy with the fact that the restaurant was taking the necessary measures to protect its customers from covid. We happily agreed to sit outside. We started our dinner with a Bruschetta al Pomodoro fresco e Basilico which was done and presented very well. We then had a mushroom pasta which did not taste good nor bad, a bit tasteless. Alongside that we had the rocket salad & cherry tomatoes which was great. Unfortunately the mixed salad was not the same. The mixed salad was just a bunch of bad quality vegetables put into a bowl. Now for the main course! As there was three of us, we ordered one Bisteccha alla Fiorentina and one Tagliata di Manzo con Olio alle Erbe. Let me first start with the Bisteccha alla Fiorentina, when first looking at the steak something did not look right, but we wanted to try it before saying anything. After we all ate a piece of the steak we knew that something was not right. To begin with, the quality of meat was terrible, it tasted more like a meat loaf than steak. The outside color of the steak looked extremely light. My friends and I are no steak experts but we each enjoy cooking a fair share of steaks. We all came to the same conclusion, the steak was taken directly out of the freezer and was immediately grilled. The Tagliata di Manzo con Olio alle Erbe and the mashed potatoes were both brought out cold. Out of the main course the only item that came out hot was the French fries. After we had finished eating what we could of the food, we asked a waiter if he could please call the lady who served us. After waiting 10 minutes nobody came. We asked another waiter if he could do the same, he immediately turned around and informed us he is the manager. When we began explaining the issues we with the food, he immediately became very defensive, aggressive and began arguing with us. He continued going back forth, not letting us fully explain what the problems were. He began telling us that we are wrong and that the food was cold because we are sitting outside and did not eat it fast enough. In order to calm him down, we informed him that we are not looking for a discount or to have anything removed from the bill. We explained that we are simply informing him because a friend of ours highly recommended the place (pre-covid) and we just wanted to inform him in order to help the place improve. After the discussion went nowhere we decide to ask for the bill. The manager informed us that he removed the 12.5% service charge because of our complaints. This was truly shocking to us as the service charge is optional to begin with. I would not recommend anyone to opt out of the service charge, but it is always optional. Him removing the service charge was anything but a kind gesture. I do hope that the restaurant gave our waitress some sort of a tip as none of this was her fault and she was very kind. I do they are able to work on their quality and service in order to become as good as it was said to be.