America G.
Yelp
My family and I have been traveling throughout Europe and Italy for many years and we have never received such terrible service and disrespect. Italy is known for having superb restaurant experiences with exemplary respect towards their customers but much to our disappointment, this restaurant did not exhibit any of this but worse.
1) SEATING: We asked to sit at an open table for three closest to the port with a view. The restaurant was not busy and there was no question as to whether we had made reservations. They immediately told us no--without providing any explanation or similar option. Even after asking the man why we couldn't sit there, he just pointed away. Instead, they move us back to a different table. Then as we're sitting down, the owner decides we should be moved back another table towards the rear and further away from the scenery-- the reason we chose to eat there to begin with. My father uses a cane, and is clearly less mobile so by asking us to sit down and stand up several times was not only insensitive to us as hungry customers, but also to my father as a disabled customer. The servers noticed how inconvenient it is to move us again so we remained in our second option; and yet, in spite of this decision made by the waiters, I still had to listen to the owner complain about our "insistence" on staying. I ended up eating my first course meal with the owner staring angrily at me--no respect no peace to eat. Later another group of three sits at the spot we asked for without issue or question.
2) YELLING: My mom orders the Pesce Verde. I order the Carne. When my mom finishes the meal she decides she wants a taste of the meat. She cuts herself a piece and places it on the rim of her finished dish. All hell broke loose. The owner began yelling at my mother for eating a piece of meat on an empty plate that previously had fish. I am aware of cultural differences and Italian rules of etiquette and eating, but our quaint afternoon lunch at this seemingly casual fine dining restaurant turned into an experience of being yelled at and disrespected.
3) The owner can see that we are unhappy but cannot understand why, so he speaks to our waiter, asking him who we are and where we come from. Our family is bilingual American--Spanish and English--and I am conversational proficient in Italian--enough to understand the owner's rants about us. The owner is quick to stereotype who we might be since we speak Spanish but at this point, why should that even matter?
From the start we didn't feel welcomed. I had yelp out on my phone ready to write about my first experience and then experiences 2 and 3 occurred. The waiter covered our entire meal, which should be telling how terrible our experience and treatment was. In the end, not having to pay for our meal was meaningless, we felt utterly disrespected from our entrance to the exit of the restaurant and we would never wish this on anyone else.
How was the food? Well what can you expect from a restaurant on the coastal port of Portofino? Of course it was tasty, but there are many other great restaurants in the area and they most likely have much better service and respect towards their customers.
