Trattoria L' Italiano — Restaurant in Municipio de San Carlos de Bariloche

Have you ever left a restaurant feeling so mad and disrespected that you couldn't wait to get home to write a review? This is my first negative review of any establishment.

Everything was normal up until we asked for our food to go and to receive the bill. Five minutes goes by, then 15, then 20.. We were in a hurry, so we asked if everything was ok. The waiter tells us that they are cooking our food. What? Cooking our food before boxing it up? The waiter told us that the kitchen had THROWN OUT one of the meals and they needed to cook us a new batch. Finally they brought us our food wrapped. That was the first issue. The second issue happened right as my girlfriend was sitting in a Taxi waiting for me to sign. The waiter refused to try to talk to me because I do not speak english and demanded that my girlfriend leave the taxi to come back. The OWNER accidentally added a 600 peso tip to the bill causing the meal to more than double.

My vexation is not from a kitchen mistake or an accident on the check. We are understandable people. The sources of astonishment come from the owner's remarks while trying to resolve the issue. Here are his comments to us:

1. I am sorry but there is nothing I can do [about the credit card machine being slow], if you are in a rush, you can just pay the $1200 [including his $600 peso mistake].

GOT IT, so first you make a mistake and then tell us that if we are in a rush to pay for his mistake.

2. You must be coming from the first world, so you've never witnessed mistakes before. (How incredibly rude. I guess all people from the first world are inscrutable people. Also, Bariloche is first world...)

3. All the food that goes to the kitchen is thrown out. (ok so what about food that is asked to be wrapped?)

Seriously, a simple sorry would...

One star is too many. If I have a bad eating experience somewhere I always go back a second time if I can before I submit a review. And hence I had a bad experience here a few days ago and returned this evening. Central to a competent Italian restaurant is the ability to cook pasta properly. They’ve failed already if they can’t do that. Last Wednesday the spaghetti was over cooked and the accompanying seafood was bland. So tonight. I ordered lasagne and a glass of red wine and water. The lasagne was watery and terrible. I ordered a glass of red wine. It had sediment in it so I left the last bits of the drink. Nothing wrong with that all. That’s normal. But when I ordered a second glass of red wine the waiter served in the same glass with the sediment intact! Like really?

The garlic butter accompanying the bread was dried around the edges. It had clearly done some rounds around the various tables the last 24 hours or so.

There is no skill in the chef, no care in the table staff and no passion in whoever owns this place. In fact if the owner sees this,I’m in Bariloche till Saturday and would be happy to meet and...

Unfortunately, my experience was far from satisfactory.

The spaghetti Bolognese had a sauce that was watery and less meat. spaghetti noodle was so soft 😣. The spaghetti carbonara was equally disappointing, with a sauce that was too watery just like milk, drowning out the subtle flavors. I added more salt, olive oil, parmesan to make barely eatable. The Caesar salad was another letdown. The lettuce was not fresh, and the dressing was too much cheesy and chicken was over fried, lacking the tangy zest that makes a Caesar salad special. It seemed like an afterthought rather than a carefully crafted dish.

Adding to the poor quality of the food, the dining area had an uncomfortable odor that was hard to ignore. It was a mix of stale air and cleaning chemicals, which made the entire experience even less enjoyable.

Overall, this restaurant failed to meet even basic expectations for these classic dishes. I would not recommend it to anyone looking for a...