Bella Cosi — Restaurant in Melbourne

After being to this cafe many times over last few years, even buying earrings that owner was selling, I was so upset about today’s food, excessive add on pricing and rude service from the Owner Marisa. A toastie and cup of tea at $29 !!!! Plus when I questioned at end I was told if I didn’t like it, to not come back !!!

I ordered an avocado and cheese toastie at $16 and asked for extra tomato & no butter on toast. Plus lemongrass ginger tea with honey. The toastie was small, and very dry. I presumed the chef would have put some olive oil or another oil on bread to replace butter like other cafes do. I kindly asked the owner Marisa if I could please get a little olive oil as bread so dry. She brought over a little and I also asked for the honey for tea which she had forgotten. She didn’t even bring a little serve of honey but instead squeezed a tiny drop of honey into my cup which I had already drunk from…. !! Plus i had a pot of tea and would need more honey ….. and at this point couldn’t even bother complaining. Plus tea was lukewarm… how hard can it be to serve hot tea. Anyway my little serve of olive oil came which was pale and not extra virgin but it did the job of moistening the very dry toastie.

Then I went to pay the owner started adding it all up and charged $29. I questioned the extras and she stated it was $4.50 extra for what was 2 thin slices of tomato and extra $2 for the olive oil and extra $1 For a drop of honey (most cafes include honey when they are charging $5.50 for tea). When I stated that seemed excessive as it means I was paying $22.50 for a small toastie … and anyway the oil replaced the butter so shouldn’t be extra… and I had to ask for oil as toastie was so dry. Rather than apologies re dry toastie and charging a reasonable amount for extra 2 tomato slices The owner got angry and proceeded to tell me if I didn’t like it, to not come back. I was horrified at the attitude and condescension and stated that if a customer questions you re $29 for toastie and cup of tea there is no need to be rude …. and that I definitely wouldn’t be back and neither would my friends.

Marisa was rude, overcharged and other times when my friends and I had been in there to have a relaxing brunch, she would put us under pressure to buy the other stuff she sells and sometimes we would buy it. However, there is clearly something wrong when you can’t even complain about the food or service without her becoming abrasive and rude…. I see other negative reviews from customers who have also been rudely treated when they complain about something ….NEVER AGAIN …. AS I HAVE NEVER BEEN TREATED LIKE THIS and won’t support a business that mistreats customers when they question or complain …there are plenty of nice cafes with lovely customer service and most importantly, they are still lovely when you complain and They apologise and fix the issue. Great customer experience is all...

Very disappointing - 1st time (& last time) patron. We were a large group of 9 visiting for brunch. Upon stepping into the premises to inquire about a table we were strongly commanded (not politely asked) to stay outside as they were too busy inside. After 5 minutes of standing outside in the cold I again stepped in to grab a menu and was again sternly told to stay outside and that they will bring everything soon. We waited patiently outside in the cold for about 10 minutes until finally the waitress ventured outside, with glasses and menu's in hand, and as she started placing the items on the table, she very rudely and sternly stated that although it doesn't look it - it's very very busy inside (not outside) and we will have to wait. Very politely I started to ask her if they were 'too' busy for a large group but before even finishing the sentence she abruptly declared that if we didn't like it we should go somewhere else! Without even flinching and in a uninterrupted rhythmic motion she started to grab the glasses and menu's - that was it - all over!! Not sure why the staff were so rude and unprofessional especially to first time patrons. Shocked and disappointed, we walked a block down the road and found another cafe (with same view if not better), very polite staff and great food. They even asked us both during and after meal if we were happy with the food and service - imagine that - what a difference! We spent over $250 that morning and have returned weekly since and spent more money (and were welcomed back...

What a trap this place is. I went for lunch recently to Bella cosi with some friends and was lured into ordering the ‘fresh’ not ‘frozen’ calamari by the waitress. I was surprised given the Italian like setting that the menu was predominantly Greek. Whilst waiting for our meals our table conversation was interrupted by a sales pitch by the waitress for some earrings supposedly from Santorini. I thought we were in a restaurant not a shop. At first glance our meals looked good, but this was a mirage. The calamari was so tough a knife couldn’t cut through it. My friend’s salad was adorned with brown sad looking avocado, another friends open souvlaki contained grey and fatty meat and was inedible. The waitress didn’t really pick up on the fact that we’d barely touched our meals however when we were asked about how delicious our ‘fresh’ calamari was we had to say something. Feedback was well received and a small cake was brought out to try and make amends for our disappointment. Whilst we were finishing our complimentary cake a pungent aroma started permeating the restaurant. A fragrant incense was burning which, surprise surprise, turned out to be another item for sale! After we politely declined this latest offer we requested the bill. When we discovered the price of our meals we were in bill shock. This is not the reasonably priced establishment; high end prices. I would steer clear...