Pizzeria Il Mare — Restaurant in Vienna

We've been to this restaurant several times, and the food is consistently good, and usually served promptly. This evening, we had another great meal.

It's fair though to note that the overall service here is usually a bit lacklustre. Most of the waitstaff seem to approach their job with minimal enthusiasm — no smiles, little energy, and a general air of "you're interrupting me" when you try to catch their attention for something. It's a long-established restaurant in Vienna, well-known, and clearly not under much pressure to improve.

But! A special mention is due: tonight we were served by Roberto, a younger waiter who stood out immediately. Dynamic, friendly, genuinely enthusiastic, and attentive throughout — exactly how great service should feel! Nothing was ever a problem, and he carried himself with pride and purpose in his work. Frankly, if I were running a restaurant, I'd have tried to hire him on the spot.

So, full marks for the excellent food and fast service. And a huge thank you to Roberto for reminding us how much a great waiter can elevate the entire dining experience. If the rest of the team followed his lead, this place would be...

A disgrace in every way possible. Indifferent service and a an insult to Italian cuisine. The the food is so bad that I thought someone was playing a practical joke on me... but there were no cameras to be found.

The first bad sign was that the soda citron was just sparkling water with one limp slice of lemon. Ok maybe they dropped the ball on that one next up is the Spinaci pizza, well it was salty and underwhelming, no flavor profile to speak of, cardboard like crust and flavorless mozzarella.

But the real star of the show was their special "Polenta alla Venziana", the polenta was stale and the calamari cold. We took one bite and told them, because this may have been the most blatantly bad dish I have ever tasted in a restaurant and instead of offering a refund or to replace the dish, their response was indifference. Well indifference to this restaurant is the best way to make your voice heard if you care about good...

We had an amazing dining experience at this restaurant. It is clearly a popular restaurant in the area, with a number of return locals who were known to the staff coming in.

That said, a number of walk in tourist groups were there too, including us.

We were served promptly, then found an English speaking staff member, who I assume was the brother of the first waiter.

The restaurant is very evidently a family owned and run business.

The food was amazing. The woodfired pizza was super fresh, and juicy, and flavoursome. The carbonara and other pasta dishes were among the best we had whilst in Europe, and overall we were happy with the bill at the end.

The staff were talkative, but not intrusive, and it was fun being involved in their conversations as they made the pizzas in the same room.

Would 100% recommend to anyone looking for some Italian...