Cuckoo Trattoria and Pizzeria — Restaurant in Area F (Alberni Highway)

As past reviews have suggested, there seems to be some discrimination towards visible minorities. My partner and I came in the late afternoon yesterday in hopes of having a nice meal.

The host asked us if we would be ok to sit inside; we said sure but quickly noticed the dining room was completely empty when walking in and looked out the window to the patio where everyone else was sitting (everyone else was older white folks). Before even sitting or putting our stuff down at the table, we asked if we could also sit outside, noting how nice their patio area is, and the host said “Sorry that section is closed right now.” We didn’t question it, and sat down alone in an empty dining room, watching the four staff members on stand around and chat, and couldn’t help but feel singled out as we noticed that food was continually being brought out to the guests in the patio (which was about half full), and no more than ten minutes later an older couple was seated in that section. We thought it was closed?

We decided to ask the host when she finished seating those people and passed by our table if we could also move to that section since it seemed to be open again, she said no because we were already seated. Mind you, we had asked once prior to even putting our stuff at the table, and we only had water brought to us at this point and we had yet to order. When we inquired further why other people were out there she responded that she had to “rotate the tables”, as if we were not the only table inside compared to 7-8 tables now sitting outside, so rotating what? My partner and I both work in restaurant management and know that sections are covered rather than “closed” while someone takes a break, and the reasoning changing felt off. We also know that when a guest requests another table you give it to them and don’t force them to sit in an empty dining room.

She then proceeded to say “well, I told them that the server is on break and it would be around 5 minutes and they were understanding”, to which we responded we would have been happy to wait as well if given the option. No apologies and frankly she seemed annoyed we were asking. The host seemed caught off guard by our questions and if they operate with such a confusing system I suggest she is properly trained to explain why a table can’t be seated outside, or at least stick to one story.

We are a queer couple and my partner is a person of colour, so whether or not they intended to single us out it was a bad look that made us very uncomfortable and ruined our evening. We have never walked out of a restaurant before but after feeling so unwelcome we decided to leave. We have come here every time we are in town, and we used to get the same server who was always welcoming and dedicated to making it a memorable experience. Safe to say the service has gone down hill and if there are four people on standing around at down time I’d hope they’d be more attentive and pleased to see guests come in.

Don’t recommend if you are queer or a...

Our expectations were too high after reading all the great reviews. OUR experience was much different, we arrived at the restaurant 1 hour before closing as it was too busy earlier when we came by. There was one other group of 5 waiting to be seated before us and we were seated shortly after them. The restaurant was packed and we were seated beside the other group of 5 at the back of the restaurant. We were looking at our menus and watched how the other tables were getting full service and they continued to walk by us. We figured they were just busy and we would be served anytime soon. NOPE, the staff continued to serve the other table of 5 and other surrounding tables and no one approached our table. Finally, after 25 minutes I went to the host that seated us and advised her that no one has served us yet. The host was pleasant and quickly ran to see what was going on. When I returned to our table , the server that was at the other table of 5 was our server now. Apparently , there was a mix up of servers, not sure how ignoring us was an option for her and the other servers. We placed our meal starting with our guest who was local and wanted to show us the sites and highlights of the island. Meal was placed and we asked for more water as we drank the first pitcher while waiting for a server. So , we sat and waited for our drinks and continued on with our visit with our guest. Drinks arrive! oh, wait they forgot the water. So, we asked again and still had no water. The meals arrived , looked impressive with extra servers coming out with the food, Oh wait a minute our guest did not get her food, we turned to the main server and she was gone, the other servers, not sure of their job title, didn't say anything and left the table. We waved down another server beside us that was serving another area and asked her if there was another plate coming out?? She quickly responded, I am sure it's coming right out, NOPE, didn't happen. Finally, our main server, Laurel, was back and she seemed stunned that we were missing a meal. She told us there was a mix up in the kitchen and it shouldn't be very long to come out. So, we asked her for water again, while we finally had her attention. Well, it was terrible that we couldn't celebrate and enjoy our meal with our guest as she had no meal. So, we decided to share our meal with her , while she waited for her meal to arrive. The missing meal arrives but with very few mussels and clams, I guess they ran out. WELL, this was the worst service I have had and it was very disappointing receiving a short plated meal after everyone was done eating. I asked to talk to a Manager and they said there was none there. I spoke to another server who I thought would take the information but she was not very responsive and kind of rude and said I will not be apologizing. So, I decided to share my review...

I was unsure if I wanted to give a 4 or 5 star review…first off the extra star is for the host Billy. What an amazing man…we showed up around 7pm when the restaurant closes at 8pm but they were full to capacity and I asked if he could accommodate as that was or last night there and he more than happily did and his humour was fantastic the wait in the line up just flew listening to him. So the start of my experience at this restaurant was amazing never had so much fun in a line before which unfortunately made the expectations inside to be high as when the host is so great you automatically assume even better service inside. So for the con the service was beyond slow for the waitress to even come ask us for drinks I was ready to give up and just leave as it was beyond a reasonable time to have to wait. Once she did arrive she was friendly and super nice but then again for the drinks to actually come out took forever. The food beat the drinks out so wasn’t to happy about that. Talking about the food absolutely amazing. The bread with the dips ( we had bruschetta and mushroom Parmesan) both fantastic. Going to sound strange but the Cesar salad was also good not sure how one can go wrong with that but it was the best salad I have had so felt necessary to mention. The food was super authentic and great size portions. The margerita pizza was delicious as was the chicken cannelloni. So for food no complaints can’t wait to eat here again…the patio is nice but I feel compared to some reviews I read a bit overrated. It doesn’t feel like being in Italy but absolutely a must to eat there as it is wonderful but just didn’t agree with some comparisons made. If the service was better I would have said this is more than a 5 star but with the slow service it still meets 5 star rating for every thing else it has to offer. So don’t miss trying this place as it truly is a gem and maybe on a different day different server maybe an...