Amato Gelato 17th Avenue — Restaurant in Calgary

The only good thing about this place is the quality of the food. If you want the good customer service as well, I don't recommend going here.

Maybe the staff was all having a rough day, I'm not sure. This was my first time eating here, and will probably be the last, at least for many years.

I've been here before to use the washroom during Lilac Festival, so I thought it would be a nice place to go to since they had dairy free options for the YYC Ice Cream Festival taking place. Well, my expectations were absolutely not met.

From the moment I entered with my friend, the man running the cashier was quite dry and cold for a lack of a better word. He didn't explain the rules to me at all, which they (unreasonably) had a lot of. I didn't know what flavour of ice cream I wanted, so I said I'd try them first. He said okay, and DID NOT tell me I had to pay first.

So I approached his coworkers, and they asked me for my receipt, which immediately confused me, as I hadn't bought anything, because I didn't even know what I wanted. I explained that I hadn't paid yet, and they said I had to pay first, which was something I haven't experienced anywhere else before! Paying just to have a sample of something, which I don't even know if I actually want or not? Alright then.

So I pay, and I give them the receipt. I wanted to try a certain amount of samples (four to be exact, and I wouldn't say that's a lot), and they said no. I was shocked again! I bought the ice cream which I haven't even ordered yet! You have my money now! And I gave you girls the receipt! Why are you saying no now?? I said again I wanted to try four, because I thought maybe they didn't understand, because I heard they all had accents, but they kept saying no.

Finally, one girl stops the cycle of the misunderstanding conversing going back and fourth, and says I can only try two samples per person. What?? Why?? I've tried much more than that at other restaurants and cafes. Fine. I went with it, since I kind of found it easy to narrow down two ice cream options in my head anyway. I decided what I wanted, and I got my order.

I think one girl was in training or just learning English too, because she kept giving her coworker looks of "help me" the whole time she was talking to me. I don't usually have staff act like that around me, and I work in customer service as well, so I'm usually quite understanding and approachable. I don't ever try to belittle people working food & beverage or in retail, but in all of our interactions I was continuously second-guessing how I was speaking to these young ladies, because none of our conversations back and fourth made any sense to neither me, nor my friend, who also works in food and beverage.

Anyways, I thought all the confusion would be over, and I could enjoy my ice cream with my friend. Which I did! It was quite delicious! It melted in my mouth and was worth the money almost if the customer service was different. I had finished my ice cream and I was literally just getting up to put my plate in the bucket they had set out in the cafe for dirty dishes, when the girl approached our table, and says to us, "hi....are you done?" I thought maybe I wasn't allowed to have their plates outside or something so I said, "yes, I'm just taking this inside." And she said, "okay, I can take it" and I gratefully smiled and said, "oh, sure! Thank you!" because both me and my friend thought she meant our plates and bowls, but instead she reaches in front of both of us over the table, and takes our table number. I don't know if it was awkward for her, but every interaction we had with her was underwhelming and awkward, and mostly lacking proper communication skills more than anything.

I'm not sure if it's like this everyday, and I'm not sure how the staff's day was going, but it was an unfortunate day for me to be a customer there.

I do not plan to return, and I will be sure to tell others about my experience so they don't come to this cafe anytime in the soon...

Big attitude for small scoops of average gelato. We have been here sooo many times and not once been told off about the seating situation. This time around we saw a table with a lot of chairs and took it as we were literally next in line and had 4 people. As my sister sat down a very rude grumpy little man came and told her to get up and pay first with attitude to let other people who paid to sit… there was a man and women infront of us who ordered…. There was other spots open for them to sit. We were literally up next..

This rule is ridiculous because you expect people to stand and hold their hot coffees and ice creams until a group gets up??? And if a table clears is it enough to sit 4-5 ppl? While we were still in line 2 separate parties had taken seats and were not given the same attitude that my sister was or told to get up at all! On top of all of this you have people who have clearly finished their food and coffee and are sitting there studying and reading taking up a whole table. So should I wait with my hot drinks to be seated. Every time we have come to Amato we have never encountered this and it’s been very busy and if we see there’s no room then we don’t go in. Are you kicking people that have been there too long out? Cuz how are you supposed to accommodate other groups.

EDIT After the response of the owner Thank you for taking the time to respond to my review. I was hoping for a more understanding and professional reply, but instead, I’m left feeling even more disappointed—not just by the experience at your café, but now by how my concerns were handled.

Your response seems more focused on defending your policies than acknowledging how your approach may have come across to guests. I didn’t leave my review because I didn’t understand the rules—I left it because of how those rules were communicated, and how unwelcome we were made to feel in the process.

I was there when my sister interacted with you, and the fact that you felt the need to repeatedly point out what she “did wrong” instead of simply showing some empathy says a lot. Guests don’t expect perfection, but they do expect respect, even when misunderstandings occur.

Policies are important, yes—but tone, attitude, and hospitality matter just as much, if not more. Your response felt defensive, dismissive, and unnecessarily personal. Rather than taking the feedback as an opportunity to reflect, you doubled down and essentially told us that if we don’t like how things are done, we’re not welcome. That’s disappointing to hear from any business, especially one that works directly with the public.

I truly hope you’ll consider not just how things are managed at your café, but also how guests are made to feel when concerns are raised. At the end of the day, it’s not just about rules—it’s about people.you seem to have an excuse and explanation for everything I said but instead of apologizing you guys were still aggressive about your policy. There’s a way to talk to people and that was not it. I’ve worked 13 years in the service industry and not once approached someone especially paying customers like that.

Also if you don’t want people moving past the robe consider a more...

When the customer experience is so offensive that it sours the entire experience.

Just moved back into the area and I've been going to the different cafes and coffee shops in the area to find my new haunt. With the really positive reviews and very good business hours, I was really looking forward to trying this place out.

My go to coffee for trying any new place is the cortado... pretty much equal parts espresso and steamed milk. It's a good gauge on espresso quality and skill of the baristas.

As the servers/baristas were helping others, the manager decided to come to the till. When I asked for a cortado, he told me that there was no such thing. Now, I'm not surprised when people don't necessarily know what a cortado is... in the world of coffee (especially in a redneck city like mine), cortados are a newer thing. I have no problems explaining what it is. The manager told me that I was just asking for a macchiato. Though I did say macchiatos generally have less steamed milk than a cortado. To which he replied that he's been making coffee for 30 years and I didn't know what I was talking about.

Fine, I didn't want to argue with him, because I was also a little concerned that he barely had a voice, and I don't know if that was just a symptom of being older or whether it's because he was sick, and he wasn't wearing a mask.

Also, something that was rather offensive, beyond being told I didn't know what I was talking about and that I was wrong, was that he kept calling me ma'am. I'm a guy.

Older white men, misogynistic men, men who are so assured that they are always right, tend to make simple assumptions about people based on height, hair length, especially when it comes to asians. I'm an asian little person. And, like other older white men who are so confident in their own opinions, he didn't bother asking my name, he didn't listen to or pay attention to the verbal and audio cues that I gave to let him know that he should not be addressing me as ma'am.

Needless to say, as much as I think that the macchiato (with a little more steamed milk and too much foam) that the barista made (she was wonderful, btw) was fairly good, the experience with the manager really soured my morning. I will not be returning to this Amato again.

Treating others with respect is the bare minimum of being in the...