Caffè Cittadella — Restaurant in Vancouver

Don't ever go to this place if you're looking for basic respect, service and communication. I honestly cannot believe how poorly I was treated by the staff. Was working on my computer at a table, waiting for my friend who recommended the place to arrive (she was also planning on working there with me for a couple of hours.) Sat at a table that could seat 4 (there were tables free around me) and set up my work station. Had a disgruntled man come up and ask if I was using the extra chair and I apologized and said I was waiting for my friend who'd be sitting there. He threw a fit, shocking myself and the woman who sat at the table beside me working on her computer at her table. She offered one of the 3 empty spaces at her table, saying she was working alone. The man didn't care, stormed downstairs. The girl looked at me and we were both stunned and she tried to comfort me saying he wasn't even interested in talking anything out and not to take it personally. 2 minutes later a young man who works at the caffe comes up and starts scolding me about how I'm only one person and that I shouldn't be using more than one chair. I polietely explain that my friend is going to be there soon and that I was just trying to save a spot for her. The girl beside me again speaks up to defend me saying that we had both offered the man places to sit, but that he was irrational. The young employee then continued to not care, showed no respect or kindness and stated "This is a CAFFE. Not a work place. There is empty seats at this table, and only one you. You need to move." I couldn't believe it! Genuinely stunned I asked the employee "I don't understand, people work at cafes all the time... that's what their major form of business is. Are you telling me that this isn't a place for someone to come and work on their computer?" The employee rudely shrugged and just started moving my things off the table and pull the empty chairs away. I honestly cannot believe it. The girl beside me was just as shocked and appalled as I was. Even offered me a seat at her table to work.

When I tried to address what happened and express that it was very hard to want to stay and that it was very rude and confusing with the Manager, I was just received with even MORE rudeness and inconsideration from both the manager, and the employee whom scolded me. There wasn't any interest in problem solving or anything from them. After trying aimlessly to come to a place where maybe the establishment would create some sort of solution, I realized there was absolutely no interest in it from the establishment and left, calling my friend who was going to meet me and telling her we wouldn't be staying.

I will never, ever, EVER recommend this place to anyone. I HIGHLY recommend people not going. I honestly am still mind blown by how the entire situation was handled...

I would give it 0 stars if that were an option.

I came with my friend for the hot chocolate festival and ordered Diwali's Dream, which is described as

"#32 - DIWALI'S DREAM (V) / An India-inspired hot chocolate made from a home made mix of spices blended with almond milk and dark chocolate. Served with a ginger cookie."

With this description, I expected a mix of (Indian) spices, but I tasted none of this at all. It tasted like regular hot chocolate. I've included the picture of how the hot chocolate was presented. Hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on top (marshmallows weren't even in the description...) The hot chocolate also wasn't hot. My friend thought that maybe they made the regular hot chocolate from the menu and misunderstood that we wanted Diwali's Dream from the hot chocolate festival menu. We told the lady at the counter that we didn't taste any of the spice, and she said "Diwali's Dream isn't spicy. If you want spicy, try the "Calientito." She then asked the barista if he made this drink, and he said, "yes, what is the problem?" But she didn't let him investigate and just said that Diwali's dream isn't spicy.

As you can see from my picture, there was no ginger cookie and no acknowledgement from the person who brought it to us why it was missing. When we asked what happened to it, the same lady told us that they will include it when they have it, and they didn't happen to have it. As we are 6 days into the hot chocolate festival and it was 11 am, I don't understand why they wouldn't have it. She then gave us one of those Danish cookies from the blue tins.

Near the bottom of my drink, I found all these chocolate chips that weren't even melted.

The absolute worst part of this was the stomach trouble that I had an hour later. Thankfully my friend didn't experience this.

I could just buy some chocolate chips and marshmallows from Superstore and make a drink that would be better than this. What a waste of $5.25. Please...

Went here last week, after deciding to try something different in the area. This heritage caffe is really cute and has a lot of character when you walk in. I guess due to covid, the menu was very limited. There were not many sandwiches available and 3 soups were unavailable. I ordered the tuna sandwich and turkey and brie sandwich. There were 2 young ladies working that day. They were quite flustered as there were quite a bit of customers and not enough hands, naturally so. We went upstairs to look for a place to seat, and after some time the waiter removed some mugs off the table for us to sit.

While we were waiting for our order, one of the workers screamed from the bottom of the stairs that our order was up. I think a few customers were totally caught off gaurd because initially I thought that was quite unprofessional, and we couldnt really hear what order she was shouting. We had to carry our sandwich/soup upstairs hoping not to fall!

The verdict: The turkey and brie looked really good from the window- when we recieved it, the sandwich actually looked much smaller. It was on the sweeter side and the welted ?lettuce made it feel more soggier.

The tuna melt was OK. The sandwich dough was quite soft and fluffy, but the tuna sauce made the sandwich very soggy if you didnt eat it quick enough

The butternut squash soup was tasty.

Interestingly, we had chips and salsa. To note, the salsa tasted from a jar, and not fresh.

Overall, 3/5 for the food. Before we left, I ended up getting a chai tea and a regular drip coffee, and those were quite tasty! 4/5.

I would give it another try sometime in a few months, to try...