Matteo's Ristorante — Restaurant in Welland

05/31/24 - Well....Mattie....you seem to have your facts and information quite conveniently mixed up. My wife and our elderly friend were not concerned about my complaints concerning you and your staffs behaviour, they were so upset with the treatment and obvious discrimination you openly displayed. You wouldn't provide safe and adequate seating for 3 people, because your policy was clearly stated on tables of 4 or 2 that is all you seat, so 3's are relegated to your counter top table at the entrance, not even 8 feet from the front door and then you make people sit on a rickety bar stool, even an 86 year old woman with mobility issues. AMAZING...yet you go on about my Europe comments or world travel for 35+ years and eating in some great restaurants...I have no idea why you would do that. Your Pit Bull "hostess" was exactly that...rude and aggressive. So yes my wife and our elderly friend visiting from South Africa were quite taken aback by you and your staffs behaviour. The people you seated at a table for four, DID NOT HAVE A RESERVATION...and they told me directly yet you seated them before us and at a table we could have enjoyed, but your staff clearly stated you do not seat 3 people ever at a table set for 4, so you make them sit at this bar height table 8 feet from your front door with some rickety bar stools. Quite unbelievable and unprofessional and likely illegal as you are clearly discriminating. Good restaurants and businesses take criticism to help them improve. I suggest you consider that. You are clearly not that experienced and chose to make a major incident and discrimination, poor policy and treatment by your staff into something even larger. As a business owner myself, I can tell you that never works. You practice discrimination against a customer for not taking 3 people to a regular table, respecting their reservation and then more seriously a senior of 86 years with mobility challenges, you would not provide safe seating and location. How very amateur, unprofessional and short sighted. I will be investigating discrimination charges with the city against your business. So sad that you would respond the way you did for something that was clearly in your hands, as...

Long review

I would like to give a friendly reminder about the customer service industry. There will always be mistakes. I have read through these reviews and I feel bad for the people who have had a negative experience. I have been here a handful of times. Did I have to wait for food or service? Sometimes, yes. This is the case in alot of restaurants.There is a reason this place is so busy. The food is amazing. Any staff I have ever come across have been nothing short of kind, friendly, generous, and apologetic for any wait on food or table service. I certainly have never left hungry. I watch them each time I visit working their butts off, and being as accommodating as any restaurant can be. I totally agree that they need more staff. Staff shortages are worse than ever. Unfortunately sometimes, people don't show up. People don't apply because they just don't want to work. Therefore forced to work short and take on their jobs and someone elses. I love the atmosphere personally. My advice....

-Plan ahead and make reservations. We didn't like the round table when we visited a week ago. However, we made the best of it, as the restaurant was packed. It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. -Be patient, and actually watch how hard they work. -Plan to stay awhile. Yes it's busy and sometimes loud. But the warm and happy atmosphere on top of their amazing food makes it ALL worth it. -Every single server, cook etc is just out here trying their best. They are HUMAN and sometimes things do not go as planned. People forget things, and make mistakes. Bad experiences happen everywhere. Be Kind

Thank you Matt, and staff for a wonderful experience every...

Oct 9 - Update to reply to owner's response.

Thank you for your reply, Matteo. Just to clarify, when I mentioned portion size, I wasn’t asking to be ‘fattened’ — as I said in my review, we simply expected a meal that could satisfy a normal appetite. I understand that authentic Italian food can sometimes come in smaller portions, but the expectation is that the flavor and quality will make up for it. Unfortunately, the pasta we had lacked the taste and depth I would expect from Italian cuisine.

As for your comment about showcasing my own culinary skills — I don’t claim to be a chef. I go to restaurants like yours because I appreciate good food and want to try something enjoyable. If a customer points out that the food didn’t meet expectations, it’s not an invitation to be challenged — it’s a chance to reflect and improve.

If these aspects are addressed, we’d be open to giving your restaurant another try.

We decided to try this restaurant after seeing the good reviews, but it turned out to be a big mistake. We ordered two pastas to go — the Pescatore and the Carbonara. When we arrived for pickup, we noticed most people were ordering pizzas, and we soon understood why.

The pasta portions were far too small for an average appetite, and the dishes were completely bland, lacking flavor or any sign of cooking skill. The Carbonara was especially disappointing — you could literally count fewer than 10 tiny pieces of bacon on the whole plate. Like, really?

On top of that, the total came to over $80 for just two meals, and the food didn’t even keep us full for more than two hours. Very...