Konoba Fetivi — Restaurant in Grad Split

I wish I could give this place a good rating. After reading about it on the michelin guide (note, this doesn't have a star, nor is it on gourmand), it was one of the places my wife and I were really looking forward to.

We showed up with a smile on our face and we were very happy to have made it there.

Right off the hop, our waiter told us our time limit, which was no problem at all for us. He kept going on about us getting the "premium honeymoon" seating, and because of this, told us we didn't need to look at the menu, instead he continually insisted on us to get the most expensive thing on the menu (95 euro) - despite us going for lunch and wanting something light. When we asked about other things like the chefs choice, he said that wasn't premium and insisted we don't get it. What kind of server recommends against the chefs choice? He wouldn't give us a description of anything else, and when I told him I wanted something else he treated us like dirt afterwards.

He wouldn't see us at all, and I had to go up to him both times at the bar area to tell him what we actually wanted. Later I had to return to get the bill. He served the table next to us four times and didnt stop by or even acknowledge our existence during any of those visits. After the food arrived, he didn't check on us once to see how it was. We didn't enjoy the small fish, but still tried our best to eat it, and when we wanted to leave he told us to keep eating it, leaving it in front of us instead of taking it away.

By the end, I had to get up and get our bill, again because he wasn't checking on our table at all. We had also asked for two espressos, which he seemingly forgot to bring us, and by the end I was fed up enough so I just walked to the bar to ask for the bill.

I asked if I could break a bill to leave a tip (mainly for the kitchen staff), but he refused, saying either card or cash, interrupting me when I was trying to say it was for the tip, but then decided not to worry about it, as I just wanted to leave at this point.

I can't in any good faith recommend this place. I'm sure this isn't everyone's experience,  he seemed to be friendly with people that took his recommendations and opted for premium options. I have no idea if he even got our bill right, because he didn't even show me a bill or any sort of printout, just asked for the card and swiped it.

I've eaten at Michelin star locations and many Michelin recommended spots all over the world, and usually the service is top notch. This is an instance I think they may have it wrong. The (visual) atmosphere here was quite nice - what you'd expect from a Croatian seafood restaurant, but saying the service was terrible would be an understatement. I won't comment on the food quality as it's entirely subjective and I have no issue with the kitchen staff.

Unfortunately, this is the first restaurant in the Mediterranean I've left upset.

POST-RESPONSE EDIT: Since the restaurant has attempted to gaslight me into thinking both my wife and I have imagined the entire situation:

As mentioned I didn't care about the time limit. I mentioned it as it was relevant to the experience - you set a time limit, and then you gave us no ability to operate within it.

"Communication both ways" - I had zero opportunity to communicate with the waiter, thus me having to go to the bar to talk to him both times. Yes, I raised my hand and tried to make eye contact. No, he did not look or check in with us. A waiter is supposed to wait on people, and checking in is part of his job. The one time he came back he didn't ask us if we enjoyed it, he talked over us and told us to finish it.

Interesting you avoided addressing the forgot items, or rude interruptions when I attempted to split a bill to leave on a positive note.

Shame on me? Shame on you for trying to gouge tourists to pay hundreds of euros for lunch. Shame on you devaluing your chefs suggestions to try and make more money. Shame on you for lying and gaslighting instead of owning up to...

Please read full review and owners “response” to this. So on reading the reviews (and featured in the Michelin recommended guide) we were disappointed to come here. I have never had to leave a 1* review on service and atmosphere but here we are. Please note - We did complain about the service with the male waiter who appeared to “scoff” and walk away to get the card machine. Disclaimer - the seafood was amazing We observed everyone (all the tables around us) get to view a fresh fish platter to choose from. We never got this option and instead just got from the waitress “what would you like??” For reasons unknown. The atmosphere was quite smokey from the kitchen and grills - understandable in a place which charges less but not from this type of place. The service was very slow - our service was slow and tables of more than 3 seemed to wait even longer. They charged €1.60 extra (1.5%) on top of the bill. We only noticed this after we paid and left back home - I checked the receipt and it was not clear from that what it was for. There was an actual electrical black out for what we thought was around 10 minutes in the restaurant where we and the rest of the people ate in the dark. No staff apologised for this. The people next to us got “on the house” drinks before they paid which we were never offered despite spending €80+ on our equivalent meal. We asked for the bill which after 15 minutes never came. We went up to pay which were told “go sit back down”. We then still didn’t get the bill so went to the bar and paid. Our English politeness got the better of us by not complaining on the spot and we hope that they’re able to change going forwards. There are much better places in Split for service and atmosphere so please do your research!

In response to the owners comment below: Calling customers “Evil” “vindictive” and insults like “you need a watch” are statements which match the tone of service and attitude we received unfortunately. Looking at other reviews, this appears to be a consistent practice, a regrettable fact for your chefs who did an excellent job. We hope the service gets better in future and that you can raise your star rating above other excellent Konoba on the same street as yourselves but we will not be the ones who help you with that endeavour after...

To be honest, this Michelin restaurant uses its title to attract tourists. We booked our tables 1.5 months ago and confirmed via phone 3 days before arriving. When we arrived 10 minutes late, they told us our reservation had been replaced by other groups and we couldn’t have our tables in the garden.

I was definitely pissed off since I had confirmed it twice and found they had modified my booking time from 18:00 to 17:45.

This felt like “racial discrimination” in this restaurant. I should have left, but other 12 people were waiting outside for dinner. They said we could only use the tables right next to the kitchen, which was the only choice we had.

Here's the critical thing I want to claim to all consumers: I’ve been to Croatia many times, and all restaurants have fresh seafood. Here in Festivi , the prices look fair, but the quantity of food is less than average. The fish plate had only 4 pieces of fish fillet, and the shrimp bowl had only small shrimps. We were so disappointed with the meals and services.

Compared to the Michelin restaurant (Šug) we had lunch at the same day, it’s much better, and we even got a whole fish.

At the end of our dinner, I checked the tables in the garden and found that nobody had come to the tables. The tables in the garden were still empty. Surely, it’s a way to humiliate Asian clients. Thanks for such good service to clients.

100% don’t recommend this Michelin restaurant. All the restaurants next to it are also good. How do I know? Because I came several times before and this Michelin was always fully booked, so I tried a few next to it. Now I know others are much better than this one. Of course, you can still choose this one, but this is just my opinion. I hope you can save your money for better...