Demokritos — Restaurant in Paphos Municipality

A Major Disappointment. Poor Service at a Restaurant Despite Reserving in Advance

When planning a night out at a restaurant—whether with family, friends, or a partner—you expect a pleasant experience, good food, and excellent service. Unfortunately, during our recent visit to a well-regarded restaurant, we encountered the complete opposite.

A few days ago, we made a reservation at this restaurant and even confirmed it ahead of time. We arrived at the scheduled time, excited for a nice evening. But from the moment we walked in, things started going downhill.

First, no one from the staff seemed to be aware of our reservation. After long minutes of confusion from the hostess and attempts to find us a table, we were informed that there was no place for us. We tried to explain and showed the confirmation of our reservation, but instead of making an effort to solve the issue, we were met with coldness and indifference.

The service was incredibly unprofessional, and it felt like the staff didn’t care about the guests. Even though we offered to wait for a solution, there was no willingness from the staff to accommodate us in any way. Regretfully, we left feeling frustrated and disappointed, without even tasting the food we had been looking forward to.

Experiences like these leave a bitter aftertaste and remind us that customer service is a crucial element in the success of any restaurant. Good food is important, but without professional and courteous service, the entire experience falls apart.

I hope restaurants learn to value their customers and understand that service is an integral part of the dining experience. A restaurant that can't stand behind its promises probably doesn't deserve its patrons.

Sadly, we won’t...

I definitely do not recommend this place. The manager was extremely rude. We ordered a three course meal and walked out on the mains. We ate elsewhere!!

We ordered drinks which they brought the wrong size wine over which we just accepted (it wasn't a problem). One waiter was abrupt when my mother asked what a certain desert was, we just googled it instead.

We received complimentary pita bread, with garlic butter, radish and tapenade. Which was lovely.

Starters three of us had mussels and one garlic mushrooms. The mushrooms were nice but the mussels just acceptable. They didn't come out in their shells, they were rubbery, small, with sauce poured over them. A waitress collected the plates away but put our used forks back onto the table.

For mains we ordered 4x T-Bone steaks. One rare and three medium-rare. The vegetables, rice and chips was sent out lukewarm. The steaks were all under cooked and sent back. The manager argued I'd had asked for mine rare, which I had to show him how raw and cold it was! It wouldn't of passed as blue. The other steaks were the same. So after it being sent back for medium-well we refused them, the steaks still blue when a couple of us cut into them.

Unfortunately the salt shaker lid came off when the first person used it. A different waitress apologised and took the plate away and said it will be replaced. While I went to the toilet the manager came up to the others and abruptly told them to be careful...

We went to Demokritos on Wednesday evening with high hopes, but unfortunately, the experience was dampened by overly aggressive service. From the moment we sat down, the waiter kept pushing us to order more food than we wanted. We started with couple appetizers and few drinks but he insisted we add extra sides and food. We told him we will order more as the evening progress and depends on the show. The show really starts at 9:00 and by 9:20 the place remains almost empty. At that time we decided to leave but the waiter aggressive asked us to order more food. Instead of ordering more food, I decide to pay our bill and give the extra money he wants us to buy food with to the band. By the way, I give 2 stars because of the band, otherwise, the service does not even worth 1 star

While I understand upselling is part of the job, it crossed the line into uncomfortable territory. It felt like our preferences were being ignored, and the constant pressure took away from what should have been a relaxing experience. The food itself was ok, but hard to enjoy with someone hovering over us, trying to inflate the bill.

A bit more respect for the customer's boundaries would...