Pizzeria Cantonata — Restaurant in Prague

My friend and I stopped by for dinner last night in high spirits because we thought we were going to have a lovely meal with nice cocktails. By the time we left, we were absolutely fuming. When we arrived, we were handed menus, so we thought we were off to a good start. But then, the waitress left us and we sat there for 20 minutes completely not being serviced. Then, a different waiter came and took our order. I tried to order cocktails that they advertise on their online menu and was told twice "We don't have that cocktail." Excuse me? I even showed him their own menu and he just stared at me. Apparently they advertise things they don't offer. So, I ordered a different cocktail that they had written on a mirror in the restaurant and my friend ordered a different cocktail. We both ordered caesar salads. After the guy took our order, then first waitress came from wherever she had gone (mind you, about 25 minutes after she had first handed us the menus) and asked if we wanted to make an order. WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE CUSTOMERS FOR THAT LONG? So I told her we had already had our orders taken by her colleague and she looked incredibly confused. So, I pointed at him and she looked, shrugged and then left. Now, for the review of the food. I didn't know it was possible to mess up caesar salad, but they did. The caesar salad didn't even have caesar dressing on it. It just was covered in mayonnaise. Definitely the worst salad I've ever had in my life. And the Mojito I ordered was not very good at all. It tasted like there was coffee in it. Which was very unsettling. So, after the terrible service and terrible food, my friend and I decided we had had enough and went to pay. Here's where things got worse, unsurprisingly. So, my friend requested for us to pay separately, but the waiter who took our orders, still only rang up 1 tab for our items together. Then, my friend tried to pay for his and the waiter tried to calculate his fee in his head, struggled to do so, so my friend had to tell him. And afterwards, the waiter coerced a tip of 10% out of my friend even though he didn't want to leave a tip. And when it came time for me to pay, he charged me more than my actual meal (my meal was supposed to be 238 kc, but he said my meal was 240 kc) and he told me verbally that the total was 240kc. However, when I checked my receipt after leaving the restaurant, I saw that he actually charged me 265 kc for my meal. Without even ASKING ME, he gave himself a tip of almost 12% on my meal which was already overpriced!!! HOW ABSURD! Unless you want subpar food, negligent service and to be completely and fraudulently ripped off while paying, then go to this restaurant. I will never go...

First of all, my friend and I wanted to have dinner there because of the variety of cocktails they had on the online menu and when we tried to order Daiquiri they said they do not prepare those cocktails anymore.

Second of all, the time they took from giving us the menu to take our orders was absurdly long.

Third of all, I ordered a B-52 and the waiter who brought it to me litted the drink on fire. After a while another waiter came in a rush and put a plastic straw and commanded me to one-shot the drink. He took out the first burnt straw, THREW IT TO THE FLOOR AND LEFT IT THERE FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT, blew the fire, put a second straw on the drink and left.

Fourth of all, we both ordered Caesar salad and it was a far cry from what a real Caesar salad tastes like. It was a Caesar-salad-wanna-be standard salad with a regular mayonnaise sauce, let alone the lazy plating with big chunks of croutons, chicken and bacon. Before getting the salad we were planning on having a dessert too, but after that appalling dish, we prefered to have it somewhere else.

Last but not least, when my friend and I went to pay, the waiter printed the receipt without asking first if we wanted to pay separately or altogether. We told him to pay separately and he was struggling with a simple math (150 +74) and I had to assist him. Then, he told me to leave a 10% tip and I neither said yes nor no, but he thought the restaurant was worth a 25-crown tip and added it himself. The worst part went to my friend, who was told the actual price of her meal (240) but he charged her the tip without asking her first.

To put it in a nutshell, the 4~5 stars and the exaggerated reviews are a SCAM from the owner (who is Indian)'s casually-Indian friends (what a coincidence!) to boost the ratings of the restaurant and make people go there just because...

Really good experience with this restaurant. The owner is a kind and humble person, 5 stars for that.

Read a lot of bad reviews, but let me tell you my experience. I visited Prague from India with a tour company. This restaurant, Pizzeria Cantonata was part of our itinerary for lunch. I was exploring the Old Town area on my own coz the tour guide had rushed us through that area as it was time for lunch and he presumed the Indian Tourists wouldn't be interested. So, I stayed back and decided to catch up with my group later. Once hunger pangs started, I decided to proceed to the restaurant.

When I reached there, it was almost 2 hrs after the time mentioned on the itinerary. Still I proceeded to the restaurant and approached the person who looked like the manager. I saw that no one from my group was around and even the buffet service as well as lunch service was closed.

He was kind and obliged immediately, informing one of his waiters to take my order and get me whatever I want. That was very assuring.

The food was really good and looked freshly prepared. I was happy with my meal and thanked the manager, but I found out that he was actually the owner of the restaurant. We spoke for some time about life in Czech Republic and I asked him about how he came to start an Italian Restaurant in this country. He answered to my questions patiently.

That was a very pleasant start to my Europe Tour as this was the 1st day and made my stay in Prague memorable.

Food 5* Service...