Taverna Pizzeria — Restaurant in Tartu linn

Well, this was something else of an experience. The day before we had just arrived to Tartu and were now looking for best/good pizza place. We looked the reviews and considered different restaurants for an hour. Taverna pizza was decided sole cause online menu seemed ok, and other customer reviews seemed mostly ok. Few times i saw raw dough mentioned but nothing else bad so we went for it. We went into the place, the outer terass is ok, and waiters were polite and nice. We had few drinks while waiting for pizza and drinks here are cheaper in general than the nearby other restaurants, so very nice. We were very hungry though and then the pizzas came, quite quickly and we were surprised of the quick service. First bite in and well...when writing this i lost words. Both me and m wife lifted up our pizzas and saw that the pizza dough was half raw, (with many pizzas made home and eaten for my 42years of age since i love good pizza) we knew its raw and thats it. We mentioned it to waiter and the first instant response was that "its the cheese that does that the way we make it". Yeah ok we werent born yesterday so... little bit later waiter came back and we already ate about half the pizza and then they say that chef can make new. Ok guys, so to sum this experience together. We came here hungry for good pizza we saw from reviews, the overall taste was on the negative side. Bland and somewhat soggy raw pizza dough. Anyone can make better at home. So, i give 3 stars for good and friendly service, waiters seemed to kinda smooth the failure of the kitchen so dunno. This is an honest first time review and i was bit amused that in my head popped that i was in a Gordon Ramsey video episode from Ramsay's kitchen nightmares. I hope we had one time fault with food and you have better. Be fair warned...

Unfortunately, my experience at this restaurant was very disappointing. We initially wanted to sit on the outdoor terrace, but no one came to welcome us. We then moved inside, where we were told that half of the dining area was closed and that we were only allowed to sit in the front section. When I asked if we could sit outside—there appeared to be available space—the response was dismissive: “I’m here inside, I don’t know what’s going on outside.”

We proposed placing our order inside and then moving outside, but were told that switching tables wasn’t allowed—if we ordered there, we had to stay there. We went outside anyway, found a table for four, and brought over a chair from another empty table since there were 4 adults and 2 kids.

Shortly after, a server came over and rudely told us we weren’t allowed to move chairs, and insisted we split into two separate tables. I explained we’d rather stay together as a family, but the server simply walked away without offering any solution.

What made matters worse is that elsewhere on the same terrace, other guests had taken chairs from another table and were allowed to sit that way—without any objection. It was obvious we were treated inconsistently and unfairly.

The overall atmosphere was very unpleasant: the staff were sullen, dismissive, and clearly had no interest in accommodating us. If there are rules or limitations, they should be communicated politely—or else it feels like the customer is a burden.

In the end, we got up and went to another restaurant next door where we were met with friendly, attentive service and had an entirely different experience. Sadly, we won’t be returning...

Our hopes were set high with great appetizer (shrimps in chedar-tomatoe cream) which was literally amazing. When the time came for the main course - it all went downhill. One of the mains we ordered was grilled pork with mashed potatoes which was more or less okay, only the sauce that came with it was not so good. The worst thing was seafood so called pasta. I dont even know where to begin. The pasta itself was instant ramen rather than real pasta. The sauce - tasteless yet somehow overpowered the flavor of everything else. Included seafood - shrimps with tails (in appetizer they didnt have the tails, so why not remove the tails alltogether?), tasteless salmon and unfrozen clams, not really cooked. Oh, cannot forget huge chunks of carrot, which most likely spent less than 30 seconds on the pan and didnt add any flavor. And its hard to mess up such dish as pasta, sorry, instant ramen. Georgian white wine was nice. Now to the service - no napkins. At all. Not on table, not added to utensils. Now imagine trying to remove shrimp tails covered in sauce and no napkins - absolute mess. With appetizers we were brought utensils and small plates - nice. Were there braught new ones for main course - nop. Did they remove dirty appetizer plates - nop, but honestly - thank God. We got a chance dip horrible main course into deliceous leftover appetizer sauce. Price wise - whatever, place - okay, service - should be more customer orientated. Would I recommend this place - no. Go to Hesburger...