Splendido — Restaurant in Marseille

Buckle up. The only reason I’m not giving 1 star is because the food was good and came quickly once rang in. Honestly the worst service I’ve ever had and I hate that I feel so compelled to write such a terrible review because I know the internet is where bad reviews come to die but here we are. I waited 10 minutes for the server to come and take my drink order (not a big deal, they were busy), she didn’t bring water (no problem, the drink I ordered was big so I figured I’d ask for some later).she asked me what I wanted to eat but I hadn’t decided yet so I said I’d order when my drink came. Someone brought my drink, but my server didn’t return for another 30 minutes. When she finally did return it was because I flagged her down. I was dining alone so I didn’t want to make a fuss but I had no other choice but to flag her. I ordered my starter and said I would wait until I got it to order my main as I wasn’t sure how big it would be. Food came quick and was great, however she didn’t come to quality check or take my order for my main for another 30 minutes. I flagged her down again to order my main, and tried to order another cocktail (citrus spritz) with no ice. She said they can’t give it to me with no ice (no big deal but sort of weird, maybe the components of the drink are all room temp?idk and again no big deal just worth noting they don’t accept any drink mods), so I ordered a Lambrusco instead. My empty stacked plates were still on my table and were never cleared. I asked for water, it didn’t come-in fact someone clearing tables came and took my empty unused water glass, left the empty plates and cocktail glass and walked away before I could let them know I was actually waiting for water. A food runner dropped off my pasta and he had 3 other things in his hands so I didn’t want to ask him for anything. My server never returned until I had maybe 2 bites of pasta left(I’m a slow eater so this was about 30 minutes). She asked if I’d like some parm on my pasta, to which I said no thank you bc at that point there was barely any left. I asked her again for water. She brought a bottle and no glass and walked away as I tried to tell her I had no glass. 20 minutes later (at this point I’ve been there almost 2H) I was able to flag her down again when she came by and asked her please for a glass and she got me one, and finally ordered my dessert. All the plates and two empty drink glasses were still sitting on my table all stacked and done with when my dessert arrived. I understand she was busy, maybe she needed a smaller section. She was pleasant enough but the service was absolutely terrible and I’d never return, I spent the entire time looking for my server and trying to flag her down. Such an...

Let me write the good part first - food is really good and so is the staff that brought us our food. The menu is scannable and I saw quite a few vegan options too. The zucchini fritters were the highlight. They have a good wine collection too ( port town so that’s a given) Reservation is a must for visiting.

Now to the reason for 1 star - We stood in reservation like everybody else . The concierge consists of a lady and a gentleman. They basically lead you to the your tables based on availability. After a wait of 15 ministers, she finally walked us inside . To give a picture their seating arrangement has a few normal cane tables/chairs in the centre , and towards the wall they have comfortable sofas with better space. We were taken to a dingy little table in the centre , while the couples that were after and before us were being seated in another section with the sofas. The table was very off putting for a fine dine place that we really looked forward too after a long day in Marseille. It is also places right in the pathway of a door making it so uncomfortable for the passer-bys’ and us. My partner tried to reason with her and requested her to give us a better table . Well it’s generally said French people have a way about their communication but I wouldn’t use that here, as I believe only this specific lady was very rude if I may say. She did not wait even a second to even listen to my partner and just kept walking around making him follow her to get the request to her. We waited for 10 minutes with repeated attempts to speak to her but she did not have the courtesy to even respond saying why the change is not possible. I don’t think any customer must be treated like this . It’s a busy place , she is running it or even if she owns it - does not justify her behaviour. We finally gave up as it was pouring outside and just had our meals in that bad mood and left the place. The single star is only for the unprofessional behaviour on her part.

I would also like to mention that we were the only brown couple in the whole queue there . I don’t want to jump to any conclusions and post it explicitly, but do let me know if this was not discriminatory and racist ?

We have been travelling in Europe for over 10 years and never have we experienced...

15 Oct 2025- entered without reservation at 8pm. Half-crowded. There was this bussing counter beside us which bothered me. It comprised of A giant metal bowl of bread to serve to tables A water dispenser "Clean" glasses hanging, for wine and water A middle drawer for "clean" cutlery beside which are two cabinets for trash and dirty towels A middle cabinet under the drawer which the staff keeps leftover food in takeout boxes Dirty plates stacked beside the bread bowl, below the clean glasses, and water dispenser Manned by a staff who was always on his phone, leaving a bottle of rose unserved for 5 minutes while on his phone, packing leftovers for the staff's own takeout, and deciding not to clear the counter of dirty plates

What irked me most is that the table is for dirty plates AND clean cups/cutlery/BREAD? And the staff there is keeping food for his other staff, while our server is too busy to help us?

They also do not update their menu. Cocktails like the Zaffroni and a cup of Veneto Tenuta Pule Classico were not available unlike shown on their menus. The fish shaped water bottle had chipped rims. The profiteroles were not crispy and hard to cut (not fresh). The 250g burrata tomato had 4 small slices of sundried tomatoes. The complimentary bread was cold and hard and probably recycled from other tables or dirty from the dirty plates. Where is the hygiene?

Also their payment system on the mobile phone automatically adds a 0.99€ charge, which is borne by customers. Bizzare. Not only that, our card number could not be entered fully in the system so we got the server to come and ask for an alternate method. The alternative did not have 0.99€ charge. However, it did show automatically a 10/25/50% tip option in French, so beware not to press too quick. Needless to say, we did not add a tip because it was very off putting. Our server Christian was good but overwhelmed and could not afford to serve us better.

For a bigmama group chain, we...