Chicha — Restaurant in Berlin

First of all the restaurant is really difficult to reach if you want to make a reservation as they only open from Wednesday. They have an online calendar on their site for reservations but apparently not all available times are always listen on the website.

I called multiple times in the week to try to make a reservation for my birthday dinner, because there were so few slots available online. Upon calling they offered us multiple time slots throughout the evening which weren’t listed at all online (strange). Finally, we were able to secure our reservation for Friday at 8pm.

On the day of the dinner, the group was running late and we called the restaurant 45 mins ahead of the reservation to let them know that we were around half an hour behind. We were told that every table was double booked for the evening (what kind of business practice is that?) but that we would have the table reserved until 10PM.

While en route to the restaurant, we received a call from Chicha to tell us we had the table reserved until 10, and I let them know we were on our way — at this point we were more than 30m late, but the front of house confirmed that our table would still be there.

Upon arriving, we gave the reservation and were told by the front of house manager had been cancelled, and were basically shamed by this person for being late (despite having called to inform them multiple times). The manager clarified that it was indeed him we had spoken to on the phone. In person he was both rude and patronizing, acting like it would not be possible to seat us despite the fact that the table was still free. We clarified that the reason for the call was to inform them of the changes to our party’s schedule and if it wasn’t possible to host us, that we should have been told this on the phone.

His response was that he did say this over the phone (which was a total lie.) He continued to hem and haw and berate us for being late the whole time we were there, acting as if it was very complicated to solve the issue and as if he needed to move mountains to make the situation work for our small party of 2. Within 5 minutes of this conversation, he showed us to the table but after such rude treatment from this particular member staff we no longer felt welcome, said so to the manager, and left.

The other members of staff that we interacted with were friendly and welcoming, so I can’t say whether this is an issue across the board or it’s just this one person.

Had the staff member informed us on the phone (as he claimed to have done) that the reservation was no longer possible, we would have changed our plans and never shown up at the restaurant. All in all, terrible experience and terrible way to treat a person on their birthday.

I have eaten there in the past and the food was decent, but I’d recommend going elsewhere for your ceviches, perhaps to Cevicheria or Antonello’s where the customer service is far better and the vibe of the establishment staff is far less...

Absolute balls-up.

I came here two years ago and had a very nice evening, the service was superb. Last night though was a complete calamity.

First off after we had sat down, we hadn't received any service so we were trying to catch someone's eye. My friend waved at the cocktail waiter behind the bar and said "hi" hoping that he would come and take our drinks order and he responded with "did you just oi me?" I found that quite an offensive way of communicating with customers and not a good way to start the meal.

My friend has a gluten allergy and she made it very clear. The waiter told us what she can and can't eat. One of the dishes could be made gluten-free he said, so we asked for them to do that. After the food was served and halfway through eating the waiter came over and told us that the dish that was made gluten-free actually wasn't gluten-free. They had made a normal one with gluten by mistake.

Then he went on to say "oh and by the way the chicken isn't gluten-free either". She was halfway through eating it.

To top it all off - I have a nut allergy and despite the menu having no mention of the chicken containing nuts, whilst I was eating it I began to have a reaction. When I questioned the waiter he said "yes, it's cooked in peanut oil"

Three huge errors that left two people ill. I can't remember a restaurants messing up this badly in all my years of dining out.

The staff comped our table so we didn't have to pay, but that doesn't make up for a night ruined.

And on the way out the waiter said "it's a two-way street, he should have told us about his nut allergy" which is completely not the case - All restaurants in the EU are legally obliged to show all allergens on the menu and have been since 2016. It's crazy that I don't work in the hospitality industry and know this, but...

We booked a reservation for 10pm via the Chicha website. Half an hour before our reservation they called me to ask whether we'd be able to come in earlier because the kitchen would close at 10pm. We agreed. When we got there, we were seated inside, there was no space at the outside tables. We were then asked whether we were either fully vaccinated, cured or had a negative test. No, we didn't, because we hadn't planned to sit inside anyways because it's usually super noisy, we would have wanted to sit outside, but nobody had asked us, which option we would prefer. It's totally fine and rule-compliant in a Corona situation to have only guests inside that are proven healthy, vaccinated or else. BUT: on their website no information that you might be placed inside, no option to choose an outside or inside table upon reservation, and nobody cared or asked about our 'Corona status' prior to reservation or during the phone call. We left without food and ate somewhere else where plenty of tables where outside. So, first thing: We're still in a pandemic situation that's why you can't expect to stuff as many customers as possibe inside your restaurant and take for granted that everyone is ok with that. Second: don't offer a reservation at 10pm if your kitchen closes at 10pm. I have perceived your place as super disorganized and rude a couple of times before (i have been there a few times already) and that's why I can't avoid leaving you this really critical review. There are plenty of reviews confirming mine about the unprofessional service, maybe it's time to change...