L'Osteria Bonn In der Sürst — Restaurant in Bonn

Poor Service

Yesterday (01.02.2019) I arrived L’Osteria (In der Sürst) at 18:30 as I had plans to have dinner with a friend. I had not made reservations and informed the hostess (i.e. the lady standing on the right who greats the guests at the door). She was quite friendly and mentioned to me that there are available non-reserved tables for two and politely ushered me to the bar to wait until her colleague (a second hostess) would identify a table for me either on the ground floor or upstairs.

Not less than a minute after, the second hostess approached me. First and foremost, her demeanor was unfriendly and she did not even greet me. She ushered me to a table that was right in the middle, next to the rubbish bin with direct strong light. It was clearly the worst table in the restaurant and to top it off, she was rude and simply looked irritated when I mentioned to her politely that I was not satisfied with the table and if she could kindly give me another option if possible. She said no and walked away.

Although I was dissatisfied, I nevertheless sat down and decided to try my luck with one of the waiters, perhaps they could identify a more suitable table because clearly the second hostess was not interested in what I had to say for no reason whatsoever. I was polite and calm during the whole encounter.

The same rude hostess is informed by the waiter I spoke to that I would like another table. She then approaches me and states very rudely with a condescending attitude like I am her child “I hear that you are not satisfied with the table”. I told her that as a customer, I did not appreciate the tone of her voice and as mentioned to me previously by her colleague, I am aware that there are other tables upstairs that are not reserved.

In a nutshell, she takes me upstairs and lo and behold, quite a number of suitable tables were available.

To enhance the customer experience, it would benefit this restaurant immensely if the second hostess would simply treat customers with respect. Her attitude towards me was unacceptable and I am not sure if I should attribute it to the fact that I am a foreigner (an expatriate working here) or that I had not reserved a table, or that I had the audacity to request for another table. She seemed to be treating everyone else apart from me quite well. For your information, the whole conversation was in German so there was no language barrier.

Food Food was good, nothing to write home about but good. I had Lasagna. In terms of ambience, the restaurant is beautiful and spacious. The décor is lovely too.

Cutlery The forks and knives that were placed on my table had oil smudges. They had not been cleaned well so I requested for another fork and knife.

Waitress at our table

The waitress who served us was friendly. The poor service articulated above is only attributed to the second hostess who is responsible for seating the guests.

In summary, don’t treat guests as if they are an inconvenience. I am a paying customer who chooses to spend my Friday evening in your establishment and have a nice meal after a long day. The least you can do is treat me...

Nice and comfortable place with varied seating. Table service (not a queue-up Italian like Vapiano 2-doors down.) Service was quick. As per most restaurants in Germany, a few more smiles and personal service would be welcome but as per most restaurants in Germany they didn't make any mistakes! Zoodles (zucchini noodles) with prawn, carrot and a lovely clear sauce was excellent. The Margherita pizza, however, was terrible. Too big for one, but with a cheese layer that tasted way too salty. I suspect Gouda. Not nice. Update: Tested BBQ chicken pizza. On second visit. Fantastic.) Risotto was good according to my colleague. (Update: Both mushroom and vegetable risotto is great. Tested in my second visit) Quick turnaround at lunch was welcome. (Update: Expect a little longer on Saturday at 1400. Tested!) Lots of space and I suspect they can cater for large groups of people. I spotted a round table for at least 12 people in one corner. Prices seems ok.(Update from second visit: Prices are good.) If they can improve the service level and reduce the salty cheese, this would be a great pizza / pasta restaurant. Update. If there was a 4.5. It's...

Avoid eating here and just get takeaway. Exceptionally terrible service. The worst we've seen ever. It's a pity the food here is so good when the fronthouse staff ruins the entire experience.

Irrespective of how good the food is, prepare to be faced by blatantly rude service. Argumentative, haughty, and pompous staff will always overshadow good food in our books. At the end, we had to go to the manager to get the name of our exceptionally rude server whom we will not name here for privacy reasons and to respect them, but his bad mouthing, him running after us as we were leaving to call us names, and constant bickering left an extremely bitter taste in our mouths.

Going through the reviews, you'll find this is to be a common theme at this outlet in Bonn.

Treat your customers with respect, L'Osteria; and train your staff and motivate them - it seems your servers don't want to be here doing this job.

Rechnungs-nr: 3651 Tisch: 304/1 Date: 16.06.2022;...