Calata 15 — Restaurant in Herzliya

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. This is possibly my first ever 1 star review. I prefer writing about good experiences and normally rate 4-5 stars, but this place deserves an exception.

Today we were a party of 10 people, including a 2 month old baby, two more children and a 90 year old elderly person. We made a reservation and arrived on time, only to be told that our table is still occupied. The place was packed - obviously, in their greed, they take more reservations and walk-ins than they can handle.

We were finally seated 25 minutes after our reservation time. In the worst table of the restaurant, next to a window that has no shades and no way of opening, directly in front of the sunlight (practically a sauna - everyone in our group started sweating excessively).

When we explained that the table is not suitable for children and an elderly person, it took the restaurant another 10 minutes to seat us at a different table and another 10 minutes to come take our order. So we were finally making our order 45 minutes after our arrival and reservation time.

When we asked for water - a single 1L jug was given to a table of 10. The waiters (overworked in an overcrowded restaurant) couldn't keep up with the re-fills, so I had to self service us and go to the water dispenser to fill our jug myself. Not something I expect from a high-priced restaurant.

I might have forgiven such a lousy experience if they had offered us some drinks while we were standing outside in the sun waiting for our table, or offered an apology and a complimentary dessert, but no... Nothing was offered. Apparently this is 'just another normal day' at this restaurant. So I'm warning anyone who might make the mistake of coming...

Mediocre food loses out to absolutely terrible service at Calata 15. Most of the waiters, bartenders and kitchen staff were openly violating the mask mandate. Food and drinks took forever to arrive (over 50 minutes from when we ordered pasta to it showing up, at which point we had already asked for it to be cancelled) and our waitress simply said "sorry, the kitchen is busy today" and offered no further compensation of any kind. The one dish that did show up was a pizza that wasn't so much "cut into slices", but rather "lightly touched with a knife". Had to cut the soggy mess with our own cutlery, although it tasted ok. I asked to speak to a manager no less than 3 times before a "manager" (not the manager but rather the maitre d) showed up. After telling him about the masks and the delays in the food and drinks, he argued with me and tried to prove me wrong by looking at when I had ordered. After seeing that the waitress had messed up and hadn't even entered our pasta dishes in the system until over 30 minutes after we had ordered them he said "all I can say is sorry" and offered me a shot. I politely refused and for some reason he offered me a shot again and again. Bizzare. Last but not least- after paying the bill the waiter taking my credit card asked me if everything was alright. When I said "actually it was a pretty terrible experience" he answered with "no matter, it'll be better next time". There will (obviously) not be...

Me and my husband came for dinner at Calata15. We were ambivalent considering the mixed reviews here on google but decided to check out the place (keeping in mind the excellent review they received a couple years back in "Haartez" news paper). Bottom line: great place! we will definitely be back! Parking: Free parking in the Herzliya outlet parking lot (they validate it in the restaurant).

for starters we had the eggplant melenzena and the burrata salad, both were delicious! with the finest ingredients and generous portions. for entrees we had the fresh pastas with lamb ragu and ravioli with rose sauce and mushrooms- also absolutely scrumptious! for dessert the lemon tart coffee and limoncello. we went to the supervisor to compliment them and to inquire about the brand of coffee they use and he treated us to another shot of limoncello. About the prices- it is no secret that Israel is unfortunately very expensive- however, we didn't feel the prices were significantly high considering the quality and quantity of the food.

Too conclude- excellent authentic Italian restaurant and we will...