Locanda del Marinaio — Restaurant in Amalfi

A Deeply Disappointing Experience at the Amalfi Coast’s Worst Restaurant

During my recent visit to the stunning Amalfi Coast, a destination renowned for its breathtaking scenery and exquisite cuisine, I encountered a dining experience so profoundly disappointing that it left a lasting negative impression. Despite the idyllic surroundings, this particular restaurant managed to tarnish what should have been a delightful afternoon.

Upon arrival, my wife and I were drawn to the restaurant’s charming exterior and the promise of authentic Italian dishes. My wife was eager to sample the local cuisine, while I, having already had a hearty lunch earlier, decided I would accompany her but not order anything for myself. This seemed straightforward enough, and we settled into our seats with high hopes.

The trouble began almost immediately. As my wife perused the menu, I requested a napkin from our waiter. I have never in my life experienced such a shocking display of rudeness and unprofessionalism. Instead of a simple acknowledgment, the waiter sneered at me and made a snide comment about my lack of an order. “You don’t order food, but you want a napkin?” he remarked, dripping with condescension and disdain.

I was taken aback by this unnecessary and offensive comment. It was not only uncalled for but also indicative of a deeply flawed customer service ethic. A napkin is a basic courtesy extended to any guest, regardless of their order. For a waiter to mock a customer for such a simple request is utterly unprofessional and shows a complete lack of respect for patrons, particularly tourists who are there to enjoy the local culture and cuisine.

My wife, who was excited to enjoy her meal, felt equally embarrassed and uncomfortable by the interaction. The joy and anticipation of a lovely meal quickly evaporated, replaced by a sense of unwelcome and disrespect. Despite the waiter’s attitude, she decided not to order anything at all. The initial excitement we felt upon entering the restaurant had turned into sheer disappointment and discomfort.

We promptly decided to leave, unwilling to tolerate such hostility and poor service. As we exited, I couldn’t help but notice that other diners also appeared dissatisfied with the service. It became apparent that our negative experience was not an isolated incident. The waiter’s behavior was not just a lapse in judgment but seemed to be his standard modus operandi.

The fact that we couldn’t even stay long enough to order speaks volumes about the establishment. When a restaurant’s staff drives away customers before they’ve even had a chance to taste the food, it’s clear that there’s a significant problem with the management and training of the employees.

Leaving the restaurant, I felt a mixture of frustration and disappointment. The Amalfi Coast is a place of beauty and culture, and it is disheartening that such establishments are allowed to operate with such blatant disregard for their patrons. The hospitality industry thrives on positive experiences and word-of-mouth recommendations, but this restaurant seems content to exploit tourists, confident that they won’t return.

In conclusion, my brief visit to this restaurant on the Amalfi Coast was one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. From the rude and mocking waiter to the unwelcoming atmosphere, every aspect of the visit was a letdown. I strongly advise fellow travelers to avoid this establishment and seek out the many other wonderful dining options in the region that truly embody the warmth and culinary excellence of Italy. This restaurant, with its terrible attitude and poor service, does not deserve your...

The first evening of my stay in Amalfi town, I had attempted to partake in dinner at a restaurant other than Locanda del Marinaio. This restaurant shall remain unnamed but suffice it to say, I was waiting in line outside said restaurant and the owner indicated the couple ahead of me was the cutoff for entering the restaurant. It was 7:30 pm. I was welcome with open arms at Locanda del Marinaio, tho it was substantially less busy than its counterpart. I received exemplary service and food, but it is the second visit I write about now.

I didn’t catch the name of the gent who seated me, but he made me feel welcome at once…a feeling I wasn’t sure I’d experience again after the previous two restaurants had stared at me when I indicated I was dining and traveling (for that matter) solo. “Stick her in the back near the column” or openly roll eyes at the request for a table for one, I assumed would be my experience for the duration of the trip. This particular server said to me “Better to spend time alone than to be in bad company.” I knew from that moment that my experience was to be a good one. I was soon greeted by Carmine, who I could presume was the head waiter…he was a delight the entire meal. I ordered a glass of house red and they brought the bottle to my table and treated me to the ceremony of bottle opening and tasting, tho they knew I’d likely only drink a single glass. I ordered an appetizer, melanzana alla parmigiana and while I had enjoyed this very dish two other times on this same trip, Locanda’s version was exquisite…it was all about the eggplant and the tomato sauce was so rich in flavor…I literally ate every single bite and cleaned my ramekin with my bread. My next course was Ravioli with buffalo mozzarella tin a sage butter lemon sauce.

Every….single….bite surpassed the previous one in taste and enjoyment. I was in love with this dish and I took small slow bites to savor the experience. I left a single ravioli , not my ideal situation for a gal who’s long been part of the clean your plate club, but I was so very satisfied with the food and drink that I couldn’t imagine putting another bite in my expanding belly. Plus, this wasn’t my first rodeo, I wanted to save room for dessert and limoncello. I ordered the traditional Amalfi lemon cream cake and was treated to a gorgeous little dome of fluffy lemon sponge cake filled with a lemon-ee cream and dipped in more lemon-ee cream. Not too sweet, so very tart and oh so perfectly creamy, I all but cleaned my bowl with my tongue and didn’t want the experience to end. Of course I enjoyed my cake with a little limoncello and by the time I asked for the bill, I was on a little food buzz…or a real one (as I had been drinking back at my apartment in the hours leading up to dinner.)

I told Carmine it was my best meal in Amalfi to date and said I would happily write a google review. I asked him to spell his name so that I could call him out personally, but, like every extra special employee, he deferred praise to his team and asked that I didn’t single anyone out. I had too, of course, because he was an absolute gem and he and his colleagues ensured I was entertained, well fed, and anything but lonely on my solo journey on the Amalfi Coast. Go there, eat there, and leave feeling...

This is by far the WORST restaurant I've ever been to! I went with a friend, and from the beginning our waiter was being rude and snappy with us. He acted as if serving us was a burden to him. On top of that, service took forever. When we did finally get our dishes, we both found our pastas to be undercooked. We mentioned this and asked him to fix this, but instead, he argued with us that it was not undercooked. After some arguing, he took our dishes back to the kitchen. At this point both my friend and I were fed up with the service, and we decided to leave.

We went up to our waiter and asked that he cancel our orders and just charge us for our beverages, but he completely ignored us. He insisted that our dishes were already being prepared again and that they would be out shortly. We continued to argue with him that we no longer wanted to dine at the restaurant because of the service and his arguing with us about the undercooked pastas for another 10 minutes. He just kept repeating himself and stalling until our dishes were ready and he put them on our table. We took another menu and found the price of our drinks and put the payment for them on the table and proceeded to leave.

When our waiter realized this, he handed us our money back and started screaming at us and a couple of the other staff came at us and demanded we pay for the pastas too. We refused and continued to walk. They then put their hands on us to stop us and said they were calling the police. I invited them to do so, and one of their staff walked away saying he was doing so. In the meanwhile, we reexplained that they served us undercooked pasta, and when we tried to have it returned, our waiter just argued with us for the first 5 minutes. Again, they continued to ignore us. And one of them pounded his fist together and asked us to go inside to talk about this. I was in complete shock. They already put their hands on us, and now they threatened violence. My friend and I were beyond outraged at this point and began raising our voices and making a scene. Our original waiter came back and conceded that we no longer needed to pay for the pastas. The staff member who went for the police conveniently came back without anybody. He repeated again that he was going for the police. To which we just responded by paying them for our drinks, like we did initially!

In short, this restaurant threatened us with violence, ignored us, and served us undercooked pasta. DO NOT GO HERE! It's embarrassing that a restaurant can even get...