Old Grizzly Petit Restaurant — Restaurant in Aymavilles

My partner and I paid a visit to Castello di Aymavilles on the 17th of June 2023. We left the venue after 6.30 pm and walked a few hundred metres to the Old Grizzly to have a drink to quench the heat of the summer, and to decide on dinner thereafter. We were met by a waitress at the entrance. My partner asked if we could order a drink. The waitress told us the establishment is a restaurant and not a bar, and so refused to serve us. I asked again if we could just order a coffee first, and again the waitress reiterated that the establishment is a restaurant and not a bar, and turned us away.

The restaurant was not full at that time (it was at 7pm thereabout) for I only saw a table of 6 in the outdoor sitting. I just wonder why the waitress could not just accommodate us, let us have our coffee and open up the opportunity for us to stay for dinner. Seriously, does a coffee take up a lot of time when the restaurant was not yet full? True, we had at that time not decided on what to eat, but we could easily had dined at the Old Grizzly. If the night was fully booked, the waitress could kindly let us know, and we would be on our way. To turn away customers abruptly, in my humble opinion, is a cardinal sin in the food and beverage industry. Perhaps it is the culture, or it could be some unbending rule that does not make sense.

In reply to the owner of this establishment. If I can read Italian, I am sure I will observe your rules. Again, your "rule" is silly, but that is you of course. To further add to your blatant lie, why was there a table of 6 already seated before 7 pm when your "rules" stated service starts at 7.15 pm? What a laugh.

This is in response to your claim that the six seated were your staff members having their meal before the dinner service. My memory serves me very clearly that two of the women at the table were wearing bright colored dresses, attire that is more in line with going out for a dinner at a reputable establishment than serving at one. The two of your waitresses I saw, one who turned us away at the entrance into the establishment, and the other who was serving the table of six, wore long black pants and both had similar tops. I am hard-pressed to believe that the six seated at the table were staff of the restaurant. Perhaps you can explain to me if it is customary for your staff to be drinking bottles of wine before...

A few years back I started gaining interest in culinary cooking and food despite my history of being a difficult and picky eater, as well as being autistic and having trouble with textures. Which means I am the person in our family dedicated to seeking out restaurants to eat at. Mostly because I am able to find restaurants that meet all of our tastes and difficulties.

The Old Grizzly was the first restaurant we tried on our two week vacation here after I meticulously researched every restaurant in our area.

To start off we unfortunately do not speak Italian, but to our luck the staff were well versed in English! And the menu for the appetizers and main courses were also available in English! Any item that wasn't we simply typed out in google translate. (The wonders of modern technology)

The atmosphere was lovely. It was quite cozy and not too big, which for us was a plus. And the view of the mountains certainly were a sight to see.

I personally skipped the appetizers, but I was able to sample a taste from my mother who ordered the carpaccio. It was unlike any other carpaccio I've ever tasted. Soft and flavorful are not enough to describe it. I loved it.

My main course was the venison. And like the carpaccio it was so soft and melted in my mouth. The meat was accompanied with a blueberry compote. I have never tasted something like it before. Not quite sweet, and a hint of smoke. I can only describe it as a must try. And it paired very well with the venison.

I ended with the tortino cioccolato, which was a perfectly baked chocolate lava cake, accompanied by fresh fruits and the most creamy and delicious straciatella ice cream! I took one bite and I swear I was in heaven!

All in all our experience was lovely and I can not express how happy I am to have tried it! The food was made it with utmost care and love, which you could taste...

Gentile proprietario, io non sono innanzitutto un suo compaesano. Per quanto riguarda quanto da lei scritto è evidente che la vostra politica è incentrata solamente sul cliente di passaggio e non sul cliente che ritorna soddisfatto l'anno successivo. Noi invece, da buoni genovesi che tirano pesci in faccia alla gente contrariamente alle persone di Aymavilles, siamo ritornati più volte da voi. Sicuramente non ci aspettavamo il sorriso a 32 denti di sua moglie ma neppure un atteggiamento del genere per 30 minuti di ritardo al 17 agosto! Non mi interessa assolutamente quello che succede nella vostra cucina. Mi interessa SOLAMENTE essere trattato con educazione ed è solo grazie ai due ragazzi che ringrazio che non ho preso la porta e me ne sono andato. Ah, dimenticavo......questo a lei NON interessa! Per quanto riguarda i due miseri Genepy, io li ho pagati e NON mi sono stati offerti. Non si preoccupi comunque perché il prezzo della cena non mi ha creato alcun problema anche se sono genovese e NON un suo compaesano. Per quanto riguarda le regole scritte di cui parla le consiglio di mettere un bel cartello sulla porta del suo ristorante dove scrive a caratteri cubitali che la cucina chiude alle 21,30, perché pur vedendoci bene io non ho letto il messaggio e neppure sono stato contattato per sapere se arrivavo o no. Comunque continui pure con la sua linea di comportamento. Noi di alluvioni e di COVID ne abbiamo passato sicuramente più di voi, ma lei che si definisce un mio compaesano ben lo saprà! Mi saluti i ragazzi che sono stati gentili e hanno salvato la serata che si era messa male già dall' inizio nella mia vita, da cliente per di più già conosciuto in passato per la sua correttezza ed educazione, mi sono sentito dire in un ristorante a metà agosto che la cucina chiude alle 21,30 e per di più dalla proprietaria!! Do un voto positivo alla gentilezza dei ragazzi che hanno salvato la situazione dopo il comportamento estremamente maleducato di chi dovrebbe invece interessarsi dei clienti che portano soldi in un'attività, nonostante il maltempo e rimangono fedeli alla loro prenotazione, contrariamente a molti altri che si comportano diversamente! Noi non potevamo avvisare del ritardo perché arrivavamo da Vieyes ,un posto dove il nostro telefono non prendeva e non potevano avvisare del ritardo di venti minuti! I clienti vanno trattati in modo diverso soprattutto perché le 21,30 è un orario più che normale in estate per cenare e anche perché il cliente va trattato con i guanti e non a pesci in faccia e con sufficienza! In ultimo in tutti i posti i Genepy vengono offerti dalla casa soprattutto se si spende oltre una certa cifra. Evidentemente la serata del 17 agosto non era andata bene e vi siete rivalsi fino all' ultimo centesimo sugli ultimi clienti del vostro locale! Così...