Castiglione Pizza e Cucina — Restaurant in Bologna

Really disappointing encounter at this restaurant this evening.

We started off ordering two Spritz;

1. Aperol - Very good
2. Hugo - Only okay, probably our least favourite we’ve had in Bologna (and we’ve had quite a few!)

For mains, I ordered the Spaghetti carbonara, and my partner ordered the tortellini in a sage and butter sauce;

1. Carbonara - I don’t say this lightly, but this was the worst tasting dish I’ve had in a long time. I took one bite, and left the rest. The aroma from the pasta was so strong it was as if it was made with a blue cheese. This was the major disappointment.

2. Tortellini - Extremely bland, dried out pasta parcels swimming in a butterly like oil. My partner took 3 bites and left the rest.

The bread that came out was stale and certainly not fresh. This goes in par with other reviews expressing the food is not fresh.

I rightly expressed my dissatisfaction with the meal, to be told it was indeed ‘authentic dishes of Bologna’ and to speak with the manager inside.

I spoke with the manager, who again, repeated the previous statement and “as courtesy” removed the cover charge (€5), from the bill…

I’m not one to leave negative reviews, and certainly not one to expect items be removed from the bill but when two full plates of food come out, and when two full plates of food get sent back with little validation of our comments, it’s really disheartening.

We certainly won’t be back, and do not recommend this restaurant. As pasta & Italian food lovers, there are plenty of other restaurants in Bologna to choose...

Very mixed review but definitely not as good as other reviews make believe. We ordered mains and sides. Plus: pizza. Clearly a star item for all the obvious reasons but also, not the best we've had. service was fast, but the food didn't appear to be have been prepared freshly (apart from pizza) - see below.

Minus: grilled vegetables. Literally that, slices of zucchini, aubergine and peppers, grilled. Zero seasoning, absolutely no flavour. Lukewarm to cold. grilled chicken: yet again, lukewarm and zero flavour. Not marinated or salted, just grilled and that is that. roasted rosemary potatoes. Were slightly cold and obviously not freshly made, they were more cooked than roasted, not a crunchy part to be found. Once again lacking in flavour even though rosemary twigs were seen. lasagna: I didn't taste, but my husband complained that this too was bland and somehow dry, even though there was enough meat sauce.

I didn't know Italian cousins can be this flavour less...

We didn't risk ordering dessert here.

If you seek flavour, perhaps seek...

This pizzeria is getting the 4 stars because of our server Joseph. He was amazingly kind, accommodating and charming. Thank you Joseph.

It seems Italy loves a corporate, homogeneous retail and restaurant concept these days. We wanted pizza, but old world pizza, with a hundred year old blackened pizza oven. Variety is not necessary. Tomato sauce, mozzarella and a crispy crust is all that is needed. Italy used to have thousands of independent pizza artists. Unfortunately, corporate, antiseptic America has diseased Italy. Sometimes, every street feels like a suburban mall. It’s a shame. We could only find large, glossy, multi stimulating pizza joints, and we simply chose Castiglione as a last choice.

The pizza and salads were just okay at best. I expect so much more from Italy. Joseph helped mitigate the mediocre food, but he couldn’t turn a corporately planned pizza into an artisanal pie. I hope Italy understands old world pizza making needs to be preserved. Not everything is...