L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele Catania — Restaurant in Catania

We stopped by this restaurant early in the evening, just before seven. It was very quiet, with only one or two tables outside taken and the inside completely empty. We chose to sit outside. The décor inside looked nice and they clearly put effort into details. Even the menu was designed in a creative way, styled like a lined notebook, which was nice touch.

The waiter who approached us was not friendly. He asked if we wanted water and I clearly said no, thank you. He even repeated “no water,” so there was no misunderstanding. A moment later he asked if we were ready to order, but we had only just opened the menu. I told him we were still deciding. Instead of giving us space, he said “I’ll come back in one minute,” in a way that felt like he was literally timing us. That already made us feel rushed, especially since the place was nearly empty and there was no reason to hurry.

After I said we were still thinking, he didn’t leave right away but stood right next to our table, clicking on his tablet as if waiting for us to change our minds. Then he moved a few meters away near the entrance and kept watching us. Soon after, a waitress came over with bottles of water we hadn’t ordered. We explained that we hadn’t asked for any and she looked surprised, then went back to the same waiter to ask about it. They spoke in Italian, he looked irritated, and she came back to remove the water.

By that point the whole situation had become stressful. The waiter seemed annoyed and instead of making us feel welcome, he created pressure from the moment we sat down. We decided not to stay and left without ordering anything.

Because we didn’t try the food I can’t judge the quality of the dishes, but the atmosphere and the level of service were poor enough on their own. It’s a shame, because the place looked attractive and the menu was nicely presented, but overall the experience deserves...

Oh. My. Deliciousness. That crust! We had heard about L' Antica Pizzeria da Michele and were super disappointed when we were unable to go to the original location in Naples. But then, luckily (!), we found out that they had a location here in Catania! And wow!! This restaurant was simply awesome!

The pizzas are a work of art—and taste like it too! They are huge (see the picture comparing it to my hand!) but not so filling that you feel miserable. The crust is very thin and you roll it to eat it as it would be too floppy to simply pick up and eat. They also had a Sicilian crust pizza that looked absolutely delicious as did the calzone. The service was great too! Everyone was super friendly and helpful… a shout out to Alexander and Guiseppe for making us feel so welcome!...

Ci siamo recati presso l'antica pizzeria da Michele a Catania. Che dire: ESPERIENZA DELUDENTE. Appena arrivati, notiamo subito che, nonostante non accettino prenotazioni, il che potrebbe anche essere lecito vista la notevole affluenza di persone, ciò che ci ha lasciato perplessi è stata proprio la loro politica aziendale nel coordinare e gestire tutte le persone fuori dal locale in attesa di essere chiamate per entrare. La gestione dell'enorme afflusso è affidata ovviamente a un dipendente prettamente napoletano, il quale, munito di tagliandi numerati, come se fossimo in fila alla posta, quindi nessuna lista, ti imponeva di suddividerti in due file : da un lato chi aveva ricevuto il tagliando ed era in attesa di essere chiamato, e dall'altro lato chi ancora era sprovvisto di tagliando. Il RISULTATO? CONFUSIONE su CONFUSIONE, causata proprio dalla loro GESTIONE, perché non sempre si rispettava l'ordine numerico. Appena entrati, ci sediamo, ma notiamo che tra il nostro tavolo e quello accanto ci sono appena 20/30 cm, il che significa non solo la difficoltà di muoversi ma, aspetto più importante, non si ha completamente PRIVACY. La responsabile di sala, molto prepotente a nostro parere, una volta ordinato il famoso calzone fritto, ci chiede la cortesia di tagliarlo in due, date le dimensioni enormi, ma la signora ci risponde in maniera prepotente che non era possibile tagliarlo perché è una loro politica aziendale. Chiediamo inoltre di portare le bibite una volta che ci portano il calzone, ma la responsabile ci risponde nuovamente che non era possibile, in quanto le bibite le portano subito in base alla loro politica; insomma, tutto quello che chiedevamo era un NO!!! Ci ha lasciati perplessi il modo e l'arroganza nel rispondere... beh, che dire? Una volta portato il calzone, chiediamo di portare due piatti e il cameriere ci porta due piattini piccoli... dove non entrava nemmeno metà del calzone... Il calzone ??? NIENTE DI SPECIALE Infine, la ciliegina sulla torta è stato il CONTO, in quanto il ragazzo aveva confuso il nostro tavolo con un altro ... Un'esperienza DAVVERO DELUDENTE... Non consigliamo assolutamente questa pizzeria... A mio parere, ci sono pizzerie migliori a Catania dove il servizio è nettamente migliore, così come la pizza e...