Caffè Duomo — Restaurant in Como

Avoid this place at all costs. One of the worst dining experiences I have had in Italy. We stopped by thinking, wow, what a great outdoor restaurant right by the Duomo. I should have known something was off when only one other table was occupied, but I was hungry, so we sat down.

Our waiter was straight up rude. He didn’t care about anything, took our order loosely, and asked me three times what pasta I wanted even though I clearly said it three times. He wouldn’t even make eye contact with us, just glared out into the street looking for people or staring at passersby instead of paying attention to his only guests. The appetizer arrived, and it was awful: bruschetta served on stale, untoasted bread with diced tomatoes and olive oil simply thrown on top. Still, we decided to give the place a chance.

After 40 minutes, still no entrees. We had a tour planned, and at this point frustration set in. Having been abroad for a month, we had never encountered service this bad. We politely asked if we could cancel the entrees so we could leave, but instead of being accommodating, the waiter mocked us, saying: “I know back home you are used to getting everything at the same time, but that’s not how it works here.”

Not only was this belittling, he then proceeded to “explain” to us how dining works in Italy, that appetizers come before entrees, as if we were children who had never eaten at a restaurant before. It was condescending, unnecessary, and completely disrespectful.

We asked at least five times if we could simply pay for what we had and go. His response? “I’m not eating your pasta, so no, you can’t leave.” The lack of professionalism was astonishing. When the pasta finally arrived, it was undercooked, flavorless, and served in a pan.

Throughout the entire time, we were the only guests in the restaurant. Instead of serving us properly, the waiter spent his time standing out front, hitting on women and trying to lure passersby inside.

This was unprofessional, inappropriate, and downright rude. The young man working here needs to seek out employment elsewhere because hospitality is clearly not for him. To top it all off, the food was mediocre at best. A truly awful experience and an...

Our meal 3, everyone else's 1! Clearly a business that does well based on its location - I do not imagine many returning customers. Quite expensive for its quality but I suppose that is as expected based on its location. They are quick to sit you down but it's all downhill from there. It took them a little while to serve us but their attention after that was basically none existent. Our food was average, although it came rather quickly! The pasta was extremely al dente and the risotto extremely bland. After our meal, it then took them over 30 minutes to clear our plates and bring the bill. However, our meal was infinitely better than many others whilst we were there. In the 90 minutes or so we were there, we witnessed: a waiter break a glass which went all over a couple and in there bread basket - the couple were then left to clean up the shards of broken glass with a dust pan and brush. -The music was hideous. a couple wait over 45 minutes to be asked for their food order. Because they received such poor service they agreed for the bill twice, which never arrived. Consequently they had to go to the bar and pay for their drinks. a family wait an extremely long time for their food and then when they got it 2 plates had to be e sent back as they were cold. the couple with the broken glass had to return one of their meals and then had to wait so long to be asked what else they wanted decided to just leave after only having one break between them.

All in all...

Quite easily the worst meal I’ve had in the entire 3 weeks I’ve been travelling through Italy. This place trades on the fact that they are situated across from the Duomo, so the view is lovely and that is where it ends. My husband ordered the bruschetta and was not impressed, the bread was stale and the topping was flavourless. I ordered the lobster and scampi linguini, and while it looked fairly impressive on the plate, that’s where it ended. The pasta was incredibly bland, I was given claw crackers for the lobster claw, which was a nightmare to try and open as it was covered with the tomato sauce and slippery - not to mention my fingers were covered in the sauce trying to crack it open - no finger bowls given either so you can imagine the state of my napkin afterwards, it looked like I’d wiped my plate with it. I didn’t even eat 1/3 of my meal as it was so tasteless I didn’t want to waste the carbs/calories eating something I just didn’t enjoy. The food was overpriced and mediocre. I would never go back here again nor would I recommend anyone...