Caffè Maya — Restaurant in Como

I was visiting Como with my two daughters for two days. We went to Cafe Maya for breakfast. Sadly we had a terrible experience which cast a shadow over our whole stay. This is a cafe where the customer is wrong and no responsibility is taken for staff misunderstandings or indeed mistakes. The menu stated you could order 1, 3 or 7 pancakes. We ordered 1 omelette and 6 pancakes to share between the three of us. We tried to make it clear that we didn’t want 6x3 pancakes, though surely that should have been obvious. I do try my best in Italian and they also spoke in English. When the waitress (light brown hair) summarized “so, six pancakes in total” we felt reassured that we had been understood. When the waitress with dark brown hair brought our drinks she again asked - “6 pancakes?”- and again we said yes. So when 6 plates of 3 pancakes arrived (ie 18 pancakes) we were so taken aback we did not know what to say. Indeed we found it funny at first. With hindsight (easy to say now) we should have drawn this to the cafe’s attention right away. Why didn’t we? Initially we were so shocked and laughing about it and then the waitresses were busy and we just left it. With what happened later, I think that we might have ended up having a big confrontation before we ate. As it was, we ate in peace, the food was good, and the confrontation happened later.

As we finished up our 6 pancakes and 1 omelette (and yes I took a bite out of pancake no 7) I attracted the dark-haired waitress’s attention and explained the misunderstanding. She offered us a box to take away the 9 leftover pancakes (with maple syrup / Nutella) these were not going to be easy to transport and we eventually left them).

The light brown-haired waitress was very kind and came over and apologised for the misunderstanding.

I was worried that the bill would be high but was not prepared for the 83 Euro bill (by far the most expensive meal we had in Como the two days).

I went inside to question it. What followed was the worst restaurant experience of my life. The dark-brown haired waitress (she said her name was Eleanora, and perhaps she was the manager?) spoke to me in such a condescending manner, told me that she had checked specifically that we had wanted 6 pancakes (to which I said yes, we had wanted 6 pancakes, not 18), showed me the menu again, told me that 6 pancakes meant 6 plates of 3 pancakes and told me I had to pay 83 Euros. I told her I could not pay this and I would pay for what I ordered. Yes, I went to walk back to my table but I would not have left the restaurant without paying for what we had ordered (and even a bit more). This dark haired young lady (called Eleanora) ran out of the restaurant and called the police and said if I didn’t pay she would have to “denounce” me. What a terrible end to an otherwise lovely stay in Como. I am afraid I completely lost my temper with the way that this young lady spoke to me. Her complete lack of empathy and insistence that the mistake was 100% my mistake made me see red. For that, I apologise to the customers of Cafe Maya. My children and I were extremely embarrassed and upset by the situation. This is the first time I have ever shouted in a restaurant like this and the first time I feel it necessary to write a review. A tip to travellers - if you’re ordering pancakes, perhaps state you want 1 PLATE of three pancakes instead of ordering 3 pancakes (because in this cafe 3 pancakes means 9 pancakes). A tip to the cafe - the serving staff should say “total 18 pancakes” or “6 plates of 3 pancakes” rather than saying “6 pancakes” when in fact they mean “18 pancakes”! A further tip to the cafe - when misunderstandings occur, try to show more empathy and perhaps meet the customer half way. I would have agreed to pay half of the remainder, and accept that we had, in some way contributed to the misunderstanding. It would have been nice if the cafe could have done...

The impression of the city has been spoilt! 30 September on my Nameday me and my husband were in Como and came to Caffe Maya to drink a cup of coffee. I gave 20 euro for two espresso - that was the only banknote we had in cash and we needed to change it and pay for parking - but the waiter instead of 15 euro of change gave us only 5. We told him he was mistaken, but the guy looked at us in a quiet impudent way and said that he is sure that it was only 10 euro. "And I' m not sure wich one from different banknotes in cassa is yours". He was quite insolent. He was almost laughing at us! We asked to call the chief, but he replied that they are his parents, they work on another street, so they are not going to help us. We are adult people, and we were very impressed by this impudence! If there are really any parents of this guy nearby, they...

Really bad experience. It started with the really impatient and unfriendly waitress. I was still deciding what I should eat and she kept on shouting in my ear "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" "WHAT DO YOU WANT?". Then I asked for a bottled juice that was €4. They ended up giving me another juice that wasn't bottled and €6,50. I also got an original sandwich which was €7. €7+€6,50= €13,50 but I ended up paying €18,50. I discussed this with the waiter, he admitted that it was a mistake but he only gave me €2,50 back. Tired of discussing, I accepted it but they took €2,50 from me. Although it's not much it really tells a lot how they find tricks to get your money. I will never...