Rustichello Restaurant — Restaurant in Genoa

Horrible treatment by the inflexible host. One of the patrons needed to seat to a more spacious table due to receiving foot surgery just 2 days earlier. Thable had the same number of seats (4) with the only major difference being that the person with the foot covered in bandages would have been able to extend it having a bit more room for the leg hence allowing the foot to rest and seat far more comfortably. The host dismissed the request relayed fir us by one of the two helpful waitresses... and certainly believing we couldn't see him, he said it all with his gestures and facial expressions while he dismissed said request. Food was passable albeit nothing to write home about as there are indeed better establishments in the area and in Genova in general. The inadmmissible behavior the host exhibited when faced with the choice to make in order to help a disabled patron, took even the most remote possibility of enjoyment away. While the disabled person patiently sat at the tighter spot and suffering silently the discomfort, I personally rushed to finish whatever ordered so we could leave. I was famished, but ordered just a pasta dish to leave as soon as physically feasible also because I no longer had any appetite and certainly would not have wanted to stay at this restaurant a single nanosecond more than what was absolutely necessary. Only out of respect of the wishes of the disabled person dining with us I did not make a fuss. Shame on the owner for his despicable lack of compassion. Revolting individual. Never again and if you can please support any other establishment, but this. I thank you for it in advance.

@Rustichello in reply to the owner who states he is sorry he could not accommodate us. Anyone apologizing should mean it, he doesn't. That's abundantly clear since he chose to define my recount of a bad experience at his establishment as "melodramatic".

He certainly didn't go out of his way to provide any help, not even mentioning he might try asking those who reserved the table if they would be amenable to switch table as for attempting to provide help on the way in or out that didn't even cross his thoughts. But honestly what was the worst of the whole experience was the attitude with which he refused the request. I would have even understood a preemptive apologies (although would have been just a formal politeness) where the host would have cautioned us about how small the place was and we may have found it difficult to dine comfortably there, but the staff would have tried their best to make out dining as enjoyable as possible... we are at you disposal, so don't hesitate to ask (that doesn't mean we would have asked or that they had the obligation to cater to every request if they couldn't).

Clearly the owner's lack of empathy and sensibility didn't allow him to understand that the review was about the one single fundamental issue here: his attitude. Not the waitresses' or the size of the establishment... Let me try to make it as clear as possible once again for his own learning so that perhaps in future he'll be more considerate and polite towards anyone with specific needs... The issue was one of nasty attitude for the 99% of this regrettable event.

Sorry to have been such an inconvenience for your small restaurant so much so that caused you to disgruntally refuse a legitimate and honest request which you did not go out of your way to try and accommodate (in a way or another... even in a simple personal apology to the patrons which would have costed you zilch and would have gone a long way to change moods). Manners are still very important to some of us. We'll give you a early Xmas gift and promise we won't come bother you ever again. We do not support establishments where owners lack of the most basic manners and patrons are treated rudely and with complete disregard for their needs. I'm sure you won't go bankrupt if we won't come, on the contrary it'll certainly make you feel better and exclaim "good riddance!" as that'd be the attitude to be expected and in tune with how we've...

To begin, I was absolutely bewildered at some of the negative and some outright ridiculous reviews (in my opinion) regarding this business, therefore as a level 8 contributor with over 13 million views to date as well as being a frequent traveller to Italy, Liguria in particular, I hope you will read this as being truly honest and genuine.

My wife and I had to stay overnight in Genova enroute back to the UK and as we were in the Brignole area around 7pm I took to Google to find a nice eatery rather than being somewhat restricted around the airport. Rustichello Restaurant looked ideal, only a few minutes walk from the train station, our kind of local cuisine and it opened for dinner at 7pm, perfect. We arrived a couple of minutes before opening however the female staff member setting up the outside tables was extremely friendly and accommodating directing us (and our luggage) indoors and to a table and were we lucky as by 7.30/8.00pm they were full. The staff were professional, courteous and friendly and although busy within a short period of time, were always attentive and quick. Onto the food, well what can I say, other than outstanding. To begin you are given some lovely warm, fresh bread and focaccia which was regularly replenished. Our starters were their popular trofiette al pesto and a pasta with salted anchovies, butter and crushed walnuts. Both dishes were definitely fresh and homemade, perfectly cooked and very flavoursome. The pesto was thick and creamy accompanying the trofettie perfectly and definitely traditional. The anchovy and walnut pasta was also very good with good depth of flavours and topped with a small fried squid which was a nice touch. The dish was and only in my opinion slightly dry with maybe benefitting with more butter or some oil but overall full of flavour and perfectly cooked. For our mains, we had beef tagliata and the crispy octopus. Again both dishes very tasty and full of flavour, the beef cooked perfectly accompanied by a few roasted potatoes and a rocket salad. The octopus was perfectly cooked then what seemed deep fried for a very short time in order to crisp the exterior, served on a bed of puréed, buttery potato and a lovely red onion and olive side. For dessert we opted to share the homemade tirrimisu as we always do no matter where we go, probably just to compare regional recipes, not that we need a reason and their’s was not to disappoint. The highlight however was what we ended with. We shared a lemon sorbet with fresh basil and pink peppercorn. Wow, this was a palette cleanser on another level. The basil flavour was bold yet did not kill the lemon flavour just strange seeing a green lemon sorbet, it was a sure winner to finish off the meal, well apart from the obligatory limoncello that is, chilled and not cheap and syrupy like many. We had 2 or 3 bottles of sparkling water and a bottle of Cinque Terre Ligurian white wine. Overall we were just over €100 which for 3 courses of that calibre with wine, I feel was a great price and for that quality of food elsewhere down the coast i.e Santa Margherita Ligure, we would have been €150 or more. Finally as we paid, the very friendly owner struck up a conversation about golf and whiskey with us being from Scotland even offering us a free dram from his collection. Overall, the staff, service, food and price was very good and to then get the customer service we did at the end, money really can’t buy! We will be sure to visit again the next time we are in...

To surprise my girlfriend for her birthday I reserved a table at 7pm when the restaurant opens. We were the second table to enter the restaurant. At 7:15 p.m. we were one of the first tables to order something to eat. We had a plate of grilled calamari to share for starters and both ordered pasta for mains. At 7:30 p.m. we got the appetizers, while other tables were placed around us. Since the portion (for one person) was relatively small, it was eaten quickly. Now we were already looking forward to the main dishes. Since we still haven't received anything after 40 minutes, we asked friendly where the food is. Other tables next to us, which even arrived later, had already eaten. The service, which was friendly at first, said that she would go and see where our food was. However, she did not come back to us with any information, apology or similar. So we set ourselves a limit of one hour. When this was over, we finally asked for the bill because we still didn't get any food. The waitress seemed surprised and disappointed. But after such a long time we didn't feel well and hungry anymore. We were still charged for 2 times bread (which we haven’t ordered), all drinks and the appetizer for an amount of about 28 € and about 2 hours of our evening. We found it quite a pity that, apart from an apology from the owner, we were not offered any compensation and we even, and I say it again, had to pay for the bread that we did not order. I hope that the other guests had a nice evening, unfortunately it...