Ristorante Oltre Il Giardino — Restaurant in Greve in Chianti

Terrible service, uncoordinated, outright upset, and a tourist trap just for the view.

When we arrived, we saw there was a sign to be seated, we told them table for 2, they asked us to seat ourselves, which we were happy to.

After we seated ourselves, their owner came up and told us we were not allowed to sit on a table for 4 (the venue was not busy at all, plenty of open table) and then accused us of just walking in and not wait to be seated.

We got into an argument as we were very civilised and followed the rules they provided us, but with someone accusing us of barging in is ridiculous.

Edit: Nothing changed above, just wanted to add something in response. As you can see in the owner’s response, everything that I indicated above is true and confirmed in his response. If you read previous negative reviews by others, the Owner has a tendency to think everything they do is correct and accepts no responsibility.

We were indeed asked by his waitress (wearing a white shirt) to seat ourselves, which the waitress agreed that was what she did, so we sat ourselves, then to be kicked out of our seat by the owner indicating that table was reserved (no signs on the table), but if you ask us to seat ourselves that is exactly what we would do. The Owner of the restaurant as we can see is the major disconnect here. The server even apologised for what happened, but the owner is too arrogant to acknowledge he is wrong.

On the speaking louder part, what would you expect would happen when the Owner of the restaurant, without understanding the situation, publicly asks us to leave for something he himself is...

Would not recommend this place. Much better places around in Tuscany. Please avoid. Our waiter was rude and a conman. He tried to force extra dishes on our table without our consent, but he failed when we did not accept. This seemed to really upset him. He then proceeded to criticise us for lacking restaurant etiquette. I'm sorry to the waitresses who work beside him, as I am worried he lacks respect. In fairness it offers a beautiful view but even if I remove the negative experience engaging with Cristian, I must say the pasta I had was more than underwhelming. I'm glad we didn't accept another dish he desperately and sneakily tried to forced upon us, as I can only take so much tasteless food in one sitting. I notice that many of the new reviews are quite negative and I suspect the overall rating is not representative. Please avoid this restaurant

Edit: I have now read through many of the comments and it is absolutely clear that we are not alone. The food is definitely below average. It also appears in the responses to these comments that this waiter (who may be the owner I'm unsure) cannot take any negative feedback, and he seems to blame customers for struggling to enjoy his bad food. I am very worried that he has a personality problem. I don't think there is any excuse to be rude regardless of what your...

It's a shame, the service just isn't good enough for a great experience. Took too long to get Menus, then I had to get the waiter to place an order. We were ignored for a while and I wanted to leave. Due to the lack of Restaurants in town we stayed. Eventually we received flavorless bread which was later charged at 5€. It was not served with olive oil or at least a plate and salt & pepper. Sides with the Fiorentine steak are minuscule @ 6€ each. The Florentine steak was extremely and surely of great quality & tender. However I'm missing a charcoal or grill flavor. It's probably how the locals eat it, but I do prefer a grill taste to it. I wouldn't go back due to lack of service. Im certainly not spoiled with great service being from Germany.

Update on my review: Thanks to the restaurant for the response. It's unfortunate hat a critique cannot be taken. It took to long to get attention from the staff and I finally got up to get someone's attention. In your price range that shouldn't happen. The table next to us from England had the same issue. Felt a bit like run of the mill. We liked the meal....