La Grotta nei Sassi — Restaurant in Matera

I reserved a table here for a special dinner on my last night in Matera. What a disappointment. My dining experience was one of the worst I've had since starting my trip around Italy. When I made my reservation it would have been helpful to know the restaurant's discriminatory practices against solo travellers. I was not allowed a table on the terrace; they are only for groups of two or more. Instead, I was given a wall for a view, in front of the door. I felt like I was in France, not friendly Italy. There were plenty of empty tables on the terrace and I had reserved early, planning to be gone before the crowds at 8.30 - 9pm. Apart from the sommelier, I was made to feel very unwelcome. The awful experience didn't extend to the food, happily. That was delicious. The last insult was the bill, which included a dubious €3 for something unclear. Do not go here if you are a solo traveller. Instead, try Caveoso in the low town... They squeezed me in without a reservation on busy Sunday night, at a great table, had friendly, welcoming service, great food, and a...

This place has some rather impressive pastas, but that's the extent of my compliments. Service bordered on non-existent; they drop off water and wine, but you pour it. They serve food with no plates or silverware on the table. Not excusable at their price point. Some other problems: 5 Euros for a "salad;" a small bowl of iceberg lettuce, alone, no dressing. Unbelievable. We ordered octopus but what was served was entirely different than the menu description. Wasn't bad, but no advance warning. Upon requesting the check, they said you pay up front, which I did. As we are leaving, they rudely stop me and say, "Oh we forgot to charge you for a few things, so you need to pay $25 Euros more." Insult added to injury at this point. One word sums up my experience:...

We had a lovely dinner here on our first night in Matera. Our host suggested this place and since it was very late (around 10pm) we went without checking reviews / other locations etc. We were positively surprised! The restaurant has a lovely view and food is very good quality. We had two starters, two main, two desserts and 4 drinks. Total came to about 120€ which we thought was super fair! Only thing I would mention - they could improve service. We had to ask for the wine several times (you can’t bring me the drink 10min after the food), but in general it was a...