Trattoria Paolangelo — Restaurant in Matera

TL;DR Good food, mediocre service, scammy practice / Ottimo cibo, servizio mediocre, prezzi disonesti

Full review: the food here is good, really good.

We came here because the place was recommended by our AirBnB host. We are a half Italian, half American family, so we have experience with service both in Italy and in the US. We love good food, and this seemed to be both a convenient and authentic place - not a tourist trap, or so we hoped.

We sat down, and we had to wait over 30 minutes. We had to ask if we could please order, since we were hungry - and only then someone finally came to take our order.

We were four: two of us ordered the famed "menu pizza" - a selection of local appetizers and one pizza to be shared by two people, for 12 euro per person (but at least two people must order the same). The other two of us ordered a la carte, one pasta dish and one mixed grilled meat. We made sure that we did NOT order appetizers, since we heard that the portions were generous. We also got a bottle of water and a bottle of red wine - an excellent red. The waiter agreed, took our orders, and left.

The dinner started well: the appetizers were generous, to the point that we were so full by just tasting them all that we asked if our orders of pasta or grilled meat could be canceled. They said no, but that we could cancel the pizza provided that we still paid for the full "pizza menu". Thinking that it was going to be $24 for the generous appetizers, we agreed - the pizza would have been too much, and the price was right. After a long while, the rest of the food arrived: past and meat. We still ate some and enjoyed it, and ordered Amaro Peppe to finish our meal. All was good. We even complimented this place for having good and honest prices as we reached the cashier. She asked for my card and I handed it over without looking at he bill - and yes, that was my mistake, but this place felt good. We even left a generous tip, a practice that is not common in Italy.

All considered, we expected a reasonable bill - however, the restaurant charged us not just for all we ordered, but an additional 32 euro for two more orders of appetizers that we specifically said we did not want.

When we asked to rectify this overcharge - particularly since we specified that we did not want four order of appetizers, and since we even said to leave the charge of the "menu pizza" even without ordering the pizza - they said no, and laughed at us. So, here I am writing this review, my experience of Matera and its food a bit ruined by dishonest restaurants. We ended up paying a lot for things we did not want.

This "misunderstanding", as they call it, could have been avoided by simply taking the non-existent appetizer orders off the bill. Instead, the cashier insisted that we ordered everything and refused to issue a refund.

Conclusion: there is a lot of good food in Matera, stay away from this place and go find another restaurant. You'll enjoy the meal more and you'll actually pay the right price - perhaps more, but it will be what you actually ordered.

We surely...

I'm an Italian American and President of the Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America. This is relevant because I live part of the year in Matera. I've been to Trattoria Paolangelo 3 times in the past month for dinner. On Saturday, I was able to get a table despite the reservations - which are recommended for weekends and in the high tourist season. The carbonara takes my breath away, the bruschetta is the best in town - fresh and flavorful and I can tell you from seeing the faces on the locals everything is fantastic. I was there and sat across from a couple from Germany visiting for their honeymoon - I never saw 2 people eat so much - they kept ordering and drinking and talking about how wonderful everything was. What you must know is the service and staff are incredible - Trattoria Paolangelo is a true Italian dining experience. You receive one course at a time, and they check in before the next course to be sure you are ready. They clear the table of the prior course before you have the next so it's relaxed and not rushed. Everyone is friendly and not overly present but always anticipating your needs. I don't usually have dinner out - I'm more of a lunch person. But for me, Trattoria Paolangelo is a wonderful choice, easy to find, very comfortable atmosphere, and beyond delicious.

In Italiano: Sono un italo-americano e presidente dell'Ordine Figli e Figlie d'Italia in America. Questo è rilevante perché vivo parte dell'anno a Matera. Sono stato alla Trattoria Paolangelo tre volte nell'ultimo mese per cena. Sabato sono riuscita ad avere un tavolo nonostante le prenotazioni, che sono consigliate per i fine settimana e in alta stagione turistica. La carbonara mi lascia senza fiato, la bruschetta è la migliore della città - fresca e saporita e posso dirvi, vedendo le facce della gente del posto, che tutto è fantastico. Ero lì e mi sono seduto di fronte a una coppia di tedeschi in visita per la loro luna di miele - non ho mai visto due persone mangiare così tanto - continuavano a ordinare e a bere e a parlare di quanto tutto fosse meraviglioso. Il servizio e il personale sono incredibili - la Trattoria Paolangelo è una vera esperienza culinaria italiana. Si riceve una portata alla volta e si controlla prima della portata successiva per essere sicuri che siate pronti. Il tavolo viene liberato dalla portata precedente prima di quella successiva, in modo che il tutto sia rilassato e non affrettato. Tutti sono cordiali e non eccessivamente presenti, ma anticipano sempre le vostre esigenze. Di solito non vado a cena fuori, sono più portata per il pranzo. Ma per me la Trattoria Paolangelo è una scelta meravigliosa, facile da trovare, con un'atmosfera molto confortevole e...

I can’t lie, I was very underwhelmed with the food. The night before eating here we ate at Trattoria Lucana and it was absolutely incredible (go there instead). I had high expectations for this dinner because of how amazing our dinner was the night before, but I was let down. The service wasn’t amazing, letting two groups (without reservations) sit down before us even though we arrived before both. The pizza was very average, and the steak was under seasoned with a lot of gristle. There are obviously great reviews for this trattoria so maybe we ate there on a bad night, but I can say that I will not recommend this place to anyone visiting Matera. The lady working there was extremely nice though, I have...