Osteria dell'Oca Giuliva — Restaurant in Milan

shortly saying: kinda questionable, not tourist friendly at all, okay-ish food, okay portions, okay price, long wait time (45-50mins), ignorant staff, i wouldn't recommend at all, wasn't a good experience. thanks!! :)

we had a reservation. when we came in we got ignored (we have to say "hello?" like twice to get noticed) the lady on the front table was chatting with another person for like a good few minutes, without acknowledging our presence. after we caught her attention, we were brought to a table. then we got ignored some more, long story short we waited 45-50 minutes from us sitting down until our food came (from this i would like to point out, we had to wait like 20-25 mins just for water?? and that's just because i said "hey can we atleast get the water first?" it's literally just water). and after 45-50 mins, food came, and i immediately start to mix the pasta bc i was staaarving. turns out it was the wrong pasta (i didn't know what i supposedly ordered bc im not italian, and idk what the dish i ordered looks like) but my friend pointed it out and i stopped right before taking the first bite. suddenly the waiter came and took the pasta away, and replaced it with another pasta from another table, and gave what i had before to that other table. i was pretty okay bc my "current" dish looks untouched, but just putting that out there (bc i mixed the previous dish already with my fork).

the water and the food was served with no hospitality, no "enjoy" or "bon appetit"?? it was just put on our table (as if the waiters were in a rush, maybe they're understaffed?) which was new bc we've been to other restaurants in italy and that was never the case.. it doesn't really matter. i was just really bugged with the lack of hospitality. also i was kinda annoyed that the waiter seems friendlier to other english-speaking customers but not us? idk if its a race thing or an age thing. but he barely said anything nice to us. its like we don't even exist?? we literally had to somewhat beg for attention just to get anything. i hope that was not the intention, but i felt discriminated.

also, there's another guy older than us who came in after us, got served first :) and after reading the other reviews on this page (after we left), apparently that's not new.

when we left, every staff sort of like stared at us? but not like "goodbye" or anything. just staring.. that was weird.

anyway,...

Saw a number of good reviews so made reservation for dinner. After my experience, this restaurant appeared to be local favorite but not so much for Asian visitor like myself. After arrived to empty restaurant, it took another 10-15 minutes for my family to be seated for unclear reason (probably staff was still preparing) My server was Tony; in the beginning, he appeared to be nice but I later realized his “nice”gesture was to demand tips at the end. He gave my family unwanted breads (not tasty at all) in the beginning (pretty much that was his only extra service he provided to us) In terms of most important aspects for restaurant, foods were very mediocre. For American like myself, i dont think their pork cutlet, risotto, and seafood pasta were good at all… Im personally still confused what people praised about. FYI they dont accept American Express even though it says “welcome American express” on restaurant door 😅 Also, Tony was demanding tip at the end and kept emphasizing that tip wasnt included on bill and gestured me to put additional amount on bill by handing me a pen so they can charge more. I was going to give some cash tip anyway but this really blew my restaurant experience.

Summary of my long review: I dont recommend this place to visitors/tourists. I am sure people can find a better restaurant where they treat you out of their genuine heart before...

As a student from the US living in Milan - I have made a point to try and explore the incredible restaurants while in Italy. Osteria dell’Oca is truly my favorite restaurant in the whole city - and the entirety of Italy.

The vibe is comforting, eclectic, but most importantly homey. Most diners are local and only a few of the staff speak english, yet they are all sincerely kind and welcoming. If you have a small party, you don’t usually need a reservation. Raffaello and the rest of the team will ensure your visit is consistently great.

The food is always delicious and a great value. While I come about weekly and always want to try new things (literally everything is good) my favorites are the Catalana octopus and the saffron garganneli. Other standout dishes are the lobster spaghetti, risotto all’ossobuco, and the seafood spaghetti.

Not only will you have the best experience, you will want to come back again and again!! I can’t wait to visit Milan in the future and already have a favorite spot to...