Silvano Vini e Cibi Al Banco — Restaurant in Milan

I am writing this review excluding the restaurant manager and the quality of the cuisine. I chose this place to host a very important guest from abroad and to show some of the hospitality of Italy because Silvano has a delicious selection and I really recommend this place at every opportunity and put it in the selection I prepare for exclusive city guides. My guest was so important in terms of work that I made my reservation exactly 1 month in advance for a table for 2. We went to the restaurant exactly on time. No one paid attention to us for the first 20 minutes. I think all the waiters were babbling around with their customer-friends. Also, it was impossible to tell who is waiting in line at the entrance of the restaurant, who is just standing there or who is trying to pay the bill, there was a non-sense and disorderly crowd. Although I asked to 4 different waiters, none of them stopped to listen to us. The restaurant is a busy and crowded place, I am never impatient in this regard, but you need to greet the guests and at least communicate with then at the minimum level. Then I explained our situation to a waiter again. She said she could put us in the corner of a table for 5 at first. I asked in a very normal way if it was possible to move us to a table for 2. She told me, with a strange attitude, that if you make a late reservation, the system can automatically put you at an empty table and that this is stated on the website. I said that this was not true and that I made a reservation exactly 1 month in advance. Yes, Silvano is a famous and preferred place, but it is quite possible to find a place also in the same week. Then, the waiter told me, with another weird attitude, that I should explain my problem to her manager, not her. I guess her friends, who she should have been having more fun conversations with, were waiting in the back. The manager was a problem solver. She listened to us and tried to help us, but she couldn't. She said that I should have specifically mentioned it when making a reservation in a very important situation. But I said that I had already made this reservation 1 month in advance by booking a "table for 2". After all, it is a bit strange to try to prove that we really need a table for 2 when choosing a table for 2. The table they wanted to put us at was literally two chairs at the corner of a table full of people and food at the entrance, and the chairs were not even facing each other. If we had gone for lunch and wanted to have a snack, this would not be a problem, but while we were talking about these, 1 hour had passed since the reservation. We couldn't eat and we left the place. We couldn't find any place because it was Saturday evening. Thank you for your sensitivity Silvano, this cost me the loss of a pretty...

Waited three days to get a reservation here after some amazing meals in Milan and the best meals we had in Italy. In Milan people were warm and service was exceptional, but not at Silvano.

We sat down and were not offered anything for over 20 minutes while the rest of the restaurant was greeted, given water, wine, and spoke about the menu. When we arrived, there were only two other tables, but the other tables filled up quickly. We were the only table that was ignored.

My partner both work in hospitality in Canada and are very patient at restaurants. We were not greeted by any servers for the entirety of our visit. We gave it 25 minutes before we walked out. We weren’t even offered water. By far the worst experience at any restaurant in Italy, including in Rome by the colosseum. And that’s a high bar to reach. Will never go back.

Great job Silvano, you really...

This place was just great. The atmosphere was chic and lively, a fun place to be. The service was warm, friendly and attentive. The food was fantastic and very affordable. Relatively simple dishes executed brilliantly, often with an imaginative twist on a classic (like creamed cod with chimmichurri). We ate a series of small dishes, all were delicious but particularly the creamed cod, russian salad, parmagiana and the pickles. The waitress recommended great a great wine pairing for the cod (bardolino which despite being a red was just perfect - light, summery and fresh). Can't recommend this place highly enough. They certainly deserve their place in Time Out magazine's top restaurants in Milan.

If you want to leave service, be sure to take cash. This place can't accept...