Taverna del Grappolo Blu — Restaurant in Montalcino

I didn’t have to wait for a table because one had been reserved for me. The only positive aspect of this place is the relatively low prices – my main course cost €14 and the starter €6. Unfortunately, even at that price, I wouldn't recommend this restaurant.

The starter – tomato bruschetta – consisted of three small pieces of bread, only two of which had tomatoes on them. Really? Is that supposed to be creative? If so, it should be clearly stated on the menu. I’ve ordered this dish many times during my stays in Italy, including in Tuscany, and I’ve never encountered anything like that.

The main course was tagliatelle ai funghi con crema tartufata (apologies if I misspelled that) – the pasta itself was tasty, but what they added to it were just plain mushrooms. This region is known for porcini mushrooms and truffles, so serving pasta with regular champignons, in my opinion, is an insult to Tuscan cuisine. Before ordering, I specifically asked what kind of mushrooms will be in the dish, and the chef replied: "a mix." On top of that, the dish was oversalted.

Overall, the food was disappointing and (in my opinion) a poor representation of Tuscan cuisine.

The staff seemed intimidated – completely different from the warm, welcoming service I’ve experienced in every other place I’ve eaten at during the past two weeks. I asked for the air conditioning to be turned on, and I was told it "wasn’t working"… The place is small, with low ceilings, and it was over 30°C during the day. Extremely uncomfortable. I honestly don't understand the Michelin recommendation. I will now think twice before trusting such labels. Perhaps these recommendations need serious re-evaluation.

Every other non-recommended place I’ve eaten at in Tuscany was better – although usually a bit...

We are on holiday in Tuscany at the moment, we visited this restaurant first time today about an hour ago, there was no table available. I went inside and asked a waiter if I can book a table for me and my girlfriend for later as there were no table outside available, he told us to come back in 30 minutes and said he cant reserve the table but if there is one available in 30 minutes, we can have it. So we went for a coffee to another place near by and came back like he said. When we came back there was one table out of three available, there was no staff around to ask so we tought we sit down and wait for them to come. The waiter came to our table and smiled at us grabbed the empty bottle left after previous table and clean the table and went inside. All of a sudden after s couple of minutes he return to us and asked in very nasty way who told us to sit down?! He started to sream at us literally scream that he is the one to ask if we can sit down or not so we explained to him that we asked the other guy and explained that he told us to come back, then another two waiteresses arrived and the guy who told us to come back started to shout too that first we need to ask and then he will decide if we can sit down, we were trying to explain that nobody was outside and we wanted to sit down and wait for the to come, all three of us shouting at us like if we killed someone and i explained that there is a way of saying things to your customers and he said look we dont need you.......so we just left....other two tables were horrified how they behaved to us....never coming back! It ruined our day in Montalcino, we went to another place to have our lunch and it was...

I would like to begin by specifying that I am a native Italian, living abroad, precisely from the region Marche and therefore I know how those dishes should be. Went under recommendation from our B&B; we were told that the cook is an older lady that has been working there from many many years.. the food was for me totally disappointing and did not seem having been cooked by an experienced and good chef. After speaking with the owner, we came to know that his wife was no longer working there and that they have another lady chef. I do not know how they have achieved Michelin stars as for me is one of the worst meal of the holiday. Food overly salty, polenta did not taste nor have the consistency of polenta, bread borderline stale, unseasoned salad, scarse portions. Although the air conditioning and a ceiling fan were on, it was boiling hot. The male waiter, quite rude, arrogant and somehow aggressive in his mannerism, constantly undermining the guest sitting next to our table. I have witnessed and experienced the worst customer service of my life. The owner was however a lovely man. Not a good experience what so...