Al Pozzo — Restaurant in Monterosso al Mare

Worst restaurant experience in Italy so far - from poor restaurant management, to lack of English-speaking staff (that was also not fluent in Italian either and could not advise us on the menu at all) and tasteless food.

We initially waited for 20 minutes to be seated and then 40 more minutes for the order to be taken. In between, we have had to 'chase' our drinks order a couple of times and wait another 30min for the bill to be delivered, hence we could pay.

Two ladies served the whole restaurant and other customers next table were complaining as well. Inside the restaurant was a loud group of guests and it seemed like the staff is trying to please them anyhow only because they were speaking Italian.

They never brought extra parmigiano when serving the pasta but charged us 6 EUR coperto charge (clean napkins & some bread). We waited approx. 1 hour from starter until the main course was served and on top of that they brough the main course separately - my partner had to wait for 30 extra minutes until we could both eat.

Their seafood pasta was nice when it comes to taste and presentation, but most of the meals are for two people only and each person's share is 20 EUR (seafood risotto is one of those meals), therefore it makes it impossible to order whatever you want.

Not to mention the menu has literally everything, but no pictures so a lot of text to digest which makes it impossible to pick food.

Lastly, my partner ordered a ragu and he got some boiled pasta with a handful of red sauce on top. We desperately tried to explain that this is now how ragu pasta is made and we want more sauce and for them to adjust the portion, sadly the waitress did not understand a word.

We ended up paying approx. 70 EUR and were left alone hungry and dissatisfied. I would not advise you to eat there, it's just not worth the money and it's not even a spacious and...

I cannot give this establishment a low enough rating for their lack of basic sanitation and hygiene. We were seated on the outskirts of the restaurant’s outdoor area, which was a cramped, darker space that had stained tablecloths with several dead bugs on them. Two of us ordered seafood, while my girlfriend and I ordered pasta with pesto. My girlfriend has a severe fish allergy, so she made sure to avoid any seafood items on the menu. While the seafood meals seemed okay, my pesto dish had a notable stain that appeared to be from a previous meal. As my girlfriend ate her pasta, she began to feel her lips, tongue, and roof of her mouth begin to feel itchy and swollen. We were alarmed by this reaction because it meant her meal was contaminated with fish. Our waiter was a lovely man who seemed to genuinely care about our food and experience, as he was responsive to our allergy questions and offered to bring her another dish. At the end of our dinner, we told an older woman at the front desk about the contamination, but she insisted it was not possible. I’ve never been to a restaurant that not only lacks the most basic sanitation and hygiene in their kitchen and dining areas, but also calls you a liar for pointing them out. The woman eventually apologized for the situation because there was no other explanation for the allergic reaction. Although she managed to recover, my girlfriend felt extremely nauseous for the remainder of the night. Monterosso has many better restaurants, so I encourage you to avoid the overpriced and unsanitary...

Worst Experience Ever 14 May 2024 deborahaU118BR, Knoxville, Tennessee | Trip type: Couples We had confirmed our 2 month old reservation, & we arrived 10 minutes early & they didn’t have a computer system or a reservation book & seemed as if they didn’t want to wait on us. A man kept asking if we made our reservations on “The Fork” I’ve never written a bad review before, but we were treated so horribly, I felt it important to warn others. There was 1 man in front & a woman in back as servers. She did not want to wait on us & took 4 other people’s orders first & never served us anything & avoided eye contact. We were seated first & 1 couple was a walk in - no reservation. After the silent treatment 35 minutes later I went to center of restaurant to inquire what was going on. Man ushered busboy to take me back to my table & I thought he would maybe take my order. No one ever came back to take our order. We left after 45 minutes with no water or service. I’ve never been as disrespected as I was in this establishment. Do not reward this restaurant with your patronage. They need a new manager & staff that is happy to see you or they need to close. I’ve been in retail over 40 years & I know they don’t know how to treat their customers properly. Stay away from Al...