Al Solito Posto - Ristorante Pizzeria — Restaurant in Ostuni

1 Star is a generous rating. After reading a promising review on TripAdvisor, I came to have a nice dinner with the family.

We ordered two pizzas and a wild boar ragu. The pizzas were subpar at best due to an inferior base: they were dry, dense and tasteless. I'm currently on holiday in Italy and have almost been exclusively eating pizza. None have come close to being as poor and I would've been happier with a Domino's or Pizza Hut pie.

Next, the ragu was just as disappointing. The pasta was obviously not fresh and it was brought out long before the pizzas arrived. Although it's a matter of preference, being game meat, it would be nice if it was served as a slow-cooked, pulled meat instead of sloppy mince.

Furthermore, the wait staff were constantly trying to collect our plates, silently rushing us. One waiter was especially bad, swooping in the moment my partners fork was placed down. For someone who so desperately wanted us to be finished and gone, they certainly took their time with getting the bill. In fact, we had to go up to counter after waiting a solid 15min.

The nail in the coffin were prices compared to the much better quality food at other restaurants. Although we ordered some of their cheaper pizzas, I wonder how the more expensive dishes would've...

I've been coming here for over 15 years with my family but last night I had a poor experience which has left a bad taste. We ordered a pizza that came with raw prawns, not cooked, which my wife could not eat. Rather than simply exchange the pizza for another, a long and unpleasant debate ensued with 3 agitated members of staff, who all insisted that the descriptor "marinado" means raw and that it was our error. After a lengthy wait a new pizza arrived but the old pizza still appeared on our bill, which opened up the semantic argument again. We refused to pay and it was scrubbed off. A totally unnecessary reaction and the rest of our food wasn't even that great, considering the plentiful options in the area. Last time any of us will be going here. A disappointing finale for what had been once a family favourite.

In response to the response Oh great, further argument and now a lesson from Wikipedia on the meaning of marinating(!). Exactly what a customer wants when enjoying dinner. You've spectacularly missed the point. The argument and stubbornness is what spoilt things, and why we won't come back and why this review...

Disappointing, bland food at a high price

To start, I will say the staff were extremely helpful to help myself (vegetarian) and my wife (vegetarian, coeliac) to find a dish we could eat. The menu has very limited vegetarian options, but we knew this on arrival so nothing to fault the restaurant about. Our waitress offered us some off menu vegetarian dishes and I chose a porcini mushroom dish, my wife a tomato sauce dish. Unfortunately that is where our good experiences ended. My dish was bland to the point of tasteless - no salt, no seasoning, just a watery sauce with plain (tasteless) mushrooms. The bigger surprise was when the bill came for 18 euros for that one dish - if I had known it would be so expensive, I would have sent it back on first tasting. Very disappointed to waste my time and money here, especially compared to what I have eaten elsewhere...