Casa San Giacomo Ostuni — Restaurant in Ostuni

I wanted to love this place. I came here for my last night after spending a 9 weeks in this beautiful country and two weeks in Puglia.

The food (that I was able to try) and the atmosphere (especially the music) were very good, but ultimately I left disappointed due to slow service and a frustrating interaction with the manager.

First, I was stuck in the small upstairs area of the restaurant which is MUCH hotter and much less atmospheric than the rest of the restaurant - which looked so cute! I wish I had been seated in the main area! But the main issue was the service. I felt like I was forgotten sitting upstairs. It took a while for someone to come and answer questions I had on the menu. Later, I finished the last dish I had ordered and wanted to order another dish. It was my last night in Italy and I just wanted to celebrate it with one more plate of beautiful pasta. But I sat with an empty plate for another 15 minutes with no one coming to check on me. When I finally asked to a see the menu it took another ten minutes for someone to follow up and ask if I wanted anything else At that point I was going to be late to my next thing if I ordered more and I had to leave disappointed.

But the worst part is this: I always opt to give constructive feedback to a restaurant directly rather than write a bad review. I think this is the best way to help and support a business. I tried to give my feedback to the manager in the nicest way possible before leaving and he was mainly defensive and made excuses. A kind apology would be nice and instead I got a lecture. He wasn’t at all interested in hearing about my experience. Really leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth when a restaurant isn’t open and receptive...

The interior of the place is charming, however the service disappointing. We arrived at 7pm and as they didn't have any space, only 1.5 hours later we decided to eat elsewhere. In the end we came back to at east try a dessert which looked so good on the pictures and a coffee. After 30 minutes uf waiting, they finally gave us a seat. During those 30 minutes we were completey ignored. We understood that it was busy but at least a quick update with a smile would have been nice. Once seated they were unhappy that we only liked to order a dessert at 10pm. Of course it's not much but we wouldn't have occupied the place for longer than 30 minutes. They told us we could only have the dessert at the bar as they wanted this table for main meal eating guests. We then ate the dessert quickly at the bar and left. We felt very much not respected and neglected in the way they treated us.

Good communication and service is what this place is lacking. Unfortunate as it seemed to be popular. The dessert was okay but not worth the while. Next time we know better and give other...

Seriously could not recommend Casa San Giacomo enough. My partner (from Rome) and I have been staying in Ostuni for 4 nights, we’ve eaten here 2 of those nights - the other two we were out of the city, otherwise we would’ve been here 4/4 most likely. We ordered different appetizers, pastas, mains, desserts, wine and aperitifs both of the nights and everything we tried was absolutely amazing. The atmosphere is incredibly cozy and the staff are so so friendly and knowledgeable. The food timing is perfect, if you’re in the right spots you can watch the chefs as well which is a great experience - you can tell the quality of food is high and prepared with care (simply I cannot rave enough about this spot). It’s my first time in Italy - we’ve been through Puglia, Napoli and Rome and this is by far THE spot I’ll talk about forever. With a Roman partner who said he’d eat here once a week if he could, you knooow you’ve got to try them out while you’re...