Fúnnaco PizzaLab — Restaurant in Palermo

Bad bits first: 2.50 cover charge per person. (We paid €5 for two). Most places this includes bread and water, but not here. You don't get anything. We asked for tap water, and we were charged €2.50 for it. In the UK this would be illegal, maybe it is not in Italy. There is a surcharge for choosing your pizza crust. This surcharge is not listed next to the crusts (every other price in the menu is next to each item), but in very small print at the end. They should absolutely charge more for alternative crusts as it probably costs them more to make. But hiding the prices at the end in small print can only be an attempt to trick people into paying more without realising. We made a reservation but still had to sit inside

The good bits: The pizza was tasty - I had one with broccoli which was nice, it did mean some water pooled into the bottom of the pizza but it was still nice Service was friendly I liked the selection of beers, the Sicilian Pale Ale was very bice Reserving online was easy

Overall though I'm not sure I'd recommend. While pizzas this nice are harder to find, they're not unique to this place in Palermo, and alternative places don't try to sneak hidden charges past you at every opportunity.

Update: it is a surprisingly hostile response. I feel the need to address a few points.

We did see the info you mentioned - I said in the review that the price for alternative doughs was in the menu at the end, which is correct. I just thought it should have been more clear. I even said I thought it was ok to charge for this?

We also thought it was a negative we had to sit indoors. We knew the table location wouldn't be guaranteed, but that doesn't make sitting indoors a good thing, so I mentioned it in the review. Maybe a policy change to enable people to book an indoor table vs an outdoor table would address this?

On the tap water, in Palermo it is drinkable - a Google search will show this from many reputable sources, and our hotel confirms it.

The article you posted was a false alarm, and led to AMAP (Palermo's water service company) filing a complaint with the companies that reported it.

We would have had no issues paying for still water anyway, it's just a surprise to get what we thought was tap water in a jug, and then have a charge for it at the end. It was likely just a breakdown in communication.

You are certainly right that water is not as commonly included in the cover charge as bread, but we didn't get either of these.

I thought I had written a balanced review, but I'm dropping the review to 1 star given the surprising hostility of the response

Second update: if you want to see the official press release regarding the Salmonella article you posted, it is on the AMAP website titled: "L'acqua distribuita a Palermo e provincia è idonea al consumo: denuncia dell'Amap contro ignoti per procurato allarme" (The water distributed in Palermo and its province is suitable for consumption: AMAP's complaint against unknown persons for causing...

So we heard about this place and showed up for dinner around 9:30p on a Thursday night. The host very nicely told us he wouldn’t be able to accommodate a party of 4 and to make a reservation …( Found a really good pizza place around the corner- with great cocktails) We were in 2 minds - whether to try for a reservation or just let it go.. and for our last night in Palermo, we tried to get a reservation. Now remember, when you ask for an appointment on their website, you need to wait for a confirmation, it’s not really making a reservation for you - just you asking for one (So, that is my one feedback - to change the system - we were out and about and didn’t check our messages until many hours later. The restaurant had declined our request and we went back and forth before they agreed to a 7:30p slot - which we didn’t really mind…Many places ask for a credit card and that’s ok, if it helps with this process) when we showed up, we were greeted cordially and immediately showed to our table. A server brought English menus over as she noticed us struggling with the Italian one, she brought water over quickly and our server Guisse, was also amazing! She recommended the pizza and I ordered it over the one I wanted and it was the absolute right choice! She was also patient with our discussion about the dishes since one of us is a vegetarian and the others only eat chicken. The absolute best part of my meal was the Kamut Siciliano flour that one of our pizzas was made of (check out the pic for the description- it’s exactly as described) … we talked to the owner later and he offered us the name of the grocery store that sells this flour (couldn’t make it there :/ ) and while chatting with him, he also offered us some limoncello to round up our meal and the night! We also ordered the fried burrata (I wouldn’t reorder it), bruschetta was good, and chips - yummy - crispy and not greasy! Still dreaming of the Kamut Sicilano crust! Wish I could have gotten the reservation on that first night so I could’ve...

We went to Funnaco with good expectations based on reviews and recommendations. We were seated immediately without reservation which was nice. The hosting lady was kind and friendly and realized we needed English menus immediately. So far so good. Then things went downhill. It took about 20 minutes before a waitress arrived to take our order. Even though others around us were tended to with efficiency. Finally our waitress "T" arrived. She took our order without any real advice or recommendations. OK. Then we didn't see her again. Another waitress brought us our beer and wine order and then we waited....and waited. While others around us were being tended to in an efficient manner, T was making herself scarce. A table of 8 came in about 5 minutes after we were seated and they were served their drinks and pizzas well before we were. We did catch the odd glimpse of T in another section but we seemed to be invisible to her. Finally our pizza arrived by another server. It was cold. OK. Slightly warm. We caught T's eye Finally and told her about our cold pizza. She said OK, we'll get you another one. My wife ordered a glass of wine as T didn't bother to ask. She took our pizza and left. She never asked if i wanted another beer. After a few minutes, our same pizza came back with another server. It had been heated up somewhat. When yet another server brought the wine. I ordered another beer. He was helpful at least. T walked by a couple of times but would not make eye contact or speak to us. Anyway, I'm glad for the business that they can satisfy most of their customers. However, our experience was well below average. In response to a note from T. I was harsh in my review. We all have bad days and in T owning up to possibly not performing to the best of her abilities, I apologize for being too negative. In this experience, I have learned from T and I believe she has learned from me. Life is all about learning. Cheers to...