La Bottega del Nonno Andrea — Restaurant in Palermo

First of all I will preface this with saying that I had dinner very late on a Saturday night so it may have been just end of shift vibes.

But my overall experience here was dissapointing. They were sold out of my first choice pasta meal so had to choose a substitute, but not a big deal.

I ordered a first and a second as I was hungry, but the waiter brought out my "secondi" first. I ordered the salciccia, and it was resting on a bed of sodden lettuce leaves. Not great but edible.

For my pasta dish, I ordered the spaghetti with basil pesto as my first choice of pistachio was unavailable. The pasta actually tasted ok, but it was swimming in so much oil that I think George Bush is about to launch a full scale invasion.

The waiter also brought both dishes out without cutlery, so I was waiting around looking silly without the ability to eat anything.

I also ordered a cocktail which was simply undrinkable sadly, not mixed well and just tasted way too strong of alcohol, not pleasant at all. It was like the first drinks you ever mixed as a 16 year old trying alcohol for the first time.

Overall im grateful the place was open late as I was hungry, but I'd reccomend taking your business elsewhere as there are so many better options close by at better...

The worst food we had on our 8 day trip to Italy. We both went for simple Italian meals, carbonara and gnocchi. The carbonara was like scrambled eggs, over cooked and completely inedible. The gnocchi, listed as tomato and mozzarella, arrived scalding hot made with pre-made pasta sauce and rubbery gnocchi underneath chunks of cold and cheap mozzarella swimming on top. Flys circled the restaurant as waiters looked on. When we asked for the bill (which we asked for swiftly as we had to abandon the inedible food) the waiter grunted and ignored us, fixated with angling empty tables as unsatisfied customers waited to pay and get out. We think they left you waiting to make the restaurant look busy and appetising. Eventually after losing patience and threatening to leave, they brought the bill with a €3 service charge per person (this was not reflected or communicated anywhere). We were the first to be released from this terrible restaurants chains as the rest of the still hungry customers waited for the bill that was never coming. To top it all off, the bathroom has a shower curtain for a door and doesn’t lock, the owner sits inside and watches TikTok’s as you pray no one walks in on you in the stall. Avoid...

SCAM ALERT — AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS

We were lured in with the promise of “free drinks” by a staff member standing outside — and like fools, we believed it. Spoiler: the drinks were not free.

We only ordered appetizers, thank God — because even those were terrible. The caprese salad meant to contain mozarella basil and tomatoes only had two of the three ingredients. The caipirinha cocktail was just sugar and tequila. Everything was clearly thrown together without an ounce of care. If that’s how they treat the small plates, I can’t even imagine the horror show that is a full meal here. The guests next to us also didn’t finish their pastas, I just wish they warned us before we even sat down.

The cherry on top was the service. It took 40 minutes just to get our check. Not because it was busy (it wasn’t), but because the staff literally disappeared. We flagged people down multiple times, including the manager and got ignored like we were ghosts.

This place is a tourist trap running on lies, bad food, and worse service. Sketchy business practices, zero accountability, and not a single redeeming quality.

Do yourself a favor and keep walking....