Bar Il Palchetto — Restaurant in Rome

I randomly stumbled upon Il Palchetto while looking for a bit of caffeine on my last day in Rome, and I'm so disappointed that I hadn't visited sooner! The staff was super friendly (not entirely sure what happened with some of the previous reviewers -- perhaps there's been a staff change since then?), and both the food and coffee were outstanding.

It's a pretty standard Italian espresso bar; you can order whichever pastries or drinks you want, eat and drink at the counter, and then pay. There isn't really any seating or any extra bells and whistles, but they do a great job executing on the basics. They have a pretty wide selection of pastries, including croissants, crostata, cookies, and many other sweets, as well as mini versions of each if you want something more bite-sized.

My friend and I decided to split a croissant and mini pistachio crostata, as well as a cappuccino. The cappuccino was phenomenal, with a perfect even ratio of espresso, steamed milk, and foam. The espresso was, of course, outstanding, and it didn't feel overly acidic or bitter despite being quite strong. The mini pistachio crostata was very cute, and I appreciated that they had this little two-bite version so that we could sample multiple things. It had a great pistachio flavor, and the crust was nicely buttery and crumbly. What I was most surprised by was, surprisingly, the croissant. it had a great honeycomb structure and was very light and airy, but also had the classic flakiness and slight crispiness that I look for in a great croissant. It was nice and buttery, but not overwhelmingly so -- a solid...

Absolutely terrible experience. We had voucher from our hotel and we got served like second class citizens. Particularly one male server (tan skin, very skinny build)- he came over and started yelling “croissant croissant croissant” at us despite having many options on the menu. When I finally got a word in he simply grabbed our menus and stormed off. Again, the item I started ordering had many options (ie., what type of croissant, what type of coffee, type of sandwich etc.) but he simply walked away. I stayed cool and said Grazie every time he did something and did not get a single response the whole time. Drops dish off and runs the other direction. Secondly the juice they serve you with the voucher is not the fresh squeezed stuff they serve their other clients. Feels terrible looking around at everyone else having a better experience than you because you bought a voucher at the hotel. First breakfast in Roma ruined by this joke...

I would like to share my experience at your café. As a tourist, I thought I had found a nice place. The prices for a cappuccino (€1.30) and a homemade sandwich (€4.50) seemed reasonable.

However, I was disappointed with the billing situation. When we went to pay, the waiter threw the receipt in the trash and instead issued a flat invoice for €10. When I asked about it, he explained that it was a service fee because we had eaten indoors. However, the receipt did not provide a detailed breakdown of the individual items, and there was no mention of a service fee anywhere.

This behavior left us feeling cheated. Such practices are unacceptable and disrespectful.

I regret having to leave a negative review, but I believe it is important to honestly share...