Blackmarket Hall - Rione Monti — Restaurant in Rome

After living in Italy for almost three months, tonight was a first for my partner and me. It was the absolute worst service I have experienced in the now countless restaurants up and down the this country, from Sicily to the Dolomites.

It’s been raining in Rome all day, and we just wanted a nice night out for our final week in Italy. We made—albeit, last-minute—reservations for this place and when the server/host couldn’t confirm our reservation upon arrival, they asked if we would mind sitting outside. We said “Sure, no problem,” and went to sit at what ended up being a soaking wet, teak patio table and chairs. Not really an issue for us, but little did we know that would be the least of our troubles.

Have you ever been asked to sit at a rain-soaked table and chairs, then offered an opportunity to move to a dry table…only to be asked (by a different server, with a slender build who either shaves their head or does not have hair [avoid this server at all cost!]) minutes later to move back to the original rain-soaked table?

Again, we were willing to look past this indiscretion and have a great night. But after reading the reviews from other English speakers, I now see a pattern in how they treat non-Italians. In addition to the aforementioned communication fiasco—and I’ll chalk it up to that, a communication issue and hopefully not server prejudice based on our nationality—we sat at the wet, teak table for 30 minutes waiting for a server to approach us. Was it because we are American? We do our best to speak Italian at every encounter, and only transition to English when we hear our server do so.

When we realized no one was going to come, we left without placing any order for drinks or food. Luckily for us, we know that this beautiful country is full of better, kinder restaurant staff than what this disgrace had to offer.

In conversing with my partner after this experience, we realized that no one else speaking English around us—and no one else on the patio, for that matter—was served in the entire time we were there. I’ve worked in the service industry, so I understand when weekends get hectic…but it’s a Monday night; this was unacceptable for all of us out there.

So if Blackmarket Hall reads this, I’ve gotta ask: was it our nationality, or was it because we were sitting outside that you decided to treat us so horribly?

Bottom line: There are innumerable other incredible bars and restaurants in this wonderful city. Do...

My wife and I decided to have drinks and eat there. We decided we wanted something else then Italian food for the night. The food was less then average but it’s fine it’s a kind of pub so we let it slide.

An Irish waiter decided get the bill for us and came with the credit card machine. As soon as he saw the cash I had he told me they only take cash. That was weird because he had the card machine with him. I was about to pay cash so i didn’t really mind. He then proceeded to tell me service wasn’t included and that they would really appreciate the tip. It was a 85€ bill and I decided to give him a 10€ tip. Which is a huge tip in Italy. I gave him two 50€ bills and asked to get 5€ back. He came back with 3.50€ back saying they don’t really carry change with them. Keep in mind I was really friendly with the waiter from the beginning and in the moment I didn’t really think twice of any of it so I let it slide. The amount he added to his tip was about 1.50€ more to the 10€ which is not alot but walking back home and thinking about all that happened we really felt like the waiter took advantage about the fact we come from a tipping country (Canada). All in all we would not come back. The food was not good and it all felt like a...

I thought that this would be a fun place to go by myself in Rome. Sit at the bar... get a drink or two... most likely end up ordering food. Of course, when traveling alone, eating dinner at the bar is your best friend... and this seemed like the perfect place to do it.

So I showered, shaved, put on a nice outfit, slicked the hair back with some pomade and I was feeling good. I was excited to go to this place after reading some rave reviews.

I get to the front door and tell them that I'd just like to sit at the bar.

"Do you have a reservation?" the hostess asks me.

A reservation? To sit at a bar? I've never heard something this nonsensical even in America.

"Uh, no..." I say, confused.

"Sorry," she says halfheartedly.

"Uhhh... what?" I ask.

She stares back at me.

"Is the bar full?" I ask.

"Yes," she says, before looking away and moving onto someone else.

I walk away, shaking my head.

I wouldn't have minded waiting, but this place had no interest in my business and didn't even consider asking me if I'd like to wait for a seat to open up. Truly a bizarre and...