Cafe Washington — Restaurant in Rome

Our group, three couples, sat outside and combined a few tables. Even though it was a bit cold, we kindly asked them to turn on the heaters nearby, but they told us they were out of gas. We were disappointed—how can a restaurant in Rome not have gas for their heaters? Nevertheless, we decided to dine there.

The first disappointment was the lack of heating outside. On a chilly evening, it was surprising that a restaurant in a major city like Rome couldn't provide heated seating.

We placed our order, and the waiter was very polite, but the waiting time was frustrating. After ordering, we waited 45 minutes outside, and the food still hadn't arrived. Since there was space for six people inside, we decided to move indoors. We waited an additional 25 minutes, and after a total of 70 minutes, our food finally arrived. We ordered spaghetti, penne, and pizza—nothing unusual—so the long delay was inexplicable.

The second disappointment was the excessive waiting time. By the time the food arrived, we were starving due to the long wait.

The third disappointment was that the penne and spaghetti were extremely spicy—far beyond what we expected. Although we occasionally eat spicy food, this was overwhelmingly hot. We didn’t return the dishes because we were too hungry and just wanted to eat.

The fourth disappointment was the lack of communication. No one warned us that the food was so spicy. Isn't it standard for the staff to ask if customers are okay with spicy dishes or at least inform them beforehand?

In the end, I realized I should pay more attention to google Maps reviews before choosing a restaurant. When I saw the rating was below four stars, I didn't think it was a big deal—but now I know better.

Reply to owner:

For gas, it's understandable... and I'm returning one star. However, regarding the delay, maybe you usually prepare the food quickly, but we were not lucky as it took more than an hour for the food to be ready—you can also check the cameras, it was on February 16th after 8:00 PM. We did not order any of these pastas; we ordered penne and spaghetti with seafood...

Unfortunately had a very poor experience here recently. Most of the food was cold, the chicken in my salad was almost grey and tasted extremely off. We waited nearly 15 minutes just for someone to take our drink order… and they still ended up missing things from our order. The fries had next to no potato in them they had been fried that long (or multiple times ?). Not to mention we were not given a single smile from our waitress, not once. She did not look like she wanted to be there and definitely didn’t want to be serving us. We stayed polite the entire time, even when she forgot some of our order, even when we waited 15 minutes to have our orders taken. (Bare in mind she was just standing by the front door in that meantime) I have been a server- I understand the ups and the downs and it’s not always a great day- but this is your job- and customers won’t accept this experience. I had maybe two bites of my food and we decided to leave. We spoke to the manager and a bunch of staff made their way over, they demanded we tell them why we didn’t like the food, we tried to explain politely and said “we would like to pay and leave please”, again, they demanded we tell them. Again- we politely told them this food is not the quality we believe it should be and that we are happy to pay and leave. Do I think we should’ve had to had paid? Definitely not. When my meal is completely untouched? This is not something we’ve ever had to do before. And the cherry on top- dirty water jug and cups. You’re located somewhere where people need to drink plenty of water- how can they do that when the cups are filthy. The waitress was also telling the manager that we had ordered our fries later on (the food that she forgot we ordered), and he tried blaming us saying that that is why they came late- I proceeded to tell him we ordered them as soon as she came over to us- and she told us she forgot about them when we had asked. I don’t want to be blamed just so she can get out of giving poor service. Will not be returning here, just wanted to share the experience we had with both the food,...

(NO GLUTEN FREE OPTIONS FOR DINNER). We walked here for dinner because we had walked by earlier in the day and saw large advertising gluten-free pizza and other options on a couple huge menu printouts. They do NOT have gluten free options for dinner despite the extensive advertising. Not sure if they limit their gluten free items only for lunch? Unclear. Either way, make other plans if you need GF.

Reply to Owner's comment: I'm not frustrated at being celiac. I'm frustrated that Cafe Washington advertises all over the building and menu as having gluten-free options and then running out completely, and on top of that, not having your staff explain that. As mentioned, the staff provided no explanation, just said no gluten free options and walked off.

Also, your suggestion that I am being unreasonable for giving you a low review because you ran out of something is certainly one way to look at it. Given Cafe Washington's extremely large advertisements, the restaurant is expressing that gluten free is a key effort, when in fact it is not. Running out of gluten-free pizzas would be like a pasta place running out of pasta, then not taking the time to explain to someone who walked a couple miles to come to your restaurant for that reason.

My review is a reflection of the experience i encountered at Cafe Washington, both interacting with your advertisements and your staff. My review is meant to assist other patrons who may be looking for gluten free options to not rely on availability of options despite your advertisements for it.

Very...