Cencio la Parolaccia — Restaurant in Rome

Stay away as much as you can from this restaurant, if you want to know why, just continue reading.

Initially we were seduced by how kind and nice all the waiters were with us, but at the end the experience became quite bitter, sadly not a place for tourist unless you want to get fooled.

Let's start by saying that we arrive by accident to this restaurant so we were not aware that meanwhile you eat there is some kind of comedy show going on which is kind of funny, but unless you speak Italian probably is not really appealing. Once we were seated and meanwhile we were thinking what to order one of the waiters took the initiative and brought to our table some antipasto, which we found cute and although we were not sure if we would have to pay for it we thought, ok why not, and we eat it, keeping in mind that probably that was going to get billed.

After that, and being almost full we decided to order just one last dish to share between four, a mix plate of grilled meat, which was not more than 8-9 euros, after all we were not so hungry and the antipasti was quite filling so we thought that was more than enough. What was our surprise that instead they bring some mixed pasta plate to each of us, we saw that the same dish was served to other tables that arrived recently so we were a bit confused and we decided not to be rude and not give it back, they knew we didn't order it so we just went with the flow, again thinking we may have to pay for it... Funny thing was that after being stuffed with a pasta dish (it was half of a real pasta portion normally served in Italy, we have been in Italy more than 10 times) they bring the meat plate, of course what do you say after that... Well we try it a bit and left most of it... Long story short we went to a crappie restaurant to ended paying 190€ for 4 people, of course we complained about it, and you could see that they knew they were trying to ripe you off, but at that moment our night was already ruined by having to confront this kind of situation, which you rather avoid specially being on holidays.

The conclusion is that is sad to see some places not having any scruples with tourist and trying to rip them off just because they think they are not coming back, I hope that someone read this review and avoid getting scammed and at the same time make justice avoiding places that just try to take advantage from...

We were only here for 15 minutes on December 6th, but within that short amount of time, it was the worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant. My friend was in Rome to visit me, because I'm studying here. She doesn't speak Italian, and I speak beginner level. As we sat down, the waiter immediately came up to us. In English, I was trying to ask my friend what she wanted to drink. She didn't hear me at first since it was loud. As I was trying to ask her again, the waiter left and went over to the table next to us. He started talking badly about us in Italian with the table next to us. He was making fun of us for speaking English, and they were all staring at us and laughing. My friend doesn't speak Italian at all, so I was in the middle of explaining to her what was happening. Another waiter came up and took our drink orders. After he took our drink orders, we asked for menus. When the waiter that was making fun of us came back to give us the menus, he took my friends glass of water and SHOVED IT IN HER FACE. And he started mocking us in English saying, "Water. Drink the water." My friend tried to ignore him, but he continued to shove the glass in her face and laugh with the table next to us. We immediately got up and went somewhere else. If you're a tourist or even someone who doesn't speak perfect Italian, don't even bother coming here. My friend was only in town for the weekend, and this was the only night we went out for dinner and it was ruined. We are both absolutely disgusted by the behavior...

For non-Italian speakers, this place might not be for you. The restaurant is called La Parolaccia — which literally means “the bad word”. The whole concept is that the staff “play mean” and make fun of you for entertainment.

As an Italian speaker, I had the time of my life — it was truly hilarious, especially if you enjoy graphic/NSFW humor. If you do a little research beforehand, you’ll see that Fridays feature a show: the menu is fixed, and it costs 50€. The food is traditional Roman cuisine and it's good.

Yes, they will seat random people at your table, but that’s part of the charm — you get to meet strangers from all over the world. At the end of the evening, we went to say goodbye, and the staff were warm and friendly, chatting with big smiles.

It’s really about the concept — they’re not actually mean. If you understand Italian (or just enjoy the chaotic vibes), you’ll probably have a...