Da Robertino — Restaurant in Rome

I got extremely upset with the prices, in fact angry, but didn’t want to make a scene and ruin my night. We got the ‘selection of Italian cheeses’ - very expensive, £18 on the menu (though for some reason we paid £16 I believe- anyway) but we wanted to try it. We travelled to many other places in Italy before visiting Rome and tried amazing cheese in restaurants in relatively reasonable prices so we thought this would be something truly fantastic. Not at all! It was a miniature of cheese- 4-5 different cheeses of max 10 grams each, in total the cheese plate definitely didn’t exceed the 50 grams. We were completely SHOCKED. I am attaching the photo here. It was unbelievable. If this is what this restaurant serves normally and they didn’t just do it to us because we are not Italians, then I really wonder how it happens and this restaurant still operates! It’s simple unbelievable! I didn’t visit a posh and expensive proper restaurant where serving 1/10 of the normal amount of food is considered acceptable-it’s just a normal restaurant. I should have really read the reviews!

The big bottle of water cost €3.5, which is relatively OK- didn’t know if they lowered the price because of the bad reviews of the water costing €6 previously ( or if they lowered the price for us and also didn’t charge us any cover charge because we said that the cheese plate was too small- who knows? ). Also, the bread wasn’t fresh and made on the day- unbelievable!

The other shocking thing is the coke. We asked for Coca Cola and they brought us a glass of it - no can/bottle- nothing. So it was coke from a big bottle of coke they had inside- and which was probably opened hours ago, if not the previous day. That was shocking- in no other proper restaurant in Italy we experienced coke coming in a glass. And the amount ,of course, was minimal again- I would say around 150ml plus the ice ( no lemon inside of course ). It cost 4.5€!!! 150ml of OPEN coke for that price? No thanks.

Service was awful too. The lady ( assuming she’s the owner ) was going around the tables carrying bottles of wine and filling up people’s glasses- really strange scene! She was doing that all the time - in an extremely relaxed way- like she had invited people for dinner in her house- it was a very strange thing to observe.

Her service also was extremely slow. Like she was making us a favour when servicing us and when we paid. We asked for the bill, they brought it to us with delay and then she and the other gentleman serving were standing by a table DRINKING wine with some customers(?), friends (?) chatting to them and playing with their dog while we were waiting for the bill!!!! This is just unbelievable. Such a relaxed atmosphere- no respect at all for customers. Disgusting service.

The lady asked us for our feedback while eating a couple of times, which was possibly the only good thing, and when we said that the cheese plate was too small she looked at us like she was shocked and we were coming from a different planet and said ‘this is not industrial cheese, this if from local farmers’ - something among those lines. Which was like she was fooling us- we know very well how much even expensive cheese costs, the amount of cheese she brought us was totally unacceptable. And nothing happened of course to make up for it and enhance the service. Her answer was just that- to be fair though, we just expressed it as feedback not complaint, but still a professional who pride themselves for their food would definitely do something to make up for it.

The gentleman who came over to make the table when we sat down didn’t bother AT ALL to clean the table from the previous customers- let alone sanitise it! It’s just shocking. There were some bread crumbs on the table from the previous customers and he just used his hands(!!!) to ‘swipe’ them and push them away to the floor.

It’s apparent that there is no quality, quantity, customer service, professionalism, honesty and integrity in this restaurant. Avoid this place at all costs! Worst restaurant experience...

With it being our last night in Rome, we decided to go to a different area for dinner. We stumbled across Da Robertino, and it looked nice from the outside, and most of the tables were full, so we took a chance. In heignsight, I wish I'd read the reviews.

We were greeted by a waiter who showed us to a table and who was really nice and brought us menus.

Looking over the menus, we decided what we wanted to order, and then a waitress came to take our order. This is where alarmbells started going off. We ordered wine to go with our meal, orginially I asked for a 1/2lt cravat of wine pointing at an image but the waitress explained the image was to show a story about the wine, so I instead ordered a bottle of wine with 2 glasses to share, we then ordered a starter each of salmon bruschetta and roast pork bruschetta, for mains I ordered a pasta and bacon dish to which the waitress said was a good choice and my partner ordered cacio a pepe to which the waitress scoffed in a negative way as if to say "typical order". She then turned around and was instantly talking to someone she knew who had arrived to speak to her.

Another waitress came out and poured us some wine, and then our starter arrived, which was delicious, and the food is the only reason for the stars in this rating.

The mains came, or rather lack of mains, my dish arrived which again was lovely, however because the waitress was distracted by her friend she had forgotten to put my partners main on the order even though she had scoffed and belittled his choice in the first place.

By this point we had finished our glass of wine and asked the waiter if we could have the rest of our bottle, we explained that we ordered 1 bottle of wine not 1 bottle and 2 glasses and he assured us that this was a taster and we wouldn't be charged for anything other than the bottle of wine.

I finished my main meal and then my partners cacio a pepe arrived which again was delicious but sadly we didn't eat together at the same time.

At the end of our meal, I asked the waiter for the bill, and the snotty waitress came over with a card machine to take our payment. We discovered that the glasses of wine had, in fact, been added to the bill, which was an additional €16. We explained that we had not asked for this and made sure with the waiter that this would not happen to which the waitress snapped at us and was incredibly rude, causing a scene and raising her voice. Reluctantly after storming off, she removed the glasses of wine from our bill.

I understand that there can be a language breakdown as we do not speak Italian, but the waitress did speak english, and everything we ordered the waitress repeated back to us before writing it down and there was no need at all for being spoken to in the way that we were.

Going to this restaurant left a sour taste in our mouths on the last night of...

Our visit was a bit spontaneous. Upon arrival, one of the waiters informed us there was no space, but the manager, a kind and attentive lady, stepped in to resolve the issue, explaining it was a misunderstanding. I appreciated her intervention and professionalism.

My review, however, is focused on the food. The pasta was intended to be al dente, but it was not perfectly so. After reading other reviews with similar comments, I believe this might be a recurring issue rather than an isolated one—perhaps cooking it for just one more minute could make a big difference. The guanciale was also undercooked, similar to the pasta, which significantly impacted our enjoyment.

Some reviews mention high prices, and while I agree they are elevated, the prices are clearly stated from the start. That said, given the quality of the food, it’s hard to justify the cost when better options are available at lower prices.

As for the burrata, the flavor was good, but it lacked the creamy texture one expects and instead resembled mozzarella. It was served with bruschetta, which had a nice touch of olive oil. Separately, the bread provided to all customers could be served warmer—a small detail that could elevate the dining experience.

Finally, a humble suggestion: responses to online reviews could be more respectful and kind. Politeness often diffuses negativity and leaves a better impression. My feedback is offered constructively, and I wish the restaurant continued success.

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Thank you for taking the time to respond once again. It’s clear that you care deeply about your restaurant, and I appreciate the effort. That said, it’s important to acknowledge that there are countless restaurants with millions of reviews that maintain consistency in quality and service. If this establishment has a rating of 3.9 out of 5, there’s likely a reason behind it, and it suggests room for significant improvement.

I’ll retract my earlier comment about the burrata, as I may have been mistaken, but I do want to emphasize again that the flavor was excellent. However, regarding the bread served at the beginning, I strongly urge you to reconsider the quality. The bread we received was not only cold but also seemed stale, which leaves a poor first impression.

Additionally, while I had no intention of revisiting this, I feel it is necessary to reiterate my feedback on the carbonara and spaghetti. For us, both dishes left much to be desired, and given the frequency of similar comments from other patrons, I don’t believe this is a coincidence. This is a critical area for improvement, and I encourage you to take the feedback seriously.

With...