Flavio al Velavevodetto — Restaurant in Rome

What an odd experience. I seldom leave reviews, as I'm usually the type to "pay my bill and disappear forever" if the food/service was sub-par. But this was...definitely something that I think is worth mentioning especially if you're a tourist or non-Italian speaker.

The service: We were sat in the dungeon-like back of the restaurant, which is fair, I guess, since we didn't have a reservation. We had 3-5 different servers at a time, who left our dining experience feeling distant, cold, and downright unwanted at the establishment. Menus, drinks, and foods were rushly thrown onto our table without even a word before hurrying to the next table. It was incredibly jarring noticing how some of the servers warmed up so easily to the table next to us who spoke fluent-Italian. As more and more people were seated in the back, the more the service became chaotic and sloppy, with servers rushing in-and-out of the dungeon absolutely frazzled.

The food: The Cacio e Pepe was dry, cold, and lacking that distinct flavour of cheese and black pepper. It was given to me as if it was just plopped onto the plate and called it a day. I really did expect more, having tried all the delicious pasta dishes from various restaurants in Rome. This was by far the absolute worst, as I took 3 bites and could not bear to finish the rest (and I really hate doing this as I like to make the most of my money!). The oxtail dish was not bad. The grilled steak was underwhelming.

I'm sure most of you tourists who stumbled upon this place were either recommended by a local, a friend, or through some deep digging research. I'm a huge foodie and I always try my best to avoid extremely tourist-y places as to avoid being ripped off. I do my research and I cross-reference, but clearly I let my guard down for this one. This place left a bad taste in my family's mouth (literally) in terms of both food and service. Such a shame as this was our final dinner to conclude our week-long Italy trip...

I left the restaurant as quick as I could, but I couldn't help notice how completely different the vibe and aura was at the front of the restaurant. It's almost as if the chaos only existed within the dungeon of our dining area, while the main dining area (and patio) were calm, social, and tranquil.

I get it, we're tourists. We eat here once, and we never come back again, which can be an excuse for staff to just feed us whatever. But I don't think it's fair to create such a divide in terms of the quality of service (and food?) for us and the locals for that sole reason.

As a final thought: perhaps my family just got a little unlucky with staff is all, as it seems to be that there are tons of positive reviews for this restaurant that say the opposite to mine. Visit if you're curious, but as a tourist/non-local: go elsewhere and preserve your dignity; there are much, much better options to choose...

AVOID THIS PLACE! We spent a week in Rome and did quite a bit of research on where to eat a month in advance. Being into Roman History, I wanted to see the Mountain of Pots and read great things about this restaurant and made a reservation well in advance. My husband and I both agree that this restaurant was the WORST experience we had in Rome. I regret dismissing the negative reviews about it because of my desire to see the mountain because we did not even get to see the mountain at all. I booked a month in advance and asked for terrace seating. We showed up precisely when the restaurant opened (and was 100% empty), and we were seated in the basement, next to the stairs and exit and RIGHT next to the bathroom. As we sat there, watching people arrive from the tiny two foot window over the stairs where we could see into the parking lot/street, we watched as Italians were seated above and each and every foreign group was navigated downstairs with us. After discussing just standing up and leaving, we decided to just get the dinner over with and started off with ordering the House Wine (which I had read was superb and the Winery was LISTED on the menu next to the label of it being their HOUSE RED), but the waiter served us another wine (much MUCH cheaper, not good) and he opened it and poured it. When we pointed out this wasn't the wine we ordered, he laughed it off and played dumb, shocked that we would make him pour out the bottle he just opened. The food wasn't good. It was bland. Ordering their Cacio E Pepe after having had the same dish at Armando's al Pantheon paled in comparison.

Please, please avoid this place. I seriously can't stress this enough. This place absolutely ruined our evening. We ate at 10 different restaurants in Rome and the service we received here was the worst. If you want to see the Pots, don't bother, because they will put you in the basement with the other non-Italians and try to serve you sub par wine.

Flavio, if you bother to read this, just put up a sign you would prefer NOT to serve tourists. It would make everything better for all parties involved. No one wants to eat at a restaurant where they are...

I wish I had more nice things to say about this restaurant, but my fiance and I had a terrible experience at this restaurant. I want to start off by saying, we were REALLY excited for our reservation here. This was the first place we ate after landing in Italy. It was my first time in Italy and Europe in general and I was so excited. My fiance and I got there and they sat us. We felt incredibly rushed to order and our server, Giovani, had a nasty attitude with us the entire time. We asked him if there are a lot of tourists that come to the restaurant (Which we were hoping not), but he said about 80% of their customers are tourists because they work with nearby hotels. After him saying that, I would have assumed that they would be more welcoming to us and other people who were non-Italian speakers. We ordered a Chianti off the wine list that was listed for 27 euros. He came back with another Chianti for us to try, and told us it would be 25 euros. The wine was great and all ways good (for now). I want to say that the food is phenomenal. We ordered the Amatriciana, Carbonara, zucchini flowers, mozzarella, and their oxtails. We ordered a lot and gave them good service. Again, we felt rushed and gave us attitude when we asked for to go containers once we were done eating. They gave us the containers with one bag. We packed our containers up, and we realized that all four containers would not fit properly in the bag, especially since we were going to be walking around Rome with them. They gave us so much attitude for an extra bag. After 10 minutes, we asked Giovani if we could have a bag and he flipped out saying we have to wait. My fiance got up and went to the hostess for one, and she finally gave him one, but he said that she also gave him attitude. He then went up to pay (you pay upfront), and they charged us 30 euros for the wine. My fiance asked them why they charged 30 for the wine when our server said it was 25 euros. All they said was, "sorry". It was a terrible experience. I cried after and felt so unwelcomed. I highly recommend avoiding this place if you are a tourist who wants an overall great experience besides good...