Giolitti — Restaurant in Rome

Bottom line - the gelato is good, the staff is very rude, and the organization / flow is poor. There's a good gelato shop on practically every block - the gelato alone isnt a compelling reason to come here over others.

Background: -Ordered at the front register, lady was very unhelpful - it was clear she didnt want to be there. But we paid and got in the gelato line. -Another lady stands alongside the line and directs people in line to walk past the line / into the gelato serving room. This turns it from an orderly queue into absolute chaos. -People at the gelato counter arent taking our ticket / serving us (or the others with us who were told to bypass the queue), even after the people we were originally in line behind had been served. -Went back to find out what to do from the lady that told us to go up there, she just got irritable and pointed us back into the serving room to wait longer. -We did eventually get one of the scoopers to take our ticket, but they seemed literally angry to have to do it. Im still not sure what exactly we did wrong - we followed the exact instructions we were given as did probably another 10 strangers.

At first Id chalked it up to the team having a rough day - but if you look at other reviews, virtually all bad reviews are for rude service and the same feedback continues week after week after week. This is clearly a management issue as someone from the company is reading and responding to all of the negative reviews but very obviously isnt doing anything to fix it.

One other minor frustration - they have a ton of empty seating, but wont allow anyone to sit there without paying for table service. I get this at busy times, but when the seats are totally empty, they really should open up at least a handful to the elderly who did counter service. It was odd seeing handicap / elderly eating while standing out in the street when there are literally a dozen...

I had this bookmarked and it seemed like it could be good, but it was a hot mess. The ordering system was super confusing, and luckily a customer who had already ordered kindly told us that we had to order at the register first and then take the ticket to the proper station.

There are several stations, including the gelato station, the cookies and pastry station as well as the granite station. But the lines get cluttered and overlap and a bit chaotic. It’s not clear who is standing in the line for gelato and for granite as they run into one another.

To sit down, you would have to grab a seat and wait for a waiter to take your order and pay an extra fee to be able to sit at the table and order desserts that will come in Non-paper dishes/containers.

While the lady at the cash register was super friendly and helpful and patient, and the man at the granita station was super charming and wonderful, the men working the gelato station were aggressive and grumpy and barking at customers.

To make matters worse, I did not actually enjoy my granite although one of my daughters finished hers. It was too sweet and too tart and altogether just too thick. It was almost like a popsicle slushy but in the worst way.

I would definitely not recommend this place when there are tons of other...

Beware of Double Charges: A Cautionary Tale

I recently had a disappointing experience at Giolitti, where I encountered a concerning issue with double charging. Upon attempting to pay with my credit card, I was surprised when the transaction seemed to fail, despite the payment terminal indicating success. The attendant, while pleasant in appearance, insisted that the payment hadn't gone through and requested another payment. Regrettably, I complied, only to later discover upon reviewing my card transactions that I had been charged twice within a span of minutes. This left me feeling frustrated and distrustful of the establishment's integrity. Unfortunately, my ordeal didn't end there. They attempted the same ploy with my son's card, but thankfully, he was forewarned by my experience and refused to succumb to the pressure of paying twice. Such practices not only erode consumer trust but also reflect poorly on the establishment's reputation. It's evident that this was not a mere mistake but a deliberate attempt to capitalize on unsuspecting customers. Pay close attention to your transactions, demand proof of any...