Imperium Ristorante — Restaurant in Rome

And yes a new one star review. If you know my reviews from all over the world I rarely give an one star review because there is always something good. BUT. . . We were here on a Saturday evening and all other restaurants were booked and we had a great appetite. We asked for a table of two and we were placed at a table by a waiter. Then an other waiter came and said that that table was reserved so we had to move to another table. We refused that table because it was near to the one speaker with very loud music. And if I say loud it was so loud you couldn’t speak to each other. So we were located to a quiet spot and that was ok. After 15 minutes wait a waiter came to ask for our order so I pointed to my wife to order first. The waiter started to write down the order but halfway doing that he started to shout to his friends across the street to greet them in Italian. After finishing his shouting to his ‘friends’ he had to redo the order because he forgot. And of course we want to make sure he had written down what my wife ordered. After that he wanted to leave or go back to the kitchen so we stopped him because I didn’t order yet. He was confused that he was not ready because he acted like that. I did my order but I felt there was no room for questions or change in the menu. He ‘put’ the fork and knives on the table (imo wrong / see pictures) Minutes later (!) my pizza arrived but my wife’s food not. The pizza had ONE slice of ham on it! The waiter started to open a bottle of wine (I asked for a glass) and put the bottle on the table. I asked later if that was normal if you ask for a glass but he assumed we asked for a bottle. The food (salad) and drinks (sparkling water) were still not arrived so I had to start my pizza before it’s getting cold. After three (maybe more) times of asking one waiter all the waiters instructed other waiters to arrange her food. I think four waiters were now busy with it. The salad arrived: plain green salad with salmon on top of it, few slices of tomato and tasteless black olives (I think the worst you can imagine in the land of Olives and Olive oil/ an Italian disgrace) No mozarella (as was stated on the menu) and no oil or any other thing to improve the green leaves of this salad. Just plain with salmon (€14/2024) The sparkling water was plain so after finishing the food (I think maybe half of it) we asked for the check. That took them more than 15 minutes. I saw at least 7 people on three different tables still waiting to order. The were waving (with arms) and ‘looking’ to the waiters but no action at all. Our check was ok (one glass in stead of a bottle) and he asked us if everything was ok? No, it was not! We complained about the salad and he said that the cook who was making salads has it’s day off. I’m not dure if he made a joke or if he was dead serious about it. He put the bill on the table and started to serve the other waiting guest so we put money on the table because we didn’t want to wait another 15+ minutes. So my advice: just walk by and look for...

Honestly not many positives to come from this experience unfortunately. Sat down and ordered a carbonara pasta as entree and the lamb as a main. Took quite a long time to order but they were busy so understood that happens sometimes. Eventually got our drinks however for the next 55 minutes of the football match inc half time we sat waiting, slowly getting more hungry eagerly awaiting our pastas. They never came. We asked when the mains eventually arrived what about our pastas they were specifically ordered as entrees and had no response from the waiter. Then when he brought out the condiments asked again and muttered something under his breath.

We ate the mains, weren’t great and it then took a while for our plates to be cleared however as it was busy we understood (their was at least a dozen staff though) we then agreed perhaps they just forgot to put them through and after already being in the restaurant for 90 minutes agreed to just ask for the bill and leave. Unfortunately came the next set of problems.

After several attempts to get a waiter to bring us the bill we finally got someone to come over who then went to get it. Whilst they did so we jokingly said to each other “watch the pastas still be there” well wasn’t that foreshadowing because they were. After pointing out the error it took 3 more staff to come and ask what had happened and 20minutes later the time finally came to being able to pay. He used the same bill however just subtracted the price of the two pastas off the total. This would have been fine however that included the % cover charge of our original total meaning we were over changed.

In the end we finally paid and left the place, the staff knew exactly what had happened but continued to ask however not once did we receive an apology, not once. 2 hours of my life I’ll never get back that I was overcharged for, super disappointed if it wasn’t for the football probably would’ve stabbed myself with the fork I...

We were new in Rome and hungry when we happened upon Imperium Ristorante on a Friday afternoon. Their waiter lobbied us to stay while his colleagues raced to arrange a table for seven on the sidewalk. Despite hesitations from some in our group, we sat down. The Imperium staff’s lobbying effort to win our business would prove to be the last evidence of enthusiasm we would witness from them that day. We first asked for bottled water but were told that would be impossible, so we’d have to settle for bottled. (That ended up being the rule in Italy, whose restaurants have a bias for plastic bottles that cost money.) Soon after, as a waiter helped us adjust a table, one of those plastic bottles tipped over, spilling. He promised to replace it. We’re still waiting. When we ordered, we asked for bread. It never arrived. Of the orders that were processed, the pizza came 5 or 10 minutes after the pasta, and was not sliced. The waiter promised to bring a slicer but didn’t return until we’d mostly finished eating. Similar delays accompanied our several requests for our check. On the bright side, the food was half decent (not spectacular) and prices were moderate. Moral I of the story: when you find yourself being herded into a restaurant in Rome, keep walking. Moral II: When in Rome try to eat where the Romans...