La Gattabuia — Restaurant in Rome

We hated everything about this place… Except the food. We heard about this spot in a blog and decided it looked like a good suggestion so made a reservation a few days in advance.

When we got there for our reservation, we were told they didn’t have space for us outside (even though there were more than half of the tables available when we showed up). Instead we were taken to the very back corner of the restaurant, which was obviously where they brought tourists. Everyone back there spoke English, while locals appeared to be outside and ok the front. We then waited 10 minutes to even get a hello and a menu.

We asked for a half bottle of a wine and water and then waited another 10 mins. Finally they showed up with a bottle of the wine we asked for and poured us 2 small glasses (about 1/4 of the bottle) and then left the rest and walked off. Not wanting to drink the whole bottle, we pointed out to the waiter we asked for the half bottle, and he said he didn’t have any left so they brought us the full bottle instead - at full cost. We said we didn’t want a whole bottle so didn’t want to pay for a whole bottle. He said he would take it back and we could keep the small glasses poured for 5 euro. We said ok, then waited another 10 mins for our food to arrive. Meanwhile we heard others around us complaining about the wait, and one group got the wrong order. I also noticed a couple of small bugs crawling up the wall.

The food arrived, and it was excellent. The Carbonara and Cacio e Pepe were both as good as I’ve ever had.

When the bill came, we were charged 5 euro per glass of wine, not the 5 total. For a the price of the 10 euro half bottle we got 1/4 of the bottle.

As we left, they were now almost half full outside at...

Bad food and cheap pasta. Terrible wine. Even worse service. Not sure of the server’s name. Just some guy who was barely clinging to his hairline and spoke poor English that he was WAY too confident in. I told him I was learning Italian and I guess that pissed him off? I thought this was Rome, not Paris??? For the record, I’m usually someone who is perceived in Italy as very kind and polite, so the issue wasn’t me, it was Baldy. (But people do think I’m funny- see the his review for reference.) That said, I’m very serious about this review.

They literally set our bottle of chilled white wine on our table and left it unopened for TEN MINUTES without opening it. No, I’m not exaggerating. I had to go ask for a bottle opener which somehow pissed our waiter off. I was trying to be helpful because we thought he was the only waiter and he was overwhelmed. Spoiler: He wasn’t the only waiter. Just a jerk.

Also, and again, I wish I was exaggerating, but it made all of us ill after eating there within 25 minutes of consuming the food. And I mean ILL (I don’t want to be vulgar, but you know what I mean).

I’ve lived in Italy for two months and it was THE worst restaurant I’ve been to. We didn’t get the glass of wine or water we ordered. The carbonara and cacio e pepe were subpar, and those are some of the easiest Italian dishes to make. It was literally a tier above Olive Garden for Americans to give you some context. (My sister said it was worse than Olive Garden.)

For the record, this is the only Italian restaurant I’ve given less than 5 stars and I’ve been to some authentic osterias with family as well as obvious...

Starting off by service, the waiters were very friendly and helpful and willing to communicate with English ♪(^^)o∀∀o(^^*)♪ The atmosphere is also great, with the whole restaurant is spacious and decorated with prison themed items and lots of wine, I personally love the lighting which is fairly strong, mostly because I’m Asian and am not used to the dim lighting across Europe(о´∀`о) At last the food, magnificent!! The beef tripe has a lovely layered seasoning and has a very chewy texture, absolutely love it!! The oxtail is also splendid- I don’t need to put much force on the meat for it to get off the bone and it also tastes great!! The pizza(I had roasted potatoes and bacon)has a LOVELY thin base which I personally love and it’s not too savoury as well, a perfect balance between the slightly mushy texture of the potato and the chewy texture of the pizza base and the crunchy crust(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) The tagliatelle I had was absolutely delicious, I’m not an expert in food but I think that was al dente and it was very enjoyable!! Finally I had the pistachio tiramisu for dessert and it was delicious. Absolutely willing to encore and it was really good!! The cream was light and not too sweet and doesn’t give you the guilt of eating desserts at night if you’re having a dietᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

I will definitely recommend this to anyone who’s going to Roma and try this restaurant out, as it ended my day with pleasure and is very...