La Romanella — Restaurant in Rome

Short story: -Horrible Service -Hidden Costs -Empty Promises -Bad Food

Long Story: You've spent all day at the Vatican, it's evening and you're hungry. You've found a good 5* rated place online and you start walking towards it but it's a good 15 minute walk there. About 100m out of the Vatican wall, a flyer guy greets you, and tells you about a great little Italian place with homemade pasta & pizza just down the street, and he promises free garlic bread with tomatoes. You think why not, let's check it out.

He guides you to the restaurant on a busy street with other restaurants and you think, "Well this can't be too bad... There's a lot of competition around so they're bound to be decent..." And that's where it starts to go downhill.

The problem is not the cheep plastic-wrap menu filled with typos. It's not the glasses sitting upright before you get there. It's not the overpriced catalogue.

The problem is the service, and the sneaky policy of the restaurant to try and get money out of your pocket.

Our experience started with the waitress asking what we'd like to drink. Mind you, this is just when me and my girl sit down, before we get the menu. We reply "Just natural water, for now" and she leave's only to return with the menus and a 500ml bottle which she opened to serve before I had a chance to see what it was she was opening. I think, ok she just brought a small bottle cause 1) either they didn't have any other or 2) it's a greedy way of making us ask for a second - which we wouldn't - so I let it slide. In my utter surprise she was carrying a second one which she opened fractions of a second after she revealed it. Surprised I'm going through the menu to look how much it costs. 2,5€ the small water bottle and 3€ the large.

After seeing her bring a large water bottle to the next table I confronted the waitress - who, after making a hilarious face - replied that we didn't clarify if we wanted small or large and made fun that the difference is only two euro.

In the meantime we had already ordered two pasta plates, which when they came didn't look very bad. How wrong we were again. The pasta was undercooked and the sauces were store bought.

After the horrible service and ,"food" we realised that they never brought us the garlic bread we were promised. We disregarded the fact and asked for the bill.

In our surprise, there is a 15% ("Service fee") on top of the already overpriced foof.

We paid and left, wanting to warn the turists of rome. DON'T GO...

Hello, dear reader. I truly hope you’re reading reviews about this place before ordering food or stepping into this “restaurant” (if you can even call it that). But if, like me and my friends, you were lured in by the charming faces — then welcome to hell.

First of all, these guys don’t accept card payments — cash only. And of course, they only tell you this at the end, when you ask to pay. When one of my friends asked why they didn’t mention it earlier and why they don’t take cards, the waiter just shrugged and repeated that we needed to pay in cash.

Next — the prices. There’s a big board with dishes and prices at the entrance, but the actual prices are different and higher. We ended up paying over 100 euros for our order (photo will be attached to this review). They overcharged us for every single dish. And when they brought the food, they offered us bread. We refused, but they still charged us 2 euros for it.

Now let’s talk about the most important thing — the food. All four of us ordered pasta. Three of us ordered Bolognese. Instead, we got some cheap store-bought pasta that you can buy anywhere for a couple of euros. The amount of meat in the dish was honestly a joke — basically none. Instead, they added two small meatballs, which were also probably store-bought.

And the cherry on top? The staff and the overall atmosphere of the place were just terrible.

So if you’ve already ordered food from this place — I truly feel sorry for you. I sincerely hope this place...

Worst place ever! They steal from tourist!!! We went to have a lunch and they charged 30 euros for a what was listed for 12 euros on the menu. They also offered to add chicken to spaghetti dish and charged us as if the chicken was a full meal. A miserable pizzeria joint and we paid $30 for a cheap meal during lunch hour. We expected to pay about $90 for our family based on the menus prices and we ended up paying $250 euros. There is a Cuban guy “Victor” luring tourists by the Vatican, if you see him Stay Away!!!! Peor lugar para comer te roban el dinero!!!! No le crean a Víctor un Cubano que busca latinos cerca del Vaticano para llevarlos a esta pizzería que te roban!!!!!

July 8, 2022 - To you response of you saying there was 9 of us, we were a family of 6 - 2 adults and 4 children. When we asked if you had pizza “at a pizzeria” you said that your oven was broken. “Victor” said you did offer pizza and that the average prices of the food dishes always 8 euros…NOT $30. So for your reference we did let the local police know that you ARE stealing from tourists. A note to tourists…look at the menu and when you order your food take a picture of the prices of the food you ordered. Do not order any specials of the day that are not on the menus where prices cannot be proven. When they try to charge you more than what you were supposed to pay, don’t pay the bill - call the police right away and they will have to prove they did not overcharge you. Better yet, just don’t...