Maddalena, Trattoria 29 — Restaurant in Rome

I wish I read the reviews before going to this awful restaurant. The place looks nice from the outside but that’s about it. We ordered aperol spritz, it was watered down and served not in a nice cocktail glass but a tall soda glass with too much ice. The fried seafood platter was tasteless and dry, the batter was too hard, the calamari overcooked and tasted like a dry shoe. For some reason it was served with tomato paste most likely poured straight out of a jar, the combination of the two seemed odd, tartar sauce or just plain mayo would seem more appropriate for this dish. We also ordered seafood risotto and it was the worst risotto we’ve ever had in our lives. They made us wait for what seemed like forever for the risotto and when it arrived….terrible absolutely terrible. Overcooked rice with tomato sauce with not even a hint of seafood taste or smell. We called the waiter and explained that the food tastes bad and we would like to send it back to the kitchen, the waiter gave us a condescending look, saying that we don’t know what a risotto tastes like and that hundreds of people eat at this restaurant every day and enjoy the food. We asked for the bill and obviously they charged us for the barely touched food we had a spoonful of. We tried to argue with the manager that was extremely rude and angry, demanded we pay and leave, which we did, since it was impossible to talk any sense into these people. And the best part is that they also charged us 10% for the nonexistent service too. Our night was ruined, we went to have dinner elsewhere. We would recommend to avoid this place...

We had read a couple of negative reviews about being charged "Tax", so I double checked the bill when it arrived.

The food and drinks we ordered were lovely, so can't fault the food, and that's not what my complaint on this review is about.

We had been charged for 2x bottles of water when we only had 2x, so the guy took that off. But then I challenged the 10% "Servizio". While I was waiting to pay I double-checked the menu, and it doesn't mention anything about servizio.

When I challenged him and asked what Servizio was, he said Tax. I said there isn't any tax, but he still insisted on it. I told him No, I'm just paying the net amount and he said No, if you want call the police. I very reluctantly paid it, but told him I'll be putting a review up. We are from New Zealand, where we don't tip, because our hospitality workers are paid at least minimum wage or higher.

So if you want good food, then by all means go there. But tell them UPFRONT that you won't be paying any additional bogus amounts added to the bill, because they are not justified.

PS: in Lazio area (which includes Rome), they are not allowed to charge Coperto, which is a service charge in other parts of Italy. So this Servizio is just a dirty way of getting around the rules.

Don't...

AVOID, AVOID, AVOID. Avoid this place at all costs! The food is not even fit for dogs. I am Italian and I can confirm that this is the worst food I have ever tried to eat. The osso buco was frozen and nearly gave me brain freeze and the cotoletta was a thin piece of leather from a street vendor covered in bread crumbs. After making a complaint, the Indian waiter threatened me by stating, “You better run”. AVOID AVOID AVOID! Had to eat else where. If there is a governing body that oversees the restaurant industry in Rome, I’ll be touching base and pointing them in the direction of this place. This is one of the biggest scams if I have ever seen one. Absolutely disgusting and not authentic at all. In fact, this business should not even be operating in Italy’s capital or even in the slummiest place you can imagine on this world. You might as well grab a can of tuna from the supermarket, mix it in with some 2 minute noodles and place a basil leaf on top. It would taste a whole lot better. On behalf of all Italians, I apologise if you have been scammed by these criminals pretending to be hospitality employees and tarnishing...