Trattoria da Lucia — Restaurant in Rome

We stayed in an apartment around the corner from this place and decided to eat here on my birthday since it shares a name with my wife's sister.

Pros: The raw honey from the pecorino and honey appetizer was awesome. We arrived shortly after it opened for dinner and were seated immediately, 45 minutes later the line for a table was about 15 people deep. Wine and cold appetizers arrived quickly.

Cons: The waiter didn't write our order down, and then proceeded to screw it up completely. He brought my wife's salad and gnocchi, thinking the gnocchi was for me, he forgot my pasta order completely so by the time I had my pasta she was already done with her dinner. When I was finished with the so-so pasta I asked if he remembered I had ordered rabbit as a main, and he had not. We asked for the check and left. They charge you 3 euros for the bread they put on your table without asking if you want it, when everywhere else I went in Rome the bread was free. They didn't give us oil and vinegar for the bread until we asked, and then when we were about halfway done with the bread they took the oil and vinegar and gave it to the table next to us. The cheese for the cheese and honey appetizer comes as one big block with paper wrapping and wax included - you get to slice it as yourself. The pecorino was only so-so, so while the portion is large, it just means you have a lot of generic cheese to eat.5. Cash only. Really, in the center of Rome in the 21st century? Nearest ATM is a hike. For all of this we paid 45 EURO, not so bad for central rome if the restaurant had been worth it at all.

Might be a traditional Roman trattoria, but if so, the Romans don't eat so well. Cute place, nice location, completely...

Open letter to the xenophobic waitress:

Firstly, I apologise for being from a different country than you. I’m sorry this caused you much offence that I was not Italian, and didn’t speak perfect Italian 2 hours after getting off the flight into Rome.

You had every right to deny us a table, despite there being 5 open spaces, and eventually you set up even more tables for locals passing by for lunch, who you knew well.

Secondly, if it weren’t for the obviously non-racist and actually super nice waitress (with dark hair), we wouldn’t have eaten there at all.

But as it were, she was nice and allowed us to sit, despite being from a country other than Italy.

Secondly, apologies for trying to order, and get your attention, despite seeing people arrive after us and receive exactly the same dish.

Also, it was very kind of you to give us last week’s wine after we made the ultimate error of asking for a cup of wine and not a bottle.

I deeply apologise for only speaking Italian with you, with imperfect pronunciation (because like I said, literally had only just arrived and wasn’t born to an Italian mother unfortunately).

We will take all of your feedback on board, and will try to undo the passage of time so that we can be born in Italy, Roma preferably, and speak your native tongue (which is only spoken in one country, may I add) so that we are worthy of your respect...

The WORST meal and dining experience we had in Italy. Do not waste your time or money here. Came here because we saw the good reviews, would love to know what these were for because what we experienced here was absolutely horrendous. Please read the negative reviews here before you go as they were all true to our experience.

Firstly we had dirty water glasses with lipstick on them, we were the first to sit down yet they forgot our order while everyone around us got their food and dessert before ours arrived (only after we had to remind the staff as our order must have been forgotten). When we ordered the beef stew we asked if the meat in the dish we were thinking of ordering was very fatty and promised "no, of course not" but when it arrived was full of gristle and fat so half the dish was inedible.

The pasta in one dish wasn't cooked and remained sticky and stiff. There was a puddle of water underneath the pasta and the guanciale was nothing but burnt bits.

The house wine was the worst wine we've ever tasted. It was barely drinkable. Tasted lwatered down and acidic, the worst wine we had in Italy.

To end the experience, they overcharged us for drinks we didn't have (but they did fix this after we pointed it out) and they charged for the bread they bring out to each table...