Cafè du Mari — Restaurant in Santa Marina Salina

Normally I wait a day to post a review and do it in Italian but my experience was so terrible that I had to do it upon leaving and in English to make sure I fully convey our experience.

We came here two mornings in a row since we enjoyed our breakfast so much. At breakfast this morning we asked if we could leave our suitcases as we had an afternoon ferry. We made a reservation to return for lunch at 13:30.

We arrived on time and see there’s a table of 14 people. We were told it may take some time for our food because the other table was before us. We understood and we ordered a cocktail while we waited.

At 14:30 we received the menu. We take it even though we knew what we wanted to order as we were advised by the retired teacher at the table next to us.

Well, the waiter never came back to take our order. We flag him down at 14:55 (yes 1+ hour later) to place our order. He says the kitchen is closed. Incredible!

When we approach the owner with our problem her response was “why are you ordering lunch at 15:00?” Completely unprofessional and argumentative. She made no attempt to understand what had happened or any attempt to resolve the issue. Thankfully the chef was there and offered to reopen the kitchen for us. (Even the retired teacher pleaded on our behalf only to be yelled at by the owner).

The owner never came by our table to apologize or make amends. In fact, we ate lunch listening to her argue loudly with a vendor. When it came time to pay the bill she reluctantly gave a discount (5 euros!) after we asked for it.

We need to give credit to our waiter Alex who took responsibility for the situation. Also the chef who quickly responded to the situation (and is a very good chef).

The owner on the other hand needs training in customer service as she made the situation worse.

I hate to think she treated us as tourists. We’re Americans who live in Sicily and go to Salina often, frequenting the same B&B and the same restaurants. We will NOT be recommending this place to...

Don't go! We were trying to find a place to eat a quick meal before catching the bus. As we were walking on the street, the waiter invited us to go inside. RED FLAG! But we went as we were in a rush. After looking at the menu and the daily options, the chef started saying that he can do a special dish for us. RED FLAG! We accepted, but we shouldn't. We had two toasted breads with tomato sauce (from the can) and a bad cheese. For this and one bottle of water - 29 euros. The view is nice, but you will have a better meal if you have a packed lunch or buy from a supermarket and eat in front of...

Not a very pleasant experience. We went there with a group of friends to try some good Italian breakfast. The waiter mixed up our orders a few times. Some of our group ordered toast with egg, bacon and ham. All the toasts we got were burned and we got just a little egg in it. I think they just had one or two eggs left and they shared it among a few toast, because one colleague did not receive his order and when he asked for it, they said they have no eggs. Totally not worth 12 EUR which we had to pay for this...