O'Parrucchiano La Favorita — Restaurant in Sorrento

Incredibly frustrating experience and I will not be going back.

We first went to ask about walk-ins and were simply told to come back 5 days later as they were fully booked; no mention of how the walk-in system worked, no willingness to actually help, just trying to get us out of the building. Poor start.

We then checked reviews here and saw that we could go at 6:45pm for a table on the day, which we did. Once again on entering, we were spoken to as if we were a burden on the host's shoulders and felt completely unwelcome.

Side-note: the lock on the toilet door is broken, and it was super messy and dirty in there, totally mismatched with the aesthetic of the rest of the restaurant.

When seated, yes, the decorations and vibe are lovely, this can't be denied. However, the food and service was simply not good enough. We atarted our order with one waiter who was friendly and happily helped us with everything initially. However he got rotated off our table and we were given a different one when our food eventually arrived, which took a very long time.

I ordered the swordfish and the shrimp pasta. The swordfish came out stone cold, had very little flavour, and wasn't served with anything other than two slices of lettuce. For €20, I'd expect the food to at least be hot, but our waiter was nowhere in sight, and never came to check if things were ok with the meal. The pasta was fine and slightly warmer, nothing special for another €18, but passable.

By the time our waiter came to check on us, I had given up seeking to mention the meal served cold, and finished eating both my plates.

We then wanted to order dessert, and again had to play the game of trying to get our waiter's attention for a solid 15 minutes or so. We had been told there was a time limit on the table on arrival, and we wanted to stick to the limit so as not to cause any problems with bookings later that evening, but because of all the waiting we only got the desserts right towards the end of our slot.

Dessert arrived and was pretty bland. I got the chocolate almond sponge cake and was pretty unimpressed.

Finally, after having to flag our waiter down for a good 10 minites yet again, he brought the bill and mentioned tip was not included. To be clear: cover charge is included. The service had been, in my mind, dreadful, uncaring, and slow, and I had no intention of tipping further, but the waiter would not let me simply pay the bill and refused unless I added 10%. No other restaurant in Italy has been so stubborn and I've happily tipped elsewhere of my own volition, but this was an infuriating combination of forced tip for sub-par service.

Overall, go for a photo for insta if you want, but don't expect to be treated well while you're there to justify the price, and expect rude up-selling tactics for a tip at the end even if you have a poor experience. I definitely will not...

WOULD SERVE BETTER FOOD TO YOUR DOG THAN WHAT WE WERE SERVED! Avoid this restaurant at all costs it was disgusting! The best thing about coming here was the water and wine. We were rushed to order our entrees which were served stone cold and so chewy that we couldn't even swallow them. Majority of the entree's were left on the plate and when the waiters cleared the plates nothing was said. We waited over 1hr for them to come and take our mains order after attempting continuously to make eye contact with the waiter and asking several times. The lady on the door welcoming customers yelled at staff in Italian continuously and was so rude to people waiting for tables. You got to sit in a nice lemon garden getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and eat food that is worse than hospital food. They are just mass producing all the food to keep up with the customers who fall for this tourist trap!

Two of us ordered the seafood risotto which was lukewarm, oily, the seafood was chewy and majority of the shells were closed or empty with nothing in them - we ate not even 1/4 of the meal. Two others at our table ordered the 'famous' gnocchi which looked like it had been baked hours ago and reheated in the microwave, they said it was below average. The other two at our table ordered the penne meatballs which arrived STONE COLD. We only complained about the meatballs because the care factor and customer service from their staff was non existent. After complaining they bought the same plate of meatballs out still cut in half from us checking the temperature, they just zapped it in the microwave so much you couldn't even touch the plate. It was disgusting!

When the waiters cleared our almost still full plates after us quickly asking for the bill one of the waiters said why are the meals not eaten, we said they tasted awful and were cold. He said absolutely nothing and just cleared the plates and walked off not even a sorry or anything! It was such a shambles, tables around us were all complaining with no care from staff. Not to mention when you walk in they have a sign about a minimum spend at each table and they expect you to pay to use...

We were looking forward to this restaurant since it was recommended by mamy. I'll start by saying that the ambiance is absolutely amazing. Sitting amongst lemon orchards in the heart of Sorrento is something special to enjoy.

The food... We started with a sampler, then we had the caneloni, pasta with lobster, and gnocchi. For second plates, we had swordfish and steak Florentine. The presentation of the plates was great. The flavors were ok.

The service. We had a 7pm seating. It was hectic and they had a lot of tables to run through. Before we placed our order other tables were already receiving their meals. People that were seated after us were completing their meals before received our first plates. It was an hour and 10 minutes into service when we finally received our meals. I can excuse late service as that is common with so many tables, but other things weren't executed properly. The pepper shaker was empty and I had to ask for another. Once our first plates came out we asked the waiter to get the second plates out right away because we didn't want to wait another 30+ minutes.

Now I just wanted to pay and leave at this point. My wife asked for the check and the waiter ignored her. He finally came around and we asked again. 10 minutes went by and I stood up to see what was happening. The waiter saw me and quickly went to get the check. 5 minutes later he brought the check and the card machine. He asked me to put a tip on the card and I emphatically stated no. After the poor service how dare he ask for a tip.

As I was walking out, one of the bus boys hit me in the head with his tray. Granted it was busy and people were all around. Not a single of the 5-8 workers said anything to me. Trying not to cause a scene I simply asked for a manager. No manager so the main host apologized.

Overall, this place does not deserve more than a 1 star. The service is poor, and the food isn't worth the cost (especially when they require 30 euro min per person). It's a real shame given the wonderful lemon trees. However if you want to see lemon trees, go to...