Locanda "Il Cris" — Restaurant in Tremezzina

I’d like to preface this review by saying I’m not the type to run to the internet to post a bad review about a restaurant.

However, I can honestly say I have never been treated as poorly at a restaurant or in general as I was when visiting Ristorante Pizzeria Il Cris, to the point I feel this justifies such a review.

We arrived relatively late in the evening, around 9:30 pm, and asked if they were still serving food. A member of staff confirmed that they were and showed us to our table, all good so far.

After about 15 minutes, no one had come to take our drinks or food order. I wasn’t in a rush, so I didn’t mind at first, but after a while we started trying to get a waiter’s attention. After another 5 minutes of unsuccessful attempts, during which a couple who had arrived after us were already being served, it began to feel like we were being ignored. Still, we gave them the benefit of the doubt. Again, I’d like to stress that we were not at all rude or demanding, we were very polite, patient, and genuinely enjoying our time together. We simply weren’t sure what was going on or why we were being overlooked.

Eventually, we approached a waiter who appeared to be a manager and asked if we needed to order at the bar, as we weren’t sure by this point and had already been waiting around 20 minutes. It’s also worth noting that the restaurant was not busy, just a few tables were occupied and only one other group was waiting to order. The waiter seemed slightly irritated that we had come up to him but said someone would be with us shortly.

When that same waiter finally came over, his attitude was cold and standoffish. I completely understand that staff can be under pressure at times, and I was still willing to give the benefit of the doubt, I just wanted to enjoy my pizza. I ordered a Diavola and my girlfriend asked for the Three Salami pizza.

For drinks, I asked for water, and my girlfriend, feeling cold, asked if she could have a tea. The waiter said they didn’t serve tea but could offer iced tea. She then asked for a coffee, to which he responded they could only do espresso, an americano wasn’t possible. In the end, she gave up and just asked for water too.

By this point, I was feeling pretty uncomfortable and just wanted to eat quickly and leave. As the waiter walked away, we then heard him shout “20 minuto” mockingly, clearly in reference to the amount of time we had waited before being served.

Given how we were treated, we chose not to stay for food. I genuinely urge you to give your custom to one of the many other local restaurants in the area, where you’re more likely to be welcomed and treated with...

My husband and I were looking forward to trying this restaurant after reading many positive reviews however, I wish we paid more attention to negative ones as they matched our experience. After our order was taken by the owner we were informed by a waitress that we could not pay by card because their machine had been broken for two days due to the rain. This was after I heard the owner tell her, in Italian, that card payments were for 50 euros and above only but that we could walk to an ATM machine nearby (see other reviews with a similar experience, strange?!?). We were not happy but since our order was already placed we stayed. I asked to speak with the owner to confirm this payment situation, the waitress nodded but I had to flag him down myself, he also said the machine was broken but an ATM was 3 minutes away and we could pay, or not, and walked away?!? Very odd. I wish we were told about the card situation (whatever it may be) when we made a reservation hours prior over the phone, or before we were seated.

Our starter was the antipasti platter which was decent but the fried gnocchi were cold and stale, meats and cheese assortment were okay, tomatoes and melon not quite as fresh as the dozens of other restaurants we went to during our two week trip in northern Italy, but the accompanied bread basket was fresh and delicious. Our main dishes, cacio e pepe pasta, and a salami pizza were just okay, my husbands pIzza had a nice flavour but a bit soggy with the toppings sliding off. The house red wine was pretty good but due to the card situation we did not order any more drinks, coffee or dessert. Anytime we attempted to flag down a waitress they either ignored us, or told us the don’t speak English before running off and when we asked for the bill, we waited 15 - 20 minutes before asking yet another waitress only to be told with attitude and an eye-roll that we have to go and get the bill and pay inside at the bar. Once at the bar, my husband and I were completely ignored for a solid 5 minutes and I walked out of the restaurant in frustration. Luckily when my husband finally got the bill he had just enough euros to pay and get out of there as quickly as possible. The locals did seem to be treated far superior. In conclusion, the prices are fair, and if you’re looking for something inexpensive and want to take a gamble on the service and food, it’s probably best to...

Sadly we had a very poor experience here. We arrived early for dinner and the place was empty. We asked to sit outside and they said all of those tables were reserved. When I approached the woman who was in charge of seating and let her know we would be done in under a 1/2 hour, could she please find us a seat outside, she looked at her book and said they are all reserved. Her manor was sour. We ate 3 different, mediocre at best, pizza's though my wife said her minestrone soup was good. The server was nice but the man who delivered our food was not very pleasant. The outdoor tables were still 80% empty upon our departure.

The overall ambience is that of a restaurant setup in a backyard of a residential neighborhood with an ugly green fence obstructing the small view of Lake Como.

After all was done I was told to pay my bill at the bar where I waited for far to long to be helped. I then tried in a polite way to share my experience with the owner and he was arrogant and unconcerned. Another patron overheard my conversation and shared a similar experience with me.

I doubt the loss of my business will impact his bottom line, but I won't return and I'd find another place to dine if I were you.

What a shame to waste a meal here when there is so much fine...