Hostelry of the Flying Dutchman — Restaurant in Venice

I entered the restaurant with a friend after looking at the menu outside. When I wanted to order the „Menù Speciale“ for €13 (as shown on the photo), I was told that this was only for Kids by a (first) male waiter. As the Menù Speciale as described for €13 was what I wanted (Spaghetti Carbonara and a mixed salad for a light lunch) and what made me choose the restaurant, I went back to look at the menu displayed by the restaurant (photo) to see if I had misread. THERE WAS NO INDICATION WHATSOEVER THAT THE MENÙ SPECIALE WAS FOR KIDS (see photo as proof). So when asking another (second) male waiter politely about it and pointed out that there was no mentioning that the Menù Speciale for €13 was only for kids, he started YELLING AT ME LOUDLY straight away in front of my friend and all other guests and told me that I should order one of the more expensive Menùs (for either €15 or €18) or leave the restaurant while making threatening gestures. As my friend and I had already ordered and received drinks, I encountered „Well, can I at least finish my drink first“ and he yelled I should pay and leave. As my friend had already ordered a salad, I asked to see the regular menu so I could find something else to order. The rude waiter handed me the menu gruffly. So I sat there, looking at the menu again but AFTER BEING YELLED AT IN A VERY HOSTILE WAY — AS A GUEST FROM A WAITER — and AS A WOMEN FROM AN AGGRESSIVE MAN — only for asking a simple question, I felt very shaken and not hungry or willing to order at that place anymore. So I stayed, giving my friend company and finishing my drink. Before leaving I tried to talk to the hostile waiter as I wanted to tell him calmy but directly that this behaviour - YELLING AT A CUSTOMER in general, but in addition YELLING AT A WOMAN AS A MAN —- IS UNACCEPTABLE. When I addressed him politely in Italian with „Scusa signore“, he deliberately ignored me. So I talked to another waiter, telling him that his colleague’s behaviour was not ok and that I was rather shaken and upset about such a negative experience on my first day in Venice, when all I was after was a lovely, Italian lunch and simply asked a question about the menu (as advertised by the restaurant). He apologised but at the same time excused the misbehaviour of the aggressive waiter with the words that ”it is simply his character“. For me, it was a very upsetting and negative experience as a tourist, restaurant guest, paying customer and as a woman in Venice and Italy. If this would have happened to me in my home country, I would sue the restaurant for FALSE ADVERTISEMENT (luring guests into the restaurant under false pretenses) and for the hostile, unacceptable treatment I...

Following my experience at this restaurant, I now realise the reason behind Italy's separation from Venice.

To begin with, the service was completely abissmal with a limp wristed, arrogant non-italian lineup of staff that could not give two stuffs about the needs of the, rather generously paying customers. To illustrate: once our party of 5 had been seated at a 6 seater table the unused place was left filled with a knife and fork, later on in the meal our replacement cutlery was almost retardedly thrown down onto the table by our waiter. Furthermore, a hidden detail that is not clearly displayed should be well noted: there is a £2.80pp service charge that is thoughroughly undeserved and mocking of the visitors as it is mandatory.

To continue, the food. I believe that it would be better suited at the bottom of a freezer in the Sainsbury's basic range than in a Venetian Osteria. The base of my particular (as well as my sister's) pizza was impenetrable with the "kindly" provided steak knives. The top was decidedly barren of all tomato sauce with a palatable but carelessly large amount of cheese. Other members of my family report that their pasta was rubbery and flavourless.

In summary, this restaurant is effectively a parasite, leeching off of the tourist and sustaining itself by primarily going unnoticed and charging unfathomable amounts for poor food. This restaurant should be not be visited if a good mood is to persist, find a different fairer priced restaurant and try to support local Italians as they will certainly know...

So disappointing! We were starving after being in transit all day and with no wifi wandered around Venice for an hr before seeing this nice piazza and thought ah! What a cute restaurant. I got the aperol spitz aperitivo /happy hour and it was 4.50Euro. Drink was fine, I got this teeny pathetic morsel of bruschetta with it. It was laughable how small it was, like the same size as a Tim Tam. Burrata was good but it was light on the tomatoes for a 13Euro dish! They served us this bowl of sliced bread roll and packets of crackers. Serving crackers is just cheap and the bread was so old a pigeon wouldn’t have eaten it. It was crunchy and inedible. Can’t believe they even served it. Then came our pizza - for anyone from Australia the base was like something you’d buy from woolies/coles, or a grocery store packet base with cheese, and a few toppings on top. It was so disappointing. I asked if it was made by the restaurant and the waiter said ‘it was pre made earlier in the day’ - rubbish. Don’t serve pizza if you can’t make it fresh. This is Italy! Awful place. Good location. Oh and agree with the service charges everyone else has mentioned. I nearly told other diners to not stop and just keep moving. Such a disappointing start to Venice. I’d give it less than a...