Ristorante Al56zeroOtto — Restaurant in Venice

The service we got at this restaurant was some of the worst in our 2 weeks in Italy. As soon as we (3 of us) walked in, the manager type guy said they would only seat us if we ordered one dish each, implying that we would not. We are not white and I’m assuming this was a racist assumption. Never happened to us before. Then when we ordered 4 dishes, they started acting nicely to us. They brought us bread and olive oil and we asked for plates. The waitress said we would get them later with our main meals. My son was hungry and we didn’t want to spill crumbs everywhere so I asked her again and she told me that “in Italy, we bring plates for bread with the food.” I told her we needed them now since we had the bread and never had any server in Italy refused to bring us plates for bread. She then had a loud conversation in Italian with another waiter but brought us plates with a grimace on her face. The food was ok but not great—very buttery, cheesy, heavy, like Italian food in the U.S. The pasta was cold, the risotto was fair and the Gorgonzola gnocchi was too creamy and buttery but flavorless. We asked for the leftover food to be packed up and again, waitress gave us strange looks and implied we should just stuff ourselves with the leftovers—how dare we package and take it home? In combination with the poor service, the only thing good about this restaurant was the ambience. It was really cute inside but wow all the wait staff and their attitudes. It was like we were doing them a favor by eating there. Service is everything and we’ll take our business somewhere where people are genuine and nice as most people in Italy are. Also the meal was pricey for what we got—sub par service and food. 100 euro for 3 people—4 entree, 1 dessert,...

The gentleman who owns the restaurant is very inviting and welcoming, until you actually sit down to dine. It's not that he's not kind, it's just that he's a bit stand offish once you start inquiring about gluten free dishes. I tried asking what kind of wine they gave me so I could write it down, but he seemed annoyed that I was asking.

This place seems to be AIC verified not because they have a good selection of gluten free items, but because they know what you CAN'T eat. They do not have gluten-free bread but still charge you the cover charge, plus extra for anything gluten-free.

The pasta options are limited (I ate here because a previous reviewer mentioned that they had really good gluten-free options and then mentioned the gnocchi in the next sentence, so I got excited that I might actually be able to try gnocchi). They pretty much only have penne pasta in gluten free (and their pizza, which I didn't try), and the pasta was overcooked compared to other places I've been in Italy. The meat sauce was tasty, but something I could have made at home.

My husband got the gnocchi because he is not Celiac, and the dish had all of 3 tiny scallops in it. It was okay, but I think we expected more given that we've had much...

If I were you, I’d seek something else than overpriced mediocre food.

The food was alright, nothing special. I had the Caprese and tuna steak, both I could do equally well by myself. Considering I eat frozen pizzas and other premade food on the regular, this is not a praise. The server couldn’t be arsed at all, no small talk, not trying to sell anything or even talk at all, which shocked a Finn (i.e. me).

In the end, I tried to salvage the situation by ordering a Tiramisu, a dessert I’m a massive slut for. The dessert was essentially cream and cocoa powder! Haven’t had a tiramisu this shit in a while.

In the atmos you could sense the equal disappointment by my fellow prisoners in a Venetian overpriced house of crap.

The concluding remarks are that I’ve enjoyed a lovely Fall Friday in Venezia with a fair amount of wine and a great visit to the museum of modern art, which rocks up this review to two stars. If you’re reading this, I salute...