Antica Bottega del Vino — Restaurant in Verona

Living just an hour away I have visited this wonderful space many times, either just to drink a glass of one of their many amazing wines, have a plate of Italian style tapas in the wine bar, or to eat really amazing food in the restaurant. After being locked inside for more than 15 months and on the occasion of my birthday it was my first choice for a first outing. Two friends and I enjoyed a wonderful bottle of wine and a selection of tasty bites from the wine bar whilst sitting in the sunshine. I decided to treat my friends and discreetly pay the bill, but as we had a coffee after I had paid, my friend went inside to settle up, she came out €24 lighter!!!!! I was absolutely gobsmacked!! I chose to question it and was greeted with utter disdain! Apparently the three tiny cups of coffee were 9 euros, a rip-off but hey, we were in the centre of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. 6 euros for a carafe of tap water, and another €9 apparently as a table cover!! As I had already paid quite a large amount of money for the wine and the food this came as a bit of a shock. Now, I don't have a problem paying for quality service and even paying over the odds when in such a beautiful place but I refuse to be taken advantage of and this is exactly what happened today. These businesses have been closed for so long that I would have thought their priority was to do everything in their power to regain trust and confidence in encouraging people back into their businesses. I'm aware it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world but even so to these prices customers deserve to be treated with respect. I also questioned why a receipt had not been given for the €24 and cash slipped discreetly "under the table". The response was an eyeball roll and the phrase va bene signora. I repeat I'm happy to knowingly be ripped off in places such as this but this was absolutely UNECESSARY, greedy, uncaring behaviour which I'm disgusted at in a restaurant of this calibre. I have hung on by my fingernails to survive this last year and a half and the only thing I can do in retaliation is refuse to spend my hard-earned money in such an establishment ever again. My feeling is they absolutely won't lose a moment sleep over...

I booked this restaurant as mine and my wife's first meal on our honeymoon. I had specified when booking that it was our honeymoon and was really excited as my wife is a wine enthusiast. Initially the atmosphere was great and the restaurant is stunning with unbelievable wines on offer. The service was quite slow which was ok as we needed time and it was very busy. Upon recieving our main meal (see pic) the steak was horrifically dry, chewy and gristly. After eating a tiny amount (that my wife literally had to spit out..) I called over our waiter and explained the situation which he abruptly responded with words to the effect of 'that's just how it is and no one else ever has a problem with it.' This was shocking to both of us, he then took the plate away to the kitchen and came back affirming that there was nothing wrong with the steak.. leaving us gobsmacked! The meal and time at this beautiful restaurant was now ruined. I went up to discuss the issue with him further and couldn't believe it when he brought the bill up with only 20% off of the dreadful steak. We then had an intense exchange where he continued to say this is how it is and no one else has complained.. I told him how I didn't care what others thought and neither should he in this situation, as it was us that he should care about. I was utterly enraged but also felt relatively powerless being a tourist and his general attitude. I further reminded him that this was literally our first honeymoon meal out together and he did not care in the slightest. Only to give about another 10% off of a meal we barely touched that was frankly inedible and cost around 70 euros. Dreadful experience. - I didn't catch the waiters/managers name, but...

Realizing Bottega del Vino appears to be an institution in Verona, my experience leads me to say...I would never set foot in this place again. My gut, based upon my experience, the restaurant does not care if patrons return or not anyway. The good: The building is beautiful and they appear to have an incredible wine collection. The reason for spending your hard earned money elsewhere: The men working there seem to find pleasure in ignoring the patrons, if you are lucky. If they choose to acknowledge you, it's uncomfortable at best. Rudeness or ignoring patrons was the modus operandi. However, the real clincher, the food is bland. We spent 30 Euro on truffle pasta that had no flavor and left us feeling ill. The Tubetti Cozze was water and pasta. No flavor. When asked why no mussel flavor, we were told it was us. We were thrown bread on our table without acknowledgment. Served appetizers without plates and served the main course without a spoon (for the 'muscle water), although the waiter said served with a spoon when throwing it on the table. Served our champagne with no acknowledgment and never spoken of again once poured the first time. I made the mistake of telling our waiter that the experience was not good and the food was poor. The result, yelled at me for a few minutes that the problem was not the restaurant and to pay my bill. (For clarity, I started by saying I will pay my bill but I do want to share how disappointed we were with the experience.) My recommendation...look at all the reviews, the themes are true, and if you plan to eat there, keep your expectations to meh food, being treated poorly and pay your bill with...