La Piccola Trattoria Da Tonino — Restaurant in Amsterdam

My girlfriend and I found this place whilst looking for somewhere to eat, so we headed inside. It's quite daunting when entering a completely empty restaurant, and can also be worrying. Why was this little Italian restaurant on the busy Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, so dead? It should have at least a few other diners in, especially as it was about 8pm, and most of the other restaurants we passed were really busy. We ignored these warning signs, and asked for a table for two, and the waiter gestured to a table. We took off our coats, and we were about to sit down, when two menus were abruptly thrown down on the table in front of us. My girlfriend and I looked at each other, bemused, and hesitantly sat down.

When the waiter approached our table to take our order, my girlfriend and I each ordered a glass of red wine. My girlfriend ordered a Spicy Arrabiata Penne, and I asked for a Spaghetti Carbonara. "Would you like a large?", the waiter asked. I was feeling hungry, so I said "sure". The waiter disappeared for a few minutes, and then returned to our table with two small glasses of red wine. We each had a sip, and both pulled the same disgusted face. We were drinking what can only be described as cheap red wine, diluted with Ribena. It was disgusting! It was so bad, that I couldn't tolerate more than a mouthful. Instead of complaining, I pushed the wine to one side, and ordered a beer. "Would you like a large?", the waiter asked again. I said "sure", and he disappeared again, returning moments later with a nice, cold pint of beer. Much better.

It wasn't long before our meals arrived. We were starving, so we dug in straight away. The food was nice. The spaghetti was a little overcooked, but I've had worse meals in Amsterdam. After finishing my beer, I waited for the waiter to look in my direction, so that I could order another. I sat, and I waited, whilst he leant on the kitchen counter, with his back to the restaurant, chatting to the chef.

Eventually, another couple walked in, and they were greeted with the same impertinence. Having finished our meals, I decided I no longer wanted the beer, and I politely asked for the bill instead. This is when things started to get weird! The waiter returned to the table with half of the bill, saying "This is for yours", as he handed it to me. Confused, I looked at my girlfriend. Had I missed something? Why was he only bringing us half of the bill? "Can I have the whole bill?" I asked. "With her's, it's €50" he shouted, as if I was an idiot. "Okay," I replied. "I'd still like the total bill, please!" The waiter seemed annoyed, as if this was a huge inconvenience. He went back to the register, and returned with a separate bill for my girlfriend's meal. I asked him, with confusion, why he was splitting our bill, to which he replied "That's how I run my business!" I told him that I'd worked in hospitality since 2011, and I'd never heard of this way of doing things. He snapped back that he has five successful restaurants, and this is how they all worked. Weird.

I added the two bills together, and it came to €48. I looked at my bill a little more, and noticed I'd been charged for a wine, a pint, and two meals, at €12 each. I checked my girlfriend's receipt, and she had been charged for one meal and one wine. I asked why I'd been charged for two meals, and he said "You ordered a large. A large is two meals. I told you this! You don't listen!" I was shocked! He was charging €24 for a large spaghetti carbonara! What he should have asked is "Would you like to eat two meals this evening?", to which I would have told him that I'm not a pig. We argued for about ten minutes over the bill, and I eventually left a €50 and walked out.

This guy is out to rip people off. He doesn't want to run a nice, successful restaurant. He wants to prey on tourists, and make as much money out of them while he can. Little does he know that my girlfriend and I are not tourists. We live in Amsterdam, and we will be telling everyone we know to avoid this place like the plague! If I could give...

We ended up heading here as my friends fell for the discounted food offerings but sadly it turned into something of a tourist trap. The staff were nice and friendly and yes the food was very quick but I'd have to say the food was below average. The pizza's cheese patterns matched what you would see if the pizza was microwaved and then heated in the oven and was closer to cheese covered cardboard, I couldn't even each the cabornara pasta.

The biggest part of the tourist trap started when they offered bruschetta to the group which everyone greedily said yes but what the server doesn't explain is that they cost €4.50 each which is both sneaky and not what you expect in Amsterdam.

The group I was with had several beers and some smokes so I don't really judge their views on the food as they would have eaten anything at that point but they said their meal was good....

The meal cost the group of 5 people €125 for a single main course, an overpriced beer and the overpriced bruschetta... Skip this place and go somewhere else or be careful...

I gave it a star just because I couldn’t give it zero…first of all the place was dirty, we sat down and the table was not even layed, the only thing they gave us was a napkin and cutlery and it wasn’t even clean. The menu outside had different prices compared to the ones in the menu they give you, so we paid more than expected. The food (3 pizza margheritas and a spaghetti bolognese) wasn’t freshly made: the pizzas were obviously frozen and the spaghetti was served cold and it wasn’t decent. At the end of the meal when we were about to pay, even the waiters were unsure about the prices (two of us got the same dish and paid it differently) and were really unkind. You also had an additional fee(1€) if you decided to pay with the card and they didn’t even give us the receipt. In conclusion we obviously do not recommend this place because of the rudeness of the owners and the poor quality of the food. Worst pizzas...