Casa di Papi Gen. Cronjéstraat — Restaurant in Haarlem

My review for this Casa di Papi is 1,000,000/10 — and let me tell you why. My stomach is full and my heart is happy, so brace yourself for a genuine review and a bit of storytelling.

We made our reservation for PaPi via The Fork app. Everything was perfect. We waited until 19:30 for our booking, walked in… and realized we were at the wrong PaPi (turns out they have two locations in Haarlem!).

While waiting, my sister, brother-in-law, and I were saying, “This place must be amazing — it’s full of people and the smell is incredible.” Shortly after, the owner approached us and said, “You’re not walking to the other location — I’ll call our driver to take you.” Yes, even though it was our mistake.From that moment on, we were already impressed by their kindness and outstanding service.

When we arrived at the correct location, it felt like stepping into Italy: the smell of tomato sauce in the air, people laughing, great music, and food that makes your soul dance. We ate, laughed, and even shared some hilarious moments with the Leonardo waiter and the incredible pizza chef (seriously, the pizzas were heerlijk).

As we were getting ready to pay, we realized we had left one of our bags in the car that brought us. And guess what? Not only did the restaurant owner bring us the bag himself, he also drove us back to our hotel! Who does that?

These people should teach the world about customer service. They are simply amazing — 100,000,000,000/10 for food, service, and hospitality.

PaPi is now my go-to place every time I return to Haarlem. A big hug...

We came here lured by the glowing 4.7 Google rating — and left wondering if we’d accidentally walked into the wrong restaurant.

Yes, the staff were lovely, and the place looked fine… but the food? That’s where the magic ended. The grilled eggplant appetizer tasted exclusively like tomato sauce — if you’re a fan of one-dimensional flavor, this is your paradise. The grilled seafood? Same tomato sauce, plus a generous puddle of water. Last I checked, “grilled” usually means not swimming.

The pizza was crowned with Dutch cheese — salty, oily, and stubbornly refusing to stretch — because nothing says “Italian” like the wrong cheese. The zucchini and shrimp pasta (the “special” of the day) proudly showcased its two lonely shrimp, floating in what seemed like leftover pasta water. Creamy? No. Flavorful? Also no. Cohesive? Not even close.

If this is Italian cuisine, then I’m the Pope. That 4.7 rating must be living in a...

We ate here twice, both times are disappointing. First time we ordered pizza to go and arrived within 15mins, but pizza is already cold and doesn’t look fresh at all. I even wonder are they freshly cooked or just frozen pizza. Second time we decided to dine in and ordered pasta. First , waiter was very rude, when we asked can we sit inside. He just answered in a very rude way”outside , outside”. And then he was just busy flirting with 3 girls never came back to take our order until we asked. The food is small and tasteless. I ordered Gnochi with eggplant and tomato sauce. They have like 3 piece of eggplant and the only thing you can taste is super sour tomato sauce. I don’t know why they have such high rating. But I definitely never come back again and don’t...