Calabria Trattoria — Restaurant in Oranjestad (city)

Without this review going on longer than it needs to: Half of the menu is pizza, and upon sitting we were told by our server there was no pizza tonight. After this we watched a pizza be delivered to the table next to us. When I questioned our waiter, he stated that was the "last pizza". I guess there were two more pizzas that were the "last pizza" after that as well as we watched two more tables receive a pizza over the next hour. When I questioned again, I explained that I wasn't trying to be a jerk but when you tell me there's no pizza left but 1.5 hours later a third pizza makes its way out of the kitchen, it doesn't look good. He said that whoever normally makes the pizza wasn't there, and so the head chef decided to make one for that table. Not sure what was wrong with my family, or the 2 other tables neighboring us that requested pizza and got a no....but we obviously lacked whatever that table had to get the head chef to make us some pizza.

But I digress. Bread isn't included in your meal (8th year in Aruba never once paid for bread). We ordered fried calamari which came with a very good sauce, and we asked for extra sauce and got charged $2 for the extra sauce which he did not inform us we would be charged for.

The truffle linguini dish had burnt mushrooms in it and almost no truffle. The sausage rigatoni had no flavor. The meatballs were bland. The puttanesca needed salt which is wild since it is capers and olives.

We are a family from NY/NJ and we are Italian. We all could have cooked every dish better right down to the "home made" bread. If you want good, authentic Italian, don't come here.

EDITED TO RESPOND TO THIS BUSINESS: I didn't complain about your prices, merely that if you are going to charge for something you should be told.

Your menu is 2 pages - not 3. One page was 2/3 pizza. Your server said the pizza chef was not there and head chef cooked for a few select tables. Now you say oven was faulty, which is it? We were understanding that there was no pizza. But if there is no pizza, you shouldn't serve it to ANYONE. You can't tell my table no pizza and deliver one two tables away and expect no response.

Not sure your cameras have sound, but that family spoke to us first. In fact, I remember it clearly because they couldn't believe that they were told there was no pizza as they watched pizza be brought to another table.

As for the food, yes, everyone has different opinions. But the truffle pasta was loaded with oil, no truffle. And none of your dishes were $18.

If you don't want reviews, don't read them. But most business owners would be a little more polite. I wish I had read the way you responded to other people who reviewed you because it is clear the type of business you are running. Everyone should always want to improve and be better. You are convinced you are the best, good for you. Wish we could all be so blind. We will happily eat Italian elsewhere on the island with a gracious owner who doesn't belittle their guests.

Edited further to add: you are actually such a tremendous liar that it is sickening. I went to no other tables. NONE of the ones who were lucky enough to receive pizza had children. The one that received pizza at around 8:40 was a table of 4 adults. My child also wanted pizza but she was told there was none. I guess maybe your cameras caught me escorting my other daughter to the bathroom, one of which was out of order and the other was very dirty. I could have included that in my original review. I'm done with this at this point because you are doing your own damage. If other people enjoy the food that's wonderful. There was not ONE review that wasnt 5 stars here that wasn't met with your condescending,...

This restaurant was recommended to us through a Facebook post. I can see how people had very good experiences here because the food is good. Sadly, our service and interaction with the owner, ruined our overall experience. Upon arrival we were seated quickly, but then our service went downhill from there. Our bus boy asked if we wanted water upon sitting down, and what type of water we preferred. My husband I both said tap water would be fine, however, that didn’t seem fine with the next person who came back to our table immediately and pushed sparkling water on us. We declined. We also were given only one food menu to share. It’s a small event but when you add up all of our experiences that night, this was just one more lack of customer service. Our waitress came up and asked for our drink order. The first wine I picked was out of stock, but as we know these things happen. I then, picked a new wine. Our waitress was not welcoming or helpful at all. She appeared to be flustered and having a bad night so I asked if she was ok. She had tears in her eyes and said she was fine. We were nothing but considerate and cordial to her, knowing we’ve all been there before, but her attitude never improved. We did not receive our drinks until I went and complained after around ten - fifteen minutes of waiting. My husband and I like to enjoy a glass of wine while we chat before our food comes. That was not to be during our visit at this place. Our waitress was struggling to get orders correct, not only at our table but the surrounding tables as well. Our table was also the only table not given a wine bucket to keep our wine chilled. Again, this would not have been a big deal had all the other small details not have also occurred. We put our orders in and the food was delicious. We really loved the flavor and portion sizes. We would have chalked the entire experience up to a waitress having a difficult night, but instead the owner of the restaurant came over to accuse us of creating a bad night for ourselves. She was immediately rude and defensive, instead of asking what happened and how they could improve. She instead insulted me for being upset about our service and declared that our waitress was one of her best. I like that she stood up for her employees, because that’s also her job, but not at the expense of learning more about why we said this in the first place. She hurled several sarcastic insults my way and then tried to laugh it off with saying she’s seen me before (which was impossible since I’ve never been to Aruba prior to this trip). The damage was already done. She was insulting and deaf to any of the things I shared with her.

Bottom line - the food is good, but we didn’t have a god experience with the wait staff nor the owner. It left a bad taste for us and we won’t be going back when we return to Aruba. All the owner had to do was listen and say she was sorry. That would have gone a long way, even if she didn’t agree with us. She made an average/above average night into a below average experience. We’ve all had slow service or flustered wait staff before, but the food was good, so we would have seen this as a 3-4 star night, however the owner ruined that. As with all of us, she needs to learn to take constructive criticism and listen to what feedback is being said about her restaurant. I know she’s very proud of her restaurant and food, but it’s ok to also learn and grow. I really think they would have a winner here if that...

**Update: all you need to do is read the responses to any reviews below 5 stars on Google and trip advisor to understand the type of treatment you will receive at this restaurant. All of the reviews have similar experiences and underlying similarities. The restaurant also posted another response to my review but then deleted it and reposted a new one. There is no fake account here as I have ample reviews on google all of which are five stars. And attacking patrons? In your first response to my review you said we were a disgrace to Canadians. Get a hold of yourself. As I said, go back to the drawing board starting with your people. Customers are very reasonable if you simply communicate, set proper expectations and take ownership/apologize. Oh and we must have imagined the man shaved headed man in the hoodie and sandals who looked equally as disgruntled with the staff and operation that evening. Your distorted recollection of the evening is laughable. There are clear and underlying themes in many of the reviews being posted on Google and tripadvisor speaking to a similar experience.

Truly the worst dining experience we have ever encountered. We had a 715pm reservation to which we were told that they were creating space for us in the outside area. We patiently waited, although we saw and heard several, and I mean several other people of similar group size who had reservations after us who are being seated Well before us. We patiently waited and we followed up with the host a couple of times. He was rude and patronizing and blaming other patrons for the delay in being seated. After waiting over 40 minutes after our revelation time, we were then seated inside which could have been done from the onset of our reservation time. Patrons should not be seated on the inside of the restaurant. The layout is horrendous. The bathroom is in the middle of the restaurant, the bar and kitchen are tiny and the restaurant is simply not equipped to handle the volume and number of people that they accepted reservations for. The indoor area was covered in smoke due the ventilation. So much so that fire alarm was going off in the middle of peoples dinner. You could barely breath and smelt of burnt smoke after you left. After we were finally seated, we ordered our drinks and waited over 40 minutes to receive them. It was evident that it was chaos in the restaurant, and that no one knew what they were doing. So much so that it appeared that the owner showed up in his hoodie and sneakers to try and help out and it was evident that he was frustrated by the operation. When the host walked by we asked him what the delay was for our drinks, as this was now over an hour and a half of our reservation time. He was SO rude and literally took no ownership and refused to apologize or acknowledge the mishaps that we’re taking place. We were two couples and it was unlike anything we have ever experienced. At that point we got up and left as to not subject ourselves to anymore of this. Having eaten at many other amazing places on the island, this place doesn’t deserve anyone’s business and should go back to the drawing board and figure out their operation and take a good hard look at their staff - especially the host (the man in the hat). Blaming other paying patrons for your mishap and showing a complete disregard for others and simply not communicating and setting proper expectations are...