Happy Italy Rotterdam Binnenrotte — Restaurant in Rotterdam

By far one of the worst eating experiences I’ve had in a very long time. The fact that this place not only dates to state that ‘they have the best pizza in Rotterdam’ but also dares to reference itself to Italy isn’t only an insult to Italian food, but an insult to the whole country of Italy itself and all Italians in it.

We chose this restaurant because of the ‘child friendly’ marketing and the fact that they had an indoor playground. When we got there, the indoor playground turned out to be in the basement. But we could not sit there as staff said that this part of the restaurant was closed.

It’s not really an option to let your toddlers play unsupervised in the basement while we eat on the ground floor. Nor was it an option to leave our tables empty, while we sat down with our children in a part of the restaurant that was closed. Staff did not seem to understand nor care, making the whole ‘Happy Italy is the place to be for parents with children’ marketing nothing more than a hot air balloon.

Staff did not speak Dutch (no problem). But we’re extremely unfriendly (unacceptable) and downright incompetent (a big problem).

We ordered two children’s menu (which should come with a toy and a colouring page), a pizza and a pasta. When my wife’s white wine came I joked and asked if she perhaps ordered a children’s wine as the glass was smaller than her iPhone 15 Pro Max (for size reference).

The children’s pasta was terrible. It did not include any of the ingredients advertised, we had to look for sauce and tomatoes. We sent one dish back to the kitchen, but no reaction or apologies from staff what so ever. We requested the dish be taken from the bill. Which the restaurant did.

Then we asked why we did not received the colouring page and the toy with the children’s menu. We got a very rude “you did not ask for it” reply from a member of staff. So you advertise with a children’s menu that comes with colouring page and toy, but you don’t give it to your guests unless they explicitly ask for it and snap at them when the enquiry about it?

Our other pasta was mediocre at best. The pizza was certainly not the best pizza or Rotterdam. When our tables were cleared, there wasn’t any ‘how was your meal’ or ‘ would you like to see the dessert menu?’ What we wanted was the bill, to get out of this restaurant as fast as we could. The bill came without any courtesy or ‘how was your mea?’ Needless to say we did not apply any courtesy with regard to the tip.

It truly fascinates me that this restaurant’s marketing is all about child friendly, happiness, cozy atmosphere and fantastic food while none of this is true. The lack of hospitality, rude and unprofessional conduct of the staff was truly shocking. The food was of low quality.

We will never come...

Subject: Unacceptable Food Quality and Service

I am extremely dissatisfied with the food and service I experienced at your restaurant. On two separate occasions, the meals I was served were of such poor quality that it was both disappointing and unacceptable. The second experience was even worse than the first, which makes it clear that this is not a one-time mistake but a serious problem in your kitchen.

To make matters worse, the shrimp I ordered the first time was undercooked, which is a serious health risk. After I raised my concerns and reordered, the replacement came back burnt — showing a complete lack of care or professionalism in food preparation.

It was not only my experience that evening. I also observed other customers voicing their dissatisfaction and requesting replacement plates. This proves the problem is not limited to me but reflects a much wider issue.

Additionally, the waitress serving us was visibly sick, coughing into her hands while handling food. This is completely unhygienic and unacceptable. At the very least, she should have followed standard hygiene practices, such as coughing into her elbow, especially since she was serving food directly to customers.

Serving food of such low quality, with unsafe preparation and unhygienic service, damages your reputation and shows a serious lack of respect for paying customers. If your team cannot consistently provide properly prepared meals in a safe and hygienic manner, then urgent changes are needed immediately.

I strongly urge you to take action and correct these failures without delay. Customers should never have to question the safety, quality, or hygiene of the food...

Dined with my family at this place many times in the past few years. Often there's a big crowd lined up at the entrance, waiting for tables in the evenings, especially over weekends. At times, I felt too warm and sweaty when dining at this place, maybe due to the stone oven?!

We find it affordable just to order a pizza or pasta as main dish per person and the serving size is good or perhaps more than enough for some (don't be shy to ask for a takeout box too!). However, I am not a fan of their pizzas and it can be a hit or miss when making my pasta choice from their standard menu. I always prefer to order pasta over their crispy, extra thin salty "bread" dough but some adult family members like to have a stone oven baked pizza there!

Sometimes, we may have good servers who would not make us wait for too long for taking orders or get our bill. It is a good eating place to dine with a crowd, though.

(Edited in late August of 2019) I had late lunch with my family on a hot Saturday afternoon. Plenty of empty tables in and out. Since there're not too many customers, our order was served super fast! This is still an affordable eating place for a dinner, although their price tag...