Mediterranean Foods Trattoria & Deli, Newtown — Restaurant in North Island

I am writing to express my extreme displeasure and to strongly protest the highly offensive experience I had at your Wellington branch on August 12th, between 6 and 7 PM.

My family ordered a Carbonara, seafood pasta, and a buffalo cheese pizza. However, after nearly finishing the pizza, we found what appeared to be a beard hair in it.

We reported this to the staff, and while they initially offered to make a new pizza, we were already full from eating the pasta.

The staff member then suggested providing the new pizza as a takeaway, which we accepted.

However, another staff member approached us later and suggested that the hair might belong to one of us. I found this suggestion not only inappropriate but also deeply offensive, as it goes beyond racism and represents a clear disregard for human dignity.

None of us have facial hair, and being accused in this way was highly insulting. The staff member in question was not white, had dark skin, and braided hair. What is even more disappointing is that there was no further action or apology provided afterward.

I demand a sincere apology for this incident, specifically from the staff member who made the pizza with the beard hair and the staff member who treated us with such disrespect.

If this matter is not properly addressed, I will not hesitate to share this experience across all communities and pursue formal legal action through consumer protection agencies.

I expect to hear back from you promptly regarding how this issue will...

Excited to meet two work friends for a Friday lunch as have always enjoyed coming here. Unfortunately, I'm now leaving a not so nice review. There was a mistake with our order being lost in the kitchen - only picked up after nearly 1/2 an hour of waiting and asking the waiter to look into it. I would not write a bad review for this as mistakes happen and we were given the option to wait 8 -10 minutes for the kitchen to process. Due to time limits we had to cancel the order and leave without eating. I asked the waiter if the coffee I had would be on the house and he said yes so that was something. On exiting we spoke with the manager, and this is where the complaint comes from. We expressed it was poor service and it would have been good if the wait staff had noticed rather than us having to ask. She said sorry but that they were short staffed on the first day open after the Christmas break. This was obviously enough of any apology from her point of view and led to us getting a bit heated that she didn't in any way acknowledge our inconvenience and having to go back to work hungry after sitting there for 45 mins! So, my complaint is that a good manager would have said sorry and THEN have added, "we really hope you will come back and give us another try as it wasn't the best experience, and we appreciate your custom". Just the right words were needed. Now these are 3 people are unlikely to return again. Owners, please give your manager today...

Updating my review and knocking a point off for service. Our trip this evening was below the usual standard. We had a table of seven, including our kids. Because of a large booking just ahead of us, we were told that one child order of pasta was going to be delayed by 20 minutes and we opted for all to come out at once. While it was good to know what to expect, it's tough expecting an under-5 to wait until bed time to be served dinner. We managed to keep them occupied with bread sticks from the deli, which saved us. After dinner came out, it took ages for us to be seen about desserts. The ice creams came out quickly, but the others were delayed by another 20 minutes. We had to send the kids home with half the group to get them in bed. By the time mine arrived, I was pretty grumpy. Grumpy desserts aren't nice. Original: It's a nice bright space with lots of room for kids to move and having a quick look through the deli usually occupies the kids while the food is prepared. That often leads to coming home with a nice treat, as well. The wood-fired oven means that pizzas are fast and lovely. The menu covers many tastes and customisations makes sure that random demands...