iL Ristorante di Antonio — Restaurant in Rizal

A Little unpleasant experience. We tried to get in, 5 of us, for early dinner around 5pm. The host, a middle-aged female, greeted us outside and noticeably immediately closed the door behind her. She explained that groups of more than four needed prior reservations. she insisted on this policy despite the empty restaurant and absence of current customers in waiting for reservation.

She further insisted that a prior reservation is needed because they needed to rearrange the tables if there are more than four diners. At this point I was again bewildered by the remark and signaling to the then empty restaurant with none waiting if the staff minds to rearrange the tables to accommodate us; were they preoccupied or too busy to allow 5 of us to come in? She responded with a question, “taga dito ba kayo” (are you from here)? Again, clueless about what she meant; is there an Antipolo code only known to locals? Were we too simply dressed to be allowed inside. Overall we felt unwelcome and it seemed there was no genuine intention to accommodate us. Fortunately, we found a better dining experience at the bistro below! Overall the short interaction was very unpleasant.

PS. No way to reply to Owners Response so I am editing my replies here

"The place was empty at 5pm as you said but there might be table/s booked at 5.30 or 6pm. "-- We understand that this is a possible reason and that is why I asked if the current empty tables were reserved for now or later. The host answered that the tables were not reserved. So I wondered what else could be the reason. A simple 'we are already fully reserved for the night' would have been easily understood

"We asked our staff, your group walked away even before she could offer a solution (of rearranging the space). " - it is true, my company who were hungry at the time already proceeded to look for another place. But I stayed to clarify with the hostess why we couldn't be accommodated. And during that short interaction the hostess insisted on the policy despite 1. the restaurant is empty, 2. there were no current and later reservations. There were no attempts made to offer a remedy or a very simple solution of rearranging.

"The practice of asking from where you come from is normal for us as we have guests coming from NCR, they would tell us to let us sort our space, especially when they come to Antipolo only for us." - alright understandable. But I fail to see how my answer to that question would change anything on wether we can be accommodated or not at that exact time. The timing of the question is certainly off. It would have been easier to comprehend and less confusing if instead of asking me where we hail from the hostess instead said, "Can you give us a a couple minutes to see if there is something we could do". If she came back and said you were full for the evening then we would have understood and then there will be no misunderstanding such as this.

"Closing it when the staff is outside doesn't mean anything but to be courteous to people outside" --- at that time we were also the only...

Amazing Italian food that doesn't break the bank. It's very evident that the food they serve showcases the skill and experience of their chef, Chef Jennifer. Some items may have diverged from using traditional ingredients (such as their carbonara which had smoked Italian bacon instead of guanciale), but the essence of Italian cooking isn't lost in any way. I think this allowed them to offer their menu with great value for money.

Excellent customer service, too! Chef Jennifer ensures the best dining experience for each customer, no less.

Expect a slower than usual serving time, but it's worth the wait as they ensure that the food that they serve is fresh and of topnotch quality. Give them a heads up and order ahead via mobile so they can prepare it in advance.

Everything we ordered during our visit was amazing. The vegetables in the antipasti misti (mixed appetizer platter) were roasted perfectly. The way both the carbonara and the risotto was cooked is perfect. The cotoletta alla Milanese was very deceiving. It looked like any other pork chop dish that most of us are probably used to: chewy and lacking in taste, but it was the exact opposite. This one is probably the unexpected instant favorite for me.

And the tiramisu? Make sure...

I seriously want to give this restaurant a flat five, unfortunately there are few things that need to be addressed.

First, I really liked the food. We got the carbonara, linguine al tonno, the salami sandwich and tiramisu. All were really good especially the carbonara. However, we had to wait close to 40 mins before all the items arrived, and I almost fell asleep.

Second—the restaurant has limited staff—they’re consisted mainly of one chef (I think) who also serves as the main staff (cash register person and head waiter), and 2 other people who juggle all tasks. It’s not really a big restaurant, so maybe that’s the right number of personnel? I don’t know, but you have to keep in mind that the waiting time here is relatively longer than usual.

Last—you also have to make an advance reservation in order to dine here because of the restaurant’s limited manpower and, also, because they have limited capacity for proper accommodation.

With all that said, the food, again, is really good. Would come back here sometime to try...