La Piccola Carmela — Restaurant in Granada

First the good: we had dinner and the food was great. I had the pizza with bacon & apple and it was delicious. The kids enjoyed a pizza margarita and meatballs. Service was great and attentive.

Why I’m knocking off a point, maybe unfairly for some but it really affected our experience. We sat outside on the patio open to the sidewalk - showed up without a reservation so to be expected and we were glad they could accommodate us, but important for what’s to follow. Of note, they had heating lights so it was nice and cozy. However during our meal we were approached three times by various characters off the street. The first one was a lotto hawker, the second one was a person handing out “free” tissue packets with a note telling their sad story and subsequently asking for money. These both left without a scene. However, the third person was clearly under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, was playing the flute and aggressively asking for food from diners’ plates. Not taking no for an answer, he then also on three separate occasions grabbed food from the plates of diners around us, running off but returning each time after a few minutes. The server did have a few stern words with him(possible because this person has been a nuisance before?), but mostly seemed helpless to the situation. Now, I understand this is somewhat beyond the restaurant’s control and a product of being located on a busy street at the city centre, but by the end of the third encounter with this gentleman, our three kids were scared and wanted to go home - getting dessert at a restaurant we otherwise enjoyed was out of the question. So I guess what I’m saying is book a table...

Even though a month has passed, I still feel angry and wronged. When I visited Granada for a trip in early October, I chose your restaurant for a long-awaited dinner. All the dishes that evening were delicious, so I was really looking forward to the main course—the steak. When placing the order, we clearly asked for the steak to be cooked medium-rare, and the staff also said there was no problem.

However, when the dish was served, we immediately noticed that it could not possibly be medium-rare. We looked for a staff to ask about it, but the staff insisted that there was nothing wrong with the steak and claimed that this was the medium-well we had ordered. I was surprised and reiterated that we had requested medium-rare. It might have been a misunderstanding, but the staff kept a dismissive and arrogant attitude, repeatedly insisting that this was what we had ordered. There was no attempt to resolve the issue, not even a simple apology.

We were not asking for the dish to be redone—we just wanted to understand why the mistake happened. If the staff had simply apologized and said they might have misheard us, we would have accepted it and continued our dinner without feeling so upset. But the way the staff handled the situation, both in attitude and expression, made it impossible for me to enjoy the rest of my meal. We finished quickly and left the restaurant.

I am still saddened by this experience. It left an unpleasant memory on the last...

TLDR: Croquettes and Pizza were great, there pastas we're bad. Very mixed feelings about this spot.

We ordered one of each Croquette(Bacon, Spinach and Gorgonzola) which were amazing, flavorful and crunchy. A fresh take on croquettes that worked out beautifully.

We had the Burrata pizza after, which was delicious with a nice soft dough cooked to perfection topped with a great marinara which contrasted nicely to the cold mozzarella and basil. If your not going to order pasta, I highly recommend this place.

The pastas though... We ordered the 'Authentic' carbonara which any Italian grandmother would be appalled with. The pancetta was nearly raw, which led to an inedible texture and didn't contribute enough of it's saltines to the dish. You can see in one picture there was a massive chunk of pasta, which was raw inside. Ultimately the sauce wasn't very flavorful, needed a bit more creaminess. And the plate came out warm, almost room temp.

The spaghetti Nero with smoked salmon was better tasting than the carbonara. We ended up sharing that one ultimately. The pesto sauce was alright, could use a bit more flavor imo but it was ok. My issue was the dish felt lazy, they cooked the spaghetti, mixed it with the sauce and just threw chopped tomatoes and salmon over top which made the dish feel disconnected. This also came out lukewarm, which didn't help.

If you're in town for some apps and pizza, you can give it a try but I'd...