Osteria El Italiano — Restaurant in Portomarín

I dined here on the 19th of May while doing the Camino de Santiago with my husband. We decided to come here as it seemed to get good reviews and as we spend a lot of time in Italy we were looking forward to some Italian food. It was the worst experience of the whole camino. We got there before 6:30 as that was supposed to be the opening time for the evening, It was already packed with people (so it had been open quite a while) a friend let us share his table as he was still waiting to get served. We finally got served about 30 mins later with drinks and then even later for our food order, we asked if we could have the pilgrims menu, the waitress said no pilgrims menu even though we had seen it online. There were no alternative menus on the tables only a QR code that didn't display the full menu. So our friend and my husband ordered pizza and I ordered pasta, there was no offer of bread or Parmesan cheese and you would get in an authentic Italian restaurant. Our friend tried to get his bill a few times but kept getting ignored, so he went inside to pay. When we finally got the attention of the waitress again after about another 30 minutes we asked her for two tiramisu, first she said no, (even though it was on the board outside) then she said ok, so we waited again. We waited for about 45 minutes and there wasn't no sign of them so we stood up to go. We were still being ignored so went inside to pay. VERY PILGRIM UNFRIENDLY, would have walked away without paying if we weren't honest people. Never again! Do not use this restaurant if you want prompt friendly service! I would give minus 5 for...

I wish I would have liked this place more. Long wait for the food, unexplainably some members of staff unable to take a single order (eg a caña) as someone else had to come to take the order, which never materialised. I was close to leaving several times during my 45 minute wait. As I was waiting for my salad my dining companion shared some of his pizza with me which was fine, but not 45 minute fine. I understand from the owner's comments that they're not machines (cheers) but this seems to be an endemic problem with staff training. One shouldn't need pen and paper to take an order for a salad (only) for a table. Any staff members should be able to relay that order to the kitchen and not need a supervisor or the encargado to make the orde happen. Staff members ignoring pleas from other tables, which simply added to the frustration. On top of that they apologised and offered us a limonchello as a sorry, which by the time it came to paying we simply couldn't be bothered anymore with. I saw others waiting over half an hour to get a table, whilst we chatted about the salad that never came.

Please review your operating practices. I suspect 90% of your customers are pilgrims and unlikely to come back, but the reputation you seem to have for good food is being tarnished by the procedures regarding...

From the moment I entered, it was clear this establishment treats customer service as an abstract concept rather than a requirement. The staff moved with the urgency of sloths sedated with sleeping pills - watching paint dry would have been more entertaining than waiting for someone to acknowledge our existence.

When our staff finally graced us with his presence, his facial expression suggested we were interrupting his nap. Taking our order seemed to physically pain him. The glacial pace of service reached its crescendo when our food arrived - lifeless, and tasting suspiciously like regret.

The pièce de résistance? The bill presentation. Our charming server didn't so much deliver it as perform a half-hearted table hockey shot, sending it skidding across the surface like we were an inconvenience he couldn't wait to be rid of.

The only mystery here is how this restaurant hasn't been shut down.

Final verdict: If you enjoy disappointment, humiliation, and poor food, this is your paradise. For everyone else...