Restaurante L'Italiano — Restaurant in Tías

We arrived at the restaurant at 7.15 pm on Saturday night. There were no queues and there were a number of empty tables both inside and outside. We opted to eat inside. Everything started well with menus and drinks order. There seemed to be a different waiter for each task, one to take drinks order, one to take food order, one to put out cutlery, one to deliver the food and one to clear the table. Maybe this is a normal thing but it didn't work once the restaurant became busier with larger tables. Food was delivered and it was very nice, no complaints from the kitchen. It was difficult to get any waiters attention once the food was served. Eventually succeeded in ordering more drinks but the empty bottles and glasses were not cleared from the table when the drinks arrived, not sure if this was the job of an individual waiter who was supposed to clear? At this point we just thought we'd finish our drinks and leave the table free, especially as a large queue had formed outside. Also the chairs in the restaurant are upholstered in leather type fabric and it becomes uncomfortable in the heat of the restaurant with no air con. It was impossible to catch a waiter for the bill. We weren't offered any drinks and our table needed to be cleared, it was obvious we were ready to go. Looking around I could see multiple other tables in the same predicament, stuck at their tables, finished, trying to get a waiters attention so they could leave. I eventually stood up and went to a waiter who was taking an order at another table and asked him to bring the bill. The bill arrived, dropped at the table and the waiter left.... And we sat at the table for at least 10 minutes waiting for someone to come back so we could pay. This is crazy, we wanted to leave and free up a table. Maybe I'm wrong but surely the success of a restaurant business is about getting tables filled, taking orders, serving food, ensuring customers are happy, topping up drinks, getting bills paid and tables cleared for the next customer? Eventually we got up and went to the service podium at the door of the restaurant where I could see the card machine. A waiter with an arm full of dirty dishes glared at me and asked me what's the problem. I said we wanted to leave and pay our bill but nobody came back to us. He looked at his arm full of plates and retorted "we're very busy!".... I get that but the chaos of the service wasn't helping anyone. Eventually we get to leave about 9.20pm. We had a starter and main each with 2 drinks. I felt sorry for the people in the queue outside. This could be a great restaurant, but someone needs to rethink the service setup, it just didn't work. I rarely leave a bad review, the food was very good but I wouldn't go back, I wouldn't have the patience to sit so long waiting to get someone's attention. Especially if it's when you are trying to pay a bill and leave....

So we was really looking forward to eating having seen the restaurant when we went to The Black Buffalo. Having such a great experience there we expected the same with it being just next door

Immediately on entering we was met by a short waiter who wad less than welcoming. "sit there" is what we was met with

Two other waiters/waitresses were very nice and helpful so I don't want to paint all the staff the same.

The starters were really nice but the mains were a different story. We ordered two fillet steaks with peppercorn source. The steaks were very tough and not very nice to chew. They hadn't been seasoned at all so we had to do that ourselves at the table. We left alot of the steak. The peppercorn source was curdled. It wasn't very nice at all and remained uneaten. It tasted like it was from a packet.

On to the short waiter (only way I can describe him). My oldest child had gone to the toilet and this waiter walked over to our table and removed his chair taking it someone else. I asked "excuse me, where are you taking that". He answered angrily "I asked you if anyone was seated there". Well clearly he didn't as my lad still had food at the table and my answer would have been no.

For a few minutes after and everytime he came near me he was trying to stare me out. Bizarre behaviour from a waiter and completely unacceptable.

I was talking to my wife about the situation and saying, lets just get the bill and get out of here. He jumped in again and shouted in front of everyone, "I asked you if someone was sat there" I told him to leave it now and it was finished. It was embarrassing to say the least and I didn't want my children present to a shouting match

The same waiter brought over our bill over. Completely ignored me and left the bill in front my 18 year old. I mean what the hell?

As you will see from Google account. This is the first ever bad review I have left anywhere. So it's not a habit but...

I am visiting Lanzarote with a group of 5 friends, we had all heard mention of L'Italiano from friends and family that have been here before and so we looked forward to having dinner here. We booked the restaurant for 8pm on Wednesday evening (17-08-22). The restaurant was busy and the atmosphere was good, the host was nice and seated us promptly. Once seated it took a significant amount of time for our order to be taken and then throughout the meal it was almost impossible to get the attention of any staff member. We could not make out what staff member was supposed to be looking after our table, there seemed to be no assigned areas. When we did manage to speak to any staff members, the majority were abrupt and lacked customer service basics. On both occasions when we ordered drinks, the server banged the drinks down on the table in an abrupt and rude fashion.

One of our party ordered a coffee after the meal, the coffee arrived but there was no sugar. When we asked for sugar, the server said nothing to us, got the sugar and literally threw it into the center of the table as he kept walking.

At some point or another, each one of us was hit off or banged in some way on the shoulders or neck as the serving staff charged around the place. I can appreciate that the restaurant was busy but it wasn't hectic.

The only thing that saved our experience here was the food. Each of our dishes were absolutely delicious and we have no negative feedback whatsoever based on the food.

We felt as though we were a mojor inconvenience to the service staff. Having worked in the hospitality industry for years, at both server and manger level, I was appalled at the standard of service. It is a shame, as the food itself is delicious. I...