La Locanda — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

A very bad experience but now reading the other reviews of staff rudeness there, I am not surprised anymore!!! Our family spent 4 days at Edinburgh.Throughout our time here, we were always met by friendly & inviting staffs and we were also more than happy to spend money and have a good time. On our last evening we decided to stop here for a drink. Before we could ask about the availability, this one staff there ( i do not know his name but he wearing pink polo T-shirt and glasses) told us there were no availability at all. I could see there were 2x 2 seaters available but then thought they didn’t have 4 seater table available. We waited for a while as my mother really wanted to have a cocktail with oranges in it (I didn’t know the name but we had seen some ladies drinking that earlier). Soon 2 more tables were empty and we decided to seat ourselves. This same staff came to us and asked us to get up saying he needs to clean the table before we seat which was totally unnecessary as it was an outside table (not a cramped up table inside). He then proceeds to ask us if we were only going to drink or we’re going to drink & dine. This was again totally unnecessary as the previous occupants of this table had drunk 3 glasses of wine while the other table which became empty also only had drinks. When I told him drinks, he said he needs to check with his manager. At this point my family felt insulted enough and decided to walk away. I stayed behind to see what this person had to say. As expected he said we cannot seat you as you’re only going to be drinking (really? When most of the other patrons were doing the same). I could genuinely feel that this staff was looking down on us as if we couldn’t afford to drink and dine there. I was also getting another type of vibe (which starts with R) from this person. I told him that the way he treated us differently was not very nice in such a tourist place (I did want to tell him more but I’ve always been a shy person and have always avoided confrontation). The manager later came to apologies and said we can sit but by that time my family had already moved to a different restaurant. I refused and left with my head held high. To that rude staff there, don’t judge us just because we don’t look like your everyday customers. I will not let your attitude spoil my memory of Edinburgh and I hope that you will learn to be more polite and accepting of every type of person in future. Please, it is...

Initially, we received the wrong meal and no side, resulting in us not being able to eat together. We were only offered 50% off the late meal, which we felt did not rectify the situation, so we asked for the whole late meal to be reimbursed. To our surprise, the waitress (Rebecca) not only declined this, but also went on to patronise us telling us how little we know about the industry.

We politely asked the manger to support who also quickly became defensive and argumentative. At this point the waitress (Rebecca) and manger inappropriately stood over us having an argument about the situation in front of the other customers and suggested there was no problem at all (gaslighting), with sarcastic comments, smug smirks and snide remarks.

As this event escalated and became more and more disconcerting, we asked Rebecca to step away from the table as she was insistent on continuing to argue.

The manger proceeded to threaten to call the police if we didn’t pay for the service which at this moment we felt was not worth a penny and had left us feeling utterly worthless.

We left, £62 pounds down and a ruined date night later, with no sincere apology for arguing (only half of the late meal deducted).

We really love to eat out at good restaurants and we can both say we have never experienced anything of this nature in our lives - the service was abhorrent. As the customer, we felt belittled and had no power to defend our position. Our evening was ruined by the aggressive confrontation and we felt violated. We will never step foot in this establishment again and would recommend others also look for an alternative. If there was anything else we could do to make people aware of their attitude, we would because this does not justify how disgustingly undignified this was handled.

With customer service like this, good luck to their business in the future.

(Just checked their other reviews and all you need to do is see for yourself on the responses back to these - the company is just embarrassing and these people should not be working in...

Well....take the """"traditional""" out of the mix..,..my wife , son and I stoped here for lunch ...we had the arancini and bruschetta for starters....hhmm the aracini (1) was a good size filled with the rice, cheese in red sauce...but lacked the "traditional" peas and the traditional sauce...... . The bruschetta was nothing like i ever seen ...toasted bread with cherry size tomatoes and some green salad for looks....and thats what it really is 'looks'.....the lasagna was thin layers of pasta in meat sauce.....yes it was tasty...BUT not what nonna makes......Well..... Italian food that is very typical of a non traditional restaurant ...!and for the service....well they open at 12pm..we were the first ones in and last served...several customers ate and left before our food arrived.....35 min....after our starters ..late...total time spent in the restaurant from start to finish 1hr 25 min.🙄

All the same The only thing my wife enjoyed were the meatballs....

Just your average place to have some italian type lunch....and my son had the godfather drink that he loved....but who wouldn't when it comes to drinks🤗..

Ps..As you can see from the owner's reply....excuses do not make the restaurant or the food any more desirable.... As for my personal experience in "traditional" Italian cooking....40 years ....No disrespect...it is my opinion that i post.........which has nothing to do with the owner's personal thoughts as to his/her's assumptions and conclusions as to "why" my opinion did not favor a...