Al Santo — Restaurant in London

This is the worst experience that I have had in a restaurant. Very poor quality of service, bad attitude and no respect towards customers. We will not be going back to Al Santo and advise others to stay away.

Context:

We asked for a bottle of wine that was listed on the wine menu with the year of 2015 and was £38. We were then given a bottle which had the year of 2018 instead of 2015, without the waiter communicating to us that this was the case. When we checked with the waiter whether we had been given the correct bottle, we were then told by the manager that they did not have what we requested and that the wine menu was not accurate. Instead, we were then offered another bottle as an alternative, which we accepted.

When we received the bill, we were shocked to find that the bottle that we had been given was £75, almost double the price of the original £38 bottle that we had asked for. We then raised this concern with the waiter - they then fetched the manager. The manager then claimed that they had shown us the bottle and assumed that we had understood what we had selected. However, the price of this bottle was not communicated to us at the time of selecting it and there was no way of us knowing what this price was as we were told that the wine menu was not accurate. It was clear that the manager did not want to take responsibility for their own miscommunication and apologise for their mistake. Had we known what the price of this bottle was upon selecting it, we would not have complained.

A waiter then offered a shot of Limoncello as compensation for this issue, which was incredibly insulting and disrespectful as it implied that the issue could be solved with alcohol.

We will not be going back to Al Santo and advise others...

Al Santo is a hidden gem that deserves every bit of praise it receives. My dining experience here was nothing short of outstanding. Greek and Italian is something you don’t see often, but definitely should!!!

Absolutely impeccable staff service, felt welcome during an incredibly busy time (Friday night). Despite appearing to be a small family ran business, they definitely didn’t let a lot of customers lessen the service that they gave! We were served our meals by Sofia who explained the menu and the specials well and helped me to chose my dish (mushroom tagliatelle) which was delicious.

The food was outstanding. The greek dishes were incredible and tasted incredibly authentic, and the pasta was clearly freshly made and was exceptional too.

A great selection of wines and cocktails. Our cocktails were made by Paolo and I would love to also give a special shoutout to him for a great job of recommending an amaretto sour, which was exceptional.

At the end of our evening we were approached by the manager, Oreste, who took time out of an incredibly busy night to thank us for our service. Everybody who worked here was incredibly friendly, something I found to be quite hard to find in a lot of places in London.

Contrary to some other reviews, I believe the prices were more than fair. Fresh pasta, excellent customer service, attention for details all in a small, independent business in London. Hard to beat for the price!

Would give 6 stars if possible and a 110% recommendation if you’re looking for somewhere to eat fresh...

Used to love this restaurant but the last time I went the service was awful. Our mains (we always order the same ones) were terrible. When the waiter asked how the food was I was honest and explained how regularly we come and how i was pretty disappointed with the food. Instead of apologising or offering something he began to argue with me! He asked me what did i expect when it was busy with the football fans in and that the food would not be as good as usual, his attitude was horrible. Then the manager came over whilst the chefs and other staff stared at our table again not apologising but grilling me on what was wrong with the dish in a very argumentative tone. They left my main on the bill despite spending over £100 on a bill for two people and offered a shot of limencello for free (which they always offer us anyway when we have been before) to which i politely declined. A very simple apology and perhaps offering to change the dish or take it off the bill would of been great but instead I left upset, uncomfortable and never ever wanting to step foot in that place again, nevertheless I didnt argue the bill as i was made so uncomfortable by the staff (and i found it awful that they left the service charge on despite knowing I was incredibly unhappy with it). The worst customer service ive ever experienced and I have told my friends that I used to go with...