Prezzemolo & Vitale — Restaurant in London

I work nearby here and wanting something I hadn’t tried before while at the office I thought I’d get my lunch at Prezzemolo e Vitale. My partner is Sicilian and we are familiar with the stores from Palermo. I thought it be nice to experience a bit of premium Sicilian food and hospitality.  I looked online in advance and the paninos looked inviting so I went to the store – on arriving I saw they had a new loyalty card you can sign up for and they were encouraging people to do so by offering a free own brand cold drink with any panino. I selected a ‘Firenze’ panino which I got toasted – I will note when I entered the woman manning the deli counter did say hello and acknowledged me, but this will be where any positives with service end. Once toasted and handed to me, I collected a tasty looking Mandarinata with a touch of lime and went to the till. Having scanned the QR code for the loyalty scheme which is on posters all over the store and on till, I knew from actually reading the website it took me to, that I had sign up at the till. Despite the staff having themselves put posters up all over the store about this loyalty scheme, the woman on the till had no idea about it – she told me I had to sign up online. I pointed out to her the website told me to sign up at the till. She asked a colleague in the same uniform – she had no idea either. She went away and asked someone in the storeroom and came back saying “It was for existing members only” which made absolutely no sense. Why would you have posters all over your store encouraging people to sign-up and a sign-up offer of a free drink with any panino to help?? This had now become an ordeal. I just wanted a sandwich, and now I was being made to feel I was being made to beg for a free drink, that they were meant to be offering. Eventually the man from the storeroom came over and decided to give me the drink for free but I was by this point quite pent-up and irate and made it known the ridiculousness of this situation at which point another man came over with a ponytail and different uniform  - I presume he was a manager/supervisor and processed my purchase on the till with drink given complimentarily. He like the others protested that this had apparently been dropped on them and he had no idea about this loyalty scheme and I seemed to putting them all out by requesting to join it and take advantage of its benefits. He eventually did concede after much arguing that maybe the posters for the loyalty scheme shouldn't be up if customers couldn't take advantage of it, another service failure in even attempting to argue with a customer with a valid point. Very clear staff hate their jobs here, and cannot be bothered to do anything but the basics. As for the loyalty scheme, If anything my frustrating and unsuccessful attempt to join it achieved the opposite of loyalty, in that I will unlikely ever be back again. Especially after all this, the food it was not anymore charming - my panino was sincerely underwhelming, scant filling with hardly any finocchiona salami, ruined by a sincerely unpleasant and cheap tasting olive tapenade, all in focaccia that looked way better than it tasted. The saving grace was the drink, but it was not worth what I had to fight to get it. If you love expensive charmless food, served to you with charmless miserable service designed to ruin your mood on your lunchbreak this is the place for you! Otherwise, like me I suspect you will want to go...

I came in to get my ingredients for my lamb mince pasta dish, didn't get that much really a thew things in the basket, went in for the chocolate cake when I was going to pay, looked tasty, the thew bits I had came to £39, when to pay and was told, now drum roll, we do t take (CASH) what? What do you mean you don't take take, Alberto the women who was serving was very ignorent started ignoring me and serving other customers, I told her how cash is legal tender and I dont have a bank bank card at the moment, just cash thevqeens money soon to be the King's money, very ignorent started going on about in itlay there's a lot of black money, excuse with all due respect were not in Italy and in Italy, look ill go and get the correct change from somewere store shopping and I'll come back and pay with the correct change, No they wouldn't do that, NO CASH, This type of behaviour from any retail store is discrimination agenst people that only have cash on them, its also deviding and separating people like me from other people that is wrong as people like me are not welcome, it's OK for rich people who do t need to carry cash and have no problem getting a 100 credit cards and and have loads of bank cards in there perse, what ever doesn't matter why you don't have a bank card, cash is legal tender and you treating people like me differently and it is discrimination to have such policy to refuse me my shopping because I don't have a bank card, you should be ashamed of yourself for this behaviour, and when we get a new government and they change the law on this, we're younwill have no choice but to take cash I will not cone back to owners like you, this sort of thing will end once it goes through parliament, I spent all my time coming to your shop and you refused to serve me because I was paying witgnLEGAL TENDER our queen and Kings money, you should have a bit more respect in the country that gave you a visa and rights to import goods to sell to the locals, I feel disgusted with ypur policy it's bang out of order

The shopping was over priced and expensive, I wasn't complaining just wanted to pay for my shopping and get out of there, I went to bourgh market for some of my bits there but could get everything I wanted but i saved half the money and three different places to my CASH with no issues, I will post this on your socal page for this, it's discrimination and...

Hello I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to express my disappointment regarding my recent visit to your deli/coffee shop on Saturday noon.

While I appreciate the cozy atmosphere and the hard work of your staff, I encountered a situation that I believe needs your immediate attention. As I queued for coffee, I noticed a lovely lady and a gentleman at the bar efficiently preparing orders for customers in a polite manner, which was commendable.

However, the experience took a turn when a woman, seemingly part of the management but not in uniform, started shouting loudly throughout the store to ask if anyone wanted coffee. The music was already unusually loud, making her shouting feel even more overwhelming. This behavior created an uncomfortable atmosphere, reminiscent of a chaotic street market rather than a pleasant café.

What was particularly concerning was her rudeness towards her staff. Instead of supporting them, she made derogatory remarks and facial expressions that were inappropriate and unprofessional. This not only affected the morale of the staff but also made customers like myself feel uneasy.

I felt compelled to address her behavior directly, suggesting that she should act more politely and maintain a calm demeanor in front of customers. It was disheartening to witness such treatment of the staff, who I believe are doing their best in a challenging environment.

If this is a common occurrence, I urge you to reconsider the management approach in your establishment. The staff deserves to work in a supportive environment, and customers deserve a pleasant experience. If changes are not made, I fear that you may lose loyal patrons.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns. I hope to see improvements...