Rugantino — Restaurant in Wells

The food is a little over priced. Ordered calamari for starters and my partner said it was no different to the frozen stuff you get from supermarkets, there were about 7 small pieces and £9. Aside from this, the food was really lovely, I had a wonderful evening..

What I will say ruined my whole experience was the end, we requested the bill and an additional 'optional' £5 on top of the price for service charge was hand written on the bill... It felt very pressurising, but also slightly money grabbing from their part... normally customers choose to tip if they wish, it should not be expected.

Funnily enough, the bill was given by the owner himself, who instantly assumed I was paying the additional fee and started typing it into the card machine, which again, I thought was really unacceptable, he didn't even ask what option I would like to choose. When I said I didn't want to pay the additional optional fee, he amended the numbers, I paid and he just threw the receipt.

I will definitely not be returning to this place again. They over price things, don't even talk to you and expect you to pay extra for tips.. No, tips are customers choice, don't put pressure on them. For the customer service side...

Having had several good meals here, we found the post renovation visit rather awful. The starter, olives and bread, arrived after 30 long minutes. Our pasta arrived a further 30 minutes later. My penne was virtually uncooked and my companions only fractionally more edible. We spoke to the member of staff who assured us it was cooked properly. We had had the same meal here before and the difference was very noticeable. The food was taken away with assurance that it would be cooked again. I was offered and accepted a different type of pasta but my original meal returned after 15 minutes. Chewy was the only word I could find to describe it. We spoke to the staff again- the waiter remarked that my friend wanted her pasta overcooked- realised he had been rude and tried to cover his words- he said that all pasta was made freshly but then said that the packet told them to cook for 5 minutes and that they had boiled it for 10! Still uncooked and by this time, cold. A very memorable experience but for all the wrong reasons. No apologies for anything along the way and certainly no return visit from us. Did the renovations cost so much they needed to buy supermarket...

As a local, stopped off here for a sneaky wine. Greeted by grumpy young staff who said we could have a drink but we would have to sit at the side as they were setting up for the evening, fair enough. It was our table that was booked for the evening bringing friends from out of town. When we returned later the tables were set up with other tables folded up all around, it was like sitting in a gym hall between classes! No attempt had been made to make the place look presentable, it was very scruffy, no cleaning of the floor between sittings, despite the stunning view and location. Food was truly mediocre, young staff untrained and ignorant of the food/takeaway menu. Manger was very rude to his own staff in front of us and then we were grumpily asked to leave the table at 7.15 despite booking and being told that we could have the table until 7.30! It was very embarrassing and not cheap! What a great shame. I am afraid that Wells in general is a lovely place to visit, but is scruffy and lacks a decent place to eat! Note to self ... I would recommend for...