BOTTEGA Fiorentina — Restaurant in Brookline

DO NOT COME TO THIS PLACE. (See below my first review and this was the Restaurant answer to my request:

Hi Alina,

Thank you for following up over email. I know the experience wasn’t what you were expecting but unfortunately we cannot offer a refund. But I would take this feedback get correct errors.

I know you were expecting a hot panini

Alina Ortíz wrote:

Good afternoon BF,

Thank you for replying to my Google review. We would appreciate if we can get a full refund of our order. Please see attached the transaction amount. My debit card ends in **

Original message:

To start my review, let me mention that this place is overpriced in general. We paid almost $50 for two small sandwiches and two drinks (water and iced tea) (including $5.00 tip). We went there on Sunday, March 31st, we ordered a roast beef panini and a Polpette sandwich. When I ordered the roast beef, the person in the front had no idea if they had roast beef available, he had to double check with the guy that was prepping the food. The panini came first, which made no sense because if there's two people on the table, you would wait to bring both meals at the same time. The panini was served cold which was a surprised to me because paninis are usually served hot. If they are served cold in this place, they should at least ask if the customer wants it toasted. When they toasted the panini, they called us and we had to get up to get the sandwich and minutes after, we saw the guy in the line bringing the meals to another table. Unprofessional and rude! Also, they put napkins on top of the sandwich which to me, is not a clean practice. The napkins go on the side of the meal or they are placed on the tables so that customers can grab them. The polpette sandwich was ok, the sauce and meatballs were ok. The customer service in this place needs to improve, the two guys in the front seemed to be bored and tired of people. They don't even greet or say thank you to the customer at the end. We didn't eve finished our meal because we got so disappointed that we ended up putting our meal to go. I would prefer 100 times to go to Dino's cafe at The North End and eat delicious sandwiches that will be much bigger, better quality and service for about the same price. I wouldn't recommend this...

I’ve been coming here on and off for the past 5+ years. Honestly. I like their price and how they cook their food. However, the quality and the freshness of the food they serve to you vary A LOT, depending on who is giving the food to you that day. The best food I got served here was when the owner was present in the store. I was given the freshest soft bread that day compared to all the other dates I visited here. The Noodles were just melting in my mouth. That was a special day.

I very often think about this thing with any restaurant. Am I getting discriminated or is it all in my head? Or am I the one who is discriminating? I would really like to know myself too. To really be fair to myself and the restaurant, I should give the same restaurant a visit at least 10 times. And, write down any difference in each visit. Then I would know, who really is at fault. Is it possible that the same worker just had a bad day every day that I visited? Or was my attitude off when I ordered food? Did I come to the store with a wrong attire? Was I being not easy and not clear when ordering a food and perhaps that made the receptionist not happy. All that stuff, I have to think about. Was it me? Or the store? I wish there was a machine that can say who’s at fault. If the machine says that it was me, I can work on how I think. If the machine says it was the store, they can fix theirs. How helpful would that...

How often are the prices, service, and quality all worth 5 stars? I would say never.

Unless you are at Bottega Fiorentina!

I can usually find something to complain about, but I can't find anything here.

Service- You can sit in or get take out. Either way, it comes out in under 4 minutes (today, my food came out by the time I had paid, poured myself a cup of water, and sat down). It is also piping hot. The manager was there one of the last times I came, and I had trouble deciding what to get so he gave me suggestions.

Food- I've had their Penne Michaelangelo (penne, chunky tomato sauce, balls of mozzarella, and basil) and their famous sauce on penne, the Fedora sauce (cream, tomato sauce, rosemary, red pepper flakes). Each was under $7 and more than I could finish (today I finished mine, but I was stuffed full). They are fresh, delicious, never over cooked or lacking in seasoning.

The atmosphere is nice, sort of pain jane with some window seating and a big wooden picnic table in the middle. They also sell bread, baked goods, salads/pastas in a refrigerated case, and italian products (pasta, beans, canned tomatoes).

The staff is friendly and quick.

For the love of god, please go and have yourself some delicious local...