figidini — Restaurant in Providence

I was having a 5-star time at figidini, right up to when they applied a hefty charge for a little olive oil for my pizza without warning, and were rude to me for the rest of my stay, after I dared protest.

I had originally wanted to get take-out, but was told they were short-staffed and only dine-in would be possible. I decided to arrange to go there.

When I arrived, there were three two-tops, one person sitting at the bar, a host/manager, a bartender, and a calm-looking kitchen - a little odd for “too busy for takeout,” but ok.

I was welcomed an put in a cozy corner of the bar, so far so good. The bartender kindly told me there was vegan cashew cheese, but then told me they were out. Ok, no problem. Said was concerned the pizza would be slow since I was in a rush, but it came out very quickly. Great.

I asked for olive oil and red pepper for my pizza - I have lived in NYC for years and this is a fairly standard request. She asked me if I wanted my oil “grassy” or “peppery”, which I thought was unusual, but did not lead me to believe I was about to slather high grade olive oil on my pizza. She brought a small saucer with oil and a ramekin of pepper flakes, which I mixed, not realizing I was choking fancy oil. She at no point thought to mention to me this tiny bit of oil was special, and going to cost a sizeable percentage of the price of my pizza

I do not appreciate feeling misled or taken advantage of, and She never tried to educate me about what I was buying, despite her fairly slow, rainy weeknight. It seemed to me the bartender was just trying to improve her check average at my expense.

I enjoyed my pizza very much. Really, some of the best I’ve had recently, suitable for most gluten-intolerant people. I think only a card-carrying celiac would have a problem with it. Thin pizza, doughy crust, good flavor to the tomato, overall very well made. I had a pleasant chat with the host/manager about it. All was well.

When I got the check, I saw the charge, and it kind of soured my sense of enjoyment one should have after a $20+ pizza. It took me some time to get the bartender’s notice. She had been doing side work to leave, but now was chatting with the staff and then literally just standing there, so much so that the host/manager nearly intervened before she saw me.

I was as conciliatory and polite as I could be about my complaint. I explained never in my life had I been charged for oil for a pizza, and would have appreciated an opportunity to say, No thank you.

The bartender looked at me like I must be the hugest idiot she had possibly ever encountered. She pitched how special, expensive, imported their olive oil is, etc. I replied I appreciated the magic and value of the oil, but objected to having it explained after the fact, not before, I had clearly never been there before and could not have been expected to know, etc, etc.

This went on while, I remained polite, as her disdain for me became increasingly visible. If she had been apologetic or understanding, I might have let it go, but she had clearly decided working with the customer was not on her to-do list for me. I finally said plainly, I am very sorry, but I will not be paying for this charge.

She sighed loudly, grabbed my check roughly, huffed off to the register, huddled with the host/manager/owner?, came back, and slapped the check down in front of me in a manner I can safely say was the rudest I have ever witnessed at a full-service restaurant. And I have worked for years at full-service restaurants.

My next appointment had been cancelled, so I sat a few minutes, but now the bartender was banging around loudly behind the bar for my benefit, while fully ignoring me. I tipped 20%, despite everything, but the host/manager also deliberately ignored me when I said thank you as I left.

I read reviews of other brown-looking people feeling they were treated poorly here. Did the two blonds do it because this brown girl got uppity, or was it Equal Opportunity rudeness? I’ll never know. But it was an unfortunate encounter at an otherwise lovely...

Last night me and my boyfriend went out looking to grab food & drinks. We came across this restaurant and walked inside. There was no one to greet us when we walked in. We walked over to the bar, it was empty so we sat down. Ther we’re no signs for any type of reservation. Once we sat down there was a woman who walked over to us and asked if we had a reservation. No hi nothing just asked if we had one. I told her no we didn’t, she then began to tell us that their restaurant runs off reservation and we needed one and it was extremely busy. Mind you the bar was empty. She told us she would take down our number and call us if anything was available. As we’re leaving, i watched a white man walk in, get seated at the bar that we were just sitting at and order food. At this point I pull out my camera and take a picture of the establishment. While I’m doing this, there is another woman who comes out and says now all of a sudden they have seating and we can come sit down to eat. I told her no thank you. It’s 2022 and I want all my brown people to know that they shouldn’t spend their money here. I also want you folks to know that My family is great friends with the mayor of providence and I’ll be sure to let him know about you’re...

Strange vibe from the jump. We walked in, no reservation, and were told the only option was outdoor seating due to “reservations.” Totally fine—89 degrees and sweating into our silverware builds character, right? To be fair, we in fact did not have a reservation.

But here’s the weird part: while we were there, exactly three people walked in. There were two tables occupied when we left. So either the reservations were invisible, or they’re running a dinner theater where the cast never shows up.

We were handed one menu for the table, which was fine. However, one of the two aggressively uninterested servers announced she’d “get more menus off the reserved tables inside.” Again: empty tables. Either those menus were emotionally attached to their seats or we interrupted a sacred paper ritual.

Now let’s be fair—the food was great. Props to the kitchen for saving this experience from total disaster. But as for the service? I’d rather have Domino’s delivered late and lukewarm, as long as the driver smiles and doesn’t act like I insulted their ancestors by showing up.

Final verdict: come here if you enjoy dining with a side of passive aggression and ghost reservations. Otherwise, your local pizza chain might...