Matteo Trattoria & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

My friends and I had a terrible dining experience here in December 2023. We knew we were going to be a large group, 14 in total, so we called ahead to make a reservation. When we arrived we were informed that no one had been keeping track of how many reservations they had made so all of the tables were occupied. We were asked to wait over by the bar for space to become available. We waited about 50 minutes before a table was ready, but this table was only large enough for 6 of us. They made the other half of us continue waiting for the table next to it to become available despite there being other tables they could have sat them at. After an hour and a half of waiting that other table finally became available. One of our party members asked if they would be honoring their happy hour menu (because it was in the menu they gave him) since we would have been able to order from it if they had sat us at our reserved time. After 10-15 minutes of asking, the waiter informed us that there wasn’t a manager working to make a decision like that, but that the head chef had said we could have 2 appetizers and 3 pizzas at the happy hour price between the 14 of us, or some nonsense like that. After being there for about 2.5 hours the food finally arrived. It was fine, but not worth the wait and the pizzas we received were noticeably smaller and of a poorer quality than those we had seen other guest eating. The final issue we had was that the only person who knew how to apply the Offline discount (a subscription app for discounts at restaurants) was the manager, who wasn’t here… the discount was the only reason we had come to the restaurant and the only reason we had stayed. After another 10-15 minutes of discussion with the chef, the waitress finally decided to simply credit our checks for the amount. This was the closest we ever came to an apology or an attempt to compensate us for...

Second time here — beautiful evening to sit outside and eat. First visit had wonderful salmon entrée, the sides were cooked perfectly. Decided to try the pizza last night. Service was pretty slow but we hung in there and when our pizza finally came 30 minutes after our appetizer, it looked pretty amazing. The edges of the crust looked and felt crispy — so we dug in. The rest of the crust was soaked and soggy — the only way to eat it was to roll it up like a soft taco. And because we were hungry we went ahead and ate it/picked at it because we certainly weren’t going to send it back and wait another 30 minutes to eat. After about 10 minutes our server finally came by to check on us and when we told him about the crust he said, “oh, okay.” and walked right back into the restaurant. We weren’t complaining, we weren’t asking for free food — at that point our intent for telling him was so that someone could be aware that they are not cooking the pizzas right and they are dripping wet on the bottom (I have a video of it flopping around and waving like a flag but we can’t upload video). But we watched him walk inside, tell no one, just stopped at his other tables. We didn’t want to request that the item be removed from our bill, we did eat most of it because at that point we were an hour in and hungry — but he didn’t care that our pizza was limp as a pancake, no apology, he seemed annoyed like he was taking it personally, and he didn’t send over a manager — there was just no acknowledgment that we paid $22 for a soaking wet tiny pizza. So I’d say they are hit or miss on service and quality — my tip is eat inside not outside, order pasta or an entrée, and steer clear of the pizza until they get a...

Other reviews mentally prepared me for service being slow but my g-d...A group of 6 of us went on Monday (half price menu except for drinks and desserts). It wasn't crowded. The waitress explained that on half-price night, they ask patrons to order everything at once 'so the kitchen can maintain the flow". That made sense. We ordered everything to include 5 appetizers and bread since they do not provide complimentary bread and oil. Now we wait. And wait. And wait. Tables beside us who came in after us got their appetizers. Some of my friends also worked in restaurants said clearly our waitress forgot to put our orders in. And wait. One of my friends who was NOT mentally prepared for this said "Im HANGRY! I'm about to walk into the kitchen and start throwing elbows while I eat whatever is on the line." And wait. Over an hour later, our entrees come out. At this point, I cancelled my salad because I DID want that before my entree. Everyone was ravenous and loved their meals. THe gnocci in vodka sauce was a hit and my carbonara with pancetta was quite good too. But where is the rest of the food? And the bread that we ordered? We are left with yummy sauce on our plates and no bread. The appetizers never came and our server was MIA so as we were getting ready to leave, we walked up to the manager and had all the appetizers taken off the bill while asking for the check. If you're going to leave hungry guests waiting that long, the least you can do is give them bread to gnosh on. The food was good (at least that which made it to our table) so for that reason, I'd be willing to eat here again but I can't do it unless I have a solid 2...