Café Roma — Restaurant in San Luis Obispo

We had a disappointing experience this evening with Café Roma.

My wife reserved a table for three and specified that it was my birthday. We got a very nice table, and only had to wait a few minutes after our reservation time.

Unfortunately, our server was inattentive. Partially because she was dealing with a table of 15 people, but not entirely.

We all ordered cocktails. I was very specific about mine, but it did not come as ordered. She never checked, and ultimately we were able to flag down the host, who was able to correct the order.

We had salads that were very good. There was one odd thing. When she brought the salads, we asked if they had fresh ground pepper. She pointed to the pepper on the table. What was odd is that the table behind us got salads and the server came by with the traditional large pepper grinder and offered them fresh ground pepper.

We each ordered an entrée. I ordered the special, which was very good. My wife ordered the pasta with clams, which came out inedibly salty. The server did not check in on us for about 15 minutes. By then, my son and I were done with our meal. When she came over, she asked whether everything was good, and when my wife indicated that the pasta with clams was too salty, she had a snarky comment about it. She then also mentioned something about the cocktail I had ordered, as if this was evidence that we were serial complainers.

She took away the overly salty dish. She did ask whether my wife would like something else, but given that we had already completed our meals by the time she checked in on us, that did not make sense.

Next, she came back with the check. There was no offer of dessert. We didn’t really expect anything, but having mentioned that it was an actual birthday, we thought there might be some nod in that direction. Either way, it was surprising that rather than even offering dessert, she just brought the check as if to hustle us out. There was a long line for tables as apparently the local university was having an event that day.

We have had good experiences at this restaurant before. So I think this was an off night and mostly due...

Dinner was good and flavorful, but the service was not at all up to par. Our waiter was rushed and seemed overwhelmed, and if we needed anything extra (or if he had forgotten something--which he did more than once) it seemed like it annoyed the waiter when we told him so. We had made reservations a week prior and were really looking forward to this family dinner, so to have to wait for lemons while food got cold or to wait for wine while our drink glasses sat empty was unpleasant. We got our food well before our wine, and would have liked to order a second bottle but never had time. Then to have to ask the empty glasses to be removed, just to have the staff make a joke about us having prior restaurant service experience and how waiters are prideful. Frankly, I was extremely shocked at the rudeness. It has nothing to do with previous experience--it's a matter of good service. The restaurant was busy, but not slammed. The restaurant was well staffed, and we watched other tables get served first and attended to quickly, while our waiter disappeared for large spans of time. We even tried to get the attention of other staff, but they were always looking down or at tables--not at guests. The food was good and tender and flavorful, but the service brought my rating way way down, and I won't go back there nor recommend it to friends. This is the third time I've eaten here, and I grew up here, and I'm not sure what happened since my last visit, but this was...

We’ve eaten here several times over the last few years (including 2 company holiday parties), but tonight was our last time. My wife is an Italian from Long Island, and has taught me a couple things about food, 1st of which is that the best item should be the dessert because it’s the last and most remembered item from a meal. At our last holiday party we had the cannoli, and it was so dry, I thought it was week-old from the local Von’s. When our friends wanted to celebrate a birthday tonight at Cafe Roma, we were hesitant, but agreed. The meal took 1-1/2+ hours to get to our table. The food was good (maybe “acceptable” would be better), except the 1 salmon dish that turned out to be VERY UNDER-cooked (sushi?). By the time it was replaced with a properly cook filet, the rest of us had long since finished, and our friend, who was queasy from 2 bites of raw fish, couldn’t finish the dish now. When she asked for her bill to be adjusted the OWNER of the restaurant copped an attitude we never would have expected from any reputable establishment. He said things like, “Our salmon is fresh enough to be sushi, so you shouldn’t be worried” (about getting sick). I could quote more, but suffice it to say his lack of basic customer service and respect was abhorrent, and WE will NEVER step inside this...