Lillian's Italian Kitchen — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

When you go with your friends or family and decide to eat at an Italian restaurant do not consider this restaurant as your choice. Their customer service is completely a three-legged F+++ . Let me explain to you what the scenario was which makes me put a one-star rating on this restaurant I am a professional businessman which travels throughout the North America continent I go to many restaurants. I was told buy some local. This restaurant had a great rating in Italian food although Italian food is one of my favorites I decided to give them a try after reviewing their website and looking over their menu I went ahead and decided to give them a try. I went and seen that walk-ins were welcomed but also seen that I could make a reservation I look at the reservation times for 8 and I said there was sufficient seating so therefore I called to make the reservation on the internet it indicated that there was a 7:30 reservation available and when I called they indicated that there was not a 7:30 available but at 9 although it was a longer time than I expected I booked the 9 reservation my girlfriend which was traveling with me went on the internet and book an 8:30 reservation as a common courtesy I called the restaurant and spoke to a gentleman that was very rude and lacked customer service skills and indicated to him to cancel my 9 reservation as my girlfriend book and 8:30 reservation he indicated to me that he would cancel the 9 and put it down for 8:30 when I arrived to the restaurant at 7:45 and checked in I indicated that I had an 8:30 and they had no records of an 8:30 but I had a confirmation sent to my email that I had in 8:30 and not a 9 on their computer screen it showed that I had a 9 reservation and I was given a buzzer I indicated to the representative that the gentleman on the phone was extremely rude. Then I was told that I had to wait till 9 to be seated this is completely unacceptable when I had an 8:30 reservation. What I believe that happened honest as Crystal as water is that the gentleman when I called in cancel the 8:30 and kept my 9 reservation. I left disgusted with the service and I told them that I would contact the better business bureau and that I would actually put a negative rating on Yelp others in the restaurant were discussed it as well and they followed and walked out behind me again if you're going to consider to eat at an Italian restaurant make sure that they provide you nothing but the top notch service that you deserve especially with the high-tech get pricing that this restaurant has on their menu I will never come to this place and I will make sure that all of my friends and others do not go I might just even go as far as paying for a newspaper ad to let them know of my experience because at the end of the day people should know that is all about customer service and that's how today's small businesses prosper if you don't have customer service you should not engage in any type of business that involves families or the community thank you for reading my post and if you have any questions whatsoever please free or free to respond...

We drove 3 hours to eat at this restaurant to celebrate my best friends birthday. I heard amazing comments about this restaurant everywhere and I thought I chose the best spot to end the night. I had made a reservation a month early so it was highly anticipated. We ended up arriving an hour and a half early and let the hostess know we were here earlier than expected, I gave her my name and let her know my party was of 3 instead of 5 at 7:30 PM and she said “at the moment all tables are full and reserved so you may have to wait close to your time” and we were okay with that. She said they call us up when the time comes. So we sat down in the waiting area right next to them. And many reservations came by and everyone was called up and which were most parties of 4 and up. We heard two being called up for a party of 3 but with different names who were sitting close by. It came by to 7:30 and still waited. I went up to them and ask for the waiting status and she says “we called you through the phone and you did not answer it so you were put as a no show, but I will go ahead and put you back on the waitlist” We were sitting right next to them the whole time what kind of excuse is that. Supposedly she had called our name out loud, never did we once hear her. The hostess knew we were there and she kept looking at us from time to time. Are not you suppose to acknowledge your customers especially if you see them sitting down for almost 2 hours. We told her they should be acknowledging the customers as they come in and make sure everyone is being attended. And all of a sudden one of the hostess calls out a reservation but this time around she comes up to the people standing to tell them their table is ready instead of calling out from where they are standing as they were doing before. Why could they not do that in the first place. I understand as a restaurant you get really busy but your customers should always be your number 1 priority especially acknowledging your customers as they come in just to make sure everyone is being properly attended. We did not even receive a proper apology all they said was a free appetizer was on the house. A free appetizer does not justify what had just occurred. The service on the floor was fast and food came out faster than expected. The food was exceptional, but the customer service in the beginning just ruined...

I'm sure they have good food, their reviews clearly indicate that, but I suppose I will never know about that.

This is quite easily the worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant. We arrived and requested a table for two. We were informed that it would be a 30 minute wait for a table. This was totally fine with us, we went to the bar and ordered a glass of wine. In less than 10 minutes they buzzed use for our table. I asked the bartender if he could transfer our tab to the table and he responded that "I'd really rather you settle up here."

I sent my wife to the host stand while I settled the bar tab. Much to my surprise, my wife was behind me as I settled the tab. When we asked the host why we were being seated at the bar, we were informed that the dining room was for reservations only. We would be welcome to wait for a very long time for the dining room or we could just sit where we were. I was then asked by the host "Why did you settle the bar tab when it could have been transferred to the table?" We looked at the menu for a brief moment and decided that we didn't want to eat here (Because of the treatment, the food looked good)

Our bartender stopped by and started with "Fancy seeing you again!". We asked him to speak to a manager at which point he walked away. We had to ask for a manager from another person that worked at the restaurant. When the manager arrived he immediately began talking over my wife as she was telling him how we had been treated.

He then collected our menus and smacked the table as he said "I hope you enjoyed your meal and we look forward to seeing you again." As we walked out the door, I informed the waiting public of how we were treated (I know it sounds like I was making a scene, but I was very calm and well tempered while I talked to the patrons). The manager that refused to listen to our issue then came up behind me and physically pushed me out of the restaurant.

Afterwards, I discovered that the manager that I spoke with was Matt Monero. He is the son of the owner and runs the front of the house. I called to speak with Joe Monero (Matt's father). After a brief conversation, Joe asked me to "get to the point, because I have other customers waiting on...