Mondello Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Seattle

Now I don't claim to be an expert on Italian food exactly... But I have spent many months in Rome with my wife who is very particular about her food. My wife and I both cook routinely for guests. I heard about this restaurant from locals...most of them said it was pretty good. I went for lunch and wasn't particularly hungry as it was a hot day. I went with a co-worker. It took several minutes to get any attention at our table...they had just opened for the day. I had a frittata which could have been made by my 15 year old son it was not seasoned properly snd lacked fresh basil which I requested. I ordered a diet soda to try to wash the swill down but instead was given a glass of $10 Chianti. This is the good part.... my work associate and I both gave the co-owner woman our credit cards and asked to have the bill split in half when she returned she told me one of the cards had declined which was surprising as my debit card had plenty of money in the account. My coworker graciously paid the entire bill. In examining the bill he paid they did not remove the Chianti even after I told them I wasn't going to drink it and I had ordered a diet soda. Jusy a day or two ag0o I read my recent bank statement...she charged both of us $81 instead of splitting the bill in half neither card was declined as it turns out. She received 182 dollars for a sad meal. I approached the co-owner following my discovery of the charges to see if she wanted to settle it with cash so I wouldn't have to turn it into Visa. She was suddenly stricken with a language barrier and just shrugged repeatedly with an extremely sour look on her face. Now I don't have a pet but if I did have one I wouldn't let him eat there. It is a complete mystery as to how this place has so many 4 and 5 Star reviews. The kitchen is filthy as is the apron worn by our server, the floor, the bathroom and I expect probably the surfaces the food is prepared on. I was relating the story to friend who lives in Magnolia and she chuckled and said oh my God I have been overcharged by that same...

I hate to be so critical of a small business as we're avid supporters of many locally, but I'm hopeful this feedback is heard so they can improve and do more business. We need better food in the village!

Anyway, this place is so consistently disappointing. The gnocchi is so dense / firm, seafood is sparse in portion size ($16 for maybe 10 clams and next to no broth which to be honest is what we all come for with vongole!) and left a bad taste in my mouth (I'm concerned about freshness and how I'll fare later), kid pasta was sparse too - $10 for maybe 20 strands of spaghetti with butter, the pastas are so old school - they feel thick and heavy and plain in comparison to all the beautiful, more delicate pastas currently in favor in Seattle. The wine is regularly oxidized from having too many bottles open without selling them fast enough. The oil presented with the bread is no where near fresh extra virgin, it's so tasteless except the black pepper (??) in it. Not even salt.

Just had: 1 extremely small clam/vongole appetizer, 1 extremely small kid pasta, 1 gnocchi entree, and 2 truly horrible glasses of wine for $90 before tip.

Service is also really bad. Within a minute of sitting down while still holding/reading our menus, we're asked if we're ready to order. The waiter last time scoffed when we asked to pay for a side of mozzarella, and scoffed again when we asked for a second order for our (at the time) very picky toddler that seemed unwilling to eat anything else that night. Tonight we asked if a bottle could be put in the fridge for our baby and were told there wasn't any room. We always feel rushed and like a nuisance when we come here. So we're not...

I ate there today. I have always wanted to try it. First of all, there was a woman there who seated me she was cold , she didn’t smile. My impression was that I was bothering her. She told me I could sit anywhere but when I chose a table, she asked if I wanted to move?? I said, I was fine but then I thought, maybe she wanted me to move, so I asked her if she would rather I moved?? Anyway, I had the spinach salad and it was good. Not $12.00 good. For my main dish I ordered the shrimp fettuccini. I ate the three shrimp that hadn’t be deveined. I did it myself after it was cooked!! And had three bites of the pasta. The dish cost $29.00 and it had only three shrimp in it. They were fairly large but a bowl of pasta costing $29 dollars with three shrimp is way too much money! Especially because the pasta was horrible!!! They were using a noodle that my mom used to use in her turkey soup. Great in the soup! Not great, used for a pasta dish. If everything is right, the atmosphere is good The staff are really on it!!! I am willing to pay top dollar. When everything falls short. I am disappointed. I usually take out a box of leftovers. I left the whole pasta dish behind. I will say, the food came out in a reasonable amount of time and they didn’t make me wait to pay. I’d definitely recommend the salad! It was really good! If I went there again, I’d probably order take out and would try a’ different main dish. If I were them, I’d get someone to work in the dining room that had a wonderful personality. That would make people feel a bit more welcomed & comfortable. It’s hard to give a service review because, part of the...