Zani's Restaurant & Cafe — Restaurant in Wheaton

Worst restaurant experience I've had in at least five to ten years. DON'T order pickup through grub hub here. The woman who brought the food out of the back placed the food on the counter, said 'grub hub' and turned to walk away. I, truly appreciating anyone and everyone else in the service industry, told her, "thank you very much" as sweetly as humanly possible.

She then turned and questioned whether I worked for grubhub. I replied, no I just ordered from the app. She took back the food, claimed "you can't do that! That's not how it works. You can only order delivery. The grub hub person has to come pick it up." She proceeded to shame and scold me for 10 more minutes, insisted I show her my phone and prove I had ordered grub hub, kept telling me "THAT'S HOW GRUB HUB GETS MONEY. DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?" I told her I did not understand and I repeatedly tried to explain that anyone can choose either pick-up or delivery on the GrubHub app, but she didn't want to hear that. I needed to bring dinner home to the family so I was at her mercy until she was willing to give me the food that I'd already paid for.

She treated me the way no one should treat anyone. I really hope this is not the way the staff always acts there, but I've also experienced the man who works there being super oddly hostile, as well. This time he just stood and watched the woman accost me.

I continued being kind to her and tried to determine what was the matter or what she felt I had done wrong. I apologized repeatedly and asked her to explain why she was upset. I asked her if they employed their own drivers and wanted deliveries so that the driver would be tipped. She said no, and said that the grub hub drivers need to be paid. I asked if she preferred that I place pickup orders by phone rather than on an app, again she said that's not the point.

I'm truly left with no other explanation than this restaurant really just hates it when people order carryout. I have no idea why they even offer it. I won't go or order hear again ever, and I wouldn't even if it were free, even if they paid me to.

If you read this, lady, first of all, shame on you, and treat people better. Second of all, if there is something truly wrong that happened to you that causes you to treat people like that, you need to seek out help. I can't imagine living life like that, and I promise you...

Please beware of ordering ahead here. I placed a catering order a month in advance and placed an over $200 deposit. The owner asked me to REMIND her a week in advance was already questionable but when I got there, my food was not ready. She said it would be ready in five minutes and I waited an hour after the agreed upon time and it still wasn’t ready. I asked for my deposit back onto my card and she said she didn’t know how to do that. I ended up leaving and had to rush to get food from somewhere else as this was for a big event (which is why I ordered the food a month in advance). Do not order food from here as they’re extremely disorganized and will NOT have it...

I had experienced some pretty bad service here in the past, but decided to give it another chance. The food portion is literally a third of what it used to be - the injera was stale and the food tasted like it was reheated in a microwave. To top it off, I realized the server had brought us the wrong dish, and then charged us for a more expensive one (the one I had actually ordered). The portion size was pathetic and the food was gross. Regret giving them another chance. CherCher and Lucy in Bethesda are much better options, and actually have paying customers dining when you’re there. There is a reason this place is...