LoveItaly

Hello everyone. As some of you know my daughter and my SIL are in Rome. My SIL was born and raised in Rome. They are now in Rome as the father of my SIL is on his death bed and his his mother is in another hospital.

I mention this because my SIL is not a tourist in Rome. But they asked me to tell all of you of a new scam in restaurants in Rome.

The aunt of my SIL gave him euro. She asked that he take he and his wife (my daughter) out to dinner as she knew all the stess they have been under since they arrived in Rome.

So, my SIL took my daugher to a restaurant that he often went to in Rome. This restaurant has a new owner. But my kids saw the former owner of the restaurant when they were getting out of their car and received a big hug from her. And she explained she had sold the restaurant but the new owner was "wonderful". So they went into the restaurant as they were starving as they had not eaten all day due to the family medical problems in Rome.

My daughter ordered lasagne. My SIL ordered a mixed plate of meat. The new owner came out and talked to my SIL and asked "would you like to have this meat and that meat" etc. Very "friendly fellow". My SIL was tired, hungry and stessed, so everthing sounded good.

The dinner was not so good but the shocker was when the bill arrived the price was 80 euro instead of 30 euro for my SIL dish!! My SIL talked to the owner and tried to discuss the difference in the menu price versus the price on the bill he received.

The owner of the restaurant said "well I asked if you wanted special meats so that is what you owe me". My SIL said "wait a minute, your menu said a variety of meats, you came out and suggested this meat and that meat and you never said it would cost more". Long story short, the kids paid the bill. But they were so upset ( their life is a turmoil anyway due to all the problems in Rome with SIL parents). They paid because they just couldn't handle more stress that night.

To everyone , my SIL, who is a native of Rome asked that I post his experience on this board as he figures if he, a native of Italy, got taken to the cleaners in this manner who can only imagine what can happen to tourist. So I am posting this story so anyone going to Italy will be aware of what can happen if someone in the restaurant starts making "wonderful" suggestions.

SeaUrchin

Sorry about all of your family problems and this kind of sham just makes it worse. Please tell them that their warning is appreciated. How do you feel about telling us the name of that restaurant?

daph

My husband was at IHOP recently and asked to substitute Canadian bacon for the regular bacon that came with an omelette or something. He didn't ask if it would cost more. He ended up paying about $5 extra and getting a lot more bacon that he wanted. You've got to ask the price of everything, even bottled water [according to another of today's posts]. What really annoys me is a manu which does not price its drinks.

LoveItaly

Hi SeaUrchin, I don't have the name of the restaurant, my daughter calls me about midnight (9:00am in Italy) and I know for sure that the restaurant is not in the historical center of Rome or probably not where an tourist would go. We have so much to talk about that I haven't asked her the name of the restaurant.

But her husband just wanted me to post this warning as he felt if he, a native of Rome, got taken with what he considered a scam that tourist sure could. He was very upset and mad about this. And normally he is a very easy going fellow.

TRSW

LoveItaly - So sorry to hear your SIL has to go through this at such a stressful time in his life.

Thank you so much for alerting us to this scam.

Hope you and your family are holding up well. Best wishes.

Tom

elaine

This doesn't just happen to tourists.
Twice in my life (I'm embarrassed to say) I've had experiences in the USA, once in NYC where I live, where one of a restaurant's 'specials' for the evening came out at almost twice the price of any of their usual dishes.

I have since learned (I hope) that whenever I order something that is not on the menu, to inquire as to the price if it is not mentioned.

Mucky

Name and Shame !!!

Muck

elaine

??

SeaUrchin

Keep the faith, Loveitaly! I'm sending you good wishes.

Here in LA I was taken in the same fashion. The owner/manager of a local Italian restaurant asked me if I wanted a glass of white, red or Montepulciano in such a way that I thought they would be about the same price.

I ordered the Montepulciano and when I got the check I saw that glass costs 4X the price! IMO he should have told me beforehand.

Funny how they think that they are making money that way when word of mouth would scare people away.

Eloise

LoveItaly, I too am very sorry that your daughter and son-in-law had to cope with such a scam in addition to the very real stresses they are facing.

But I would add, simply to balance the view for posters who read about such a scam and then ask "Is Italy worth the hassle?", my experience in a restaurant in the historic centre of Rome. I was the only one there whom the owner did not greet personally; I was never offered a menu but told what was available; no prices were mentioned; I ordered something that the waiter had not mentioned but that he confirmed was available; everything was of the highest quality; it was the cheapest four-course lunch I had in Rome.

Cassandra

We experienced the same bait-switch on wine that SeaUrchin did, and we also got burned on ordering meat/fish by weight. You have no control over the portion size AND no way to verify the weight, but it seemed to us that ordering anything offered by the kilo resulted in an entree charge of more than 2 or 3 times the other entrees.

massagediva

I've had waiters employ this kind of sneakiness in various places.They are very warm and friendly,sometimes they act as if they are offering you something free,in such a way that you would feel tacky asking about price,because they are being so warm and lovely,then,bam! when the check comes.When someone tells me about the specials I always ask for prices,but a great salesperson can really get you without your knowing that you've been "gotten."

SeaUrchin

Yes, it turned out to be an expensive lunch with 24$ for the glass of wine! I told him there was some mistake and he said look at the bar total!

Funny but I went back once again with some other people and the owner did the same thing. My friend was just about to say Montepulciano when I put up my finger and said, by the way how much is it by the glass? He stumbled around and said, oh it is more but it is exclusive. I told him we would order after a group discussion. He gave me "the look" needless to say.

Robespierre

My mother taught me how to inflict "The Look" on the likes of your greedy restaurateur. It's a slightly bowed head and a narrowing of the eyes that wordlessly conveys "no way, pal."