Cafe Veneto

BEWARE!!! This restaurant is an absolute DISGRACE. Charged 200 $ for ROTTEN MEAT!!! After complaining about the horrific food we were told that ARABS should enjoy this kind of food and that they don’t tell us how to boil rice. (I live in Milan btw) — I really hope no one else gets tricked into eating at this over priced DUMPSTER restaurant. The meat was absolutely NOT BEEF and smelled worse than any meat I’ve ever smelled –also they charged us 14 euros per 100 grams and 800g was the minimum — another point they conveniently forgot to mention. I’m utterly shocked and upset. I hope this place gets put out of business ASAP. I have half a mind to report them to the ministry of health. Racist con artists are not representative of this beautiful city. What a shame that this restaurant is located smack in front of some of the most beautiful hotels.

real bad… food straight outta microwave oven. some crazy «Entertainment» fee added and «Sir, no tips included…» was repeated many times. Way over priced. Big NO!

TOURIST TRAP!!! this place is disgraceful. The service was horrible and the food was worse! Very small portions and lack taste. Avoid this place like the plague. Easily one of the worst restaurants I’ve ever been to.

WARNING! Bait and Switch technique employed here — Buyer beware!
This restaurant seems to intentionally post prices next to food items which represent a measured price of the food item. This means the prices on some of the items are by the 100 grams measurement! I don’t know of any other place that does this, but it completely works at drawing people in. And then your waiter does not tell to you how it works until you get the bill. Here is how it works: next to the food item might be 14 Euro but they don’t mention that the minimum might be 500 grams which would make your price 5 times what the price is posted for 100 grams. For example, a fish dish might be 14 – 16 dollars when you order it but then you will end up paying 60 Euros for it! We ordered one fish and one Filet Mignon and together they came out to be about 140 Euros just for the food. On top of that, you are hit with a mandatory service charge of 20% which is about 30 bucks. Add a couple drinks and you are over 180 euros or about 200 dollars. But, that is not the end your charges! The waiters very smartly explain to you that the service charge is not for the waiter, basically asking for a tip. So you need to shell out another chunk of money for the tip. I have lived here for 3 months now and regardless of what occasional traveler on tripadvisor will post (that in Rome and France you only tip 3%), it is totally not true at all. If you plan to frequent a place more than once, then I would highly suggest you tip at least 15% or more (this is because American Travelers have spoiled them and they almost expect in now). I have had many conversations about this subject with waiters and they are not happy when they are left with 3% despite what the occasional traveler on this site tells you. Personally, if someone is going to be «handling» my food, I don’t want them not pleased with me… if you get my drift. In any case, we tipped less than 10% in this case because I won’t likely be coming back here.
The issue is not the food, it was probably one of the best Filets I have ever had. Nor was it the service. Our waiters were very good. The issue I have is the intended deceit of their menu pricing and the fact that no one explains the menu pricing and minimum size of each dish before you order.
I don’t understand why they need to do this. This is without a doubt a tourist trap as you can see from all the other «real» customer posts. Their food is good enough to stand on its own, but the proprietors would rather choose to take advantage of their clients rather than build up a respectable fine dining business model. That is just plain stupidity on the proprietor’s part because most of these reviews could have all been high marks based on every other aspect of this place. I rarely do reviews on places unless they are really good, but in this case I was compelled to warn unwary travelers.
The bottom line is that I would have given them 4 stars or higher despite the price of the meal if I didn’t feel deceived. It’s a shame that the owners feel they need to run their restaurant in this way.

Stop, turn around and leave immediately or get ready to be screwed royally. Prices thru the roof. Charge 20% service charge on top of 8 euro beers. Then have the arrogance to insist on tip. Picture on menu is not what you get and they are not ashamed of this fact.

Walked pass by and checked out the menu. There are 2 same name restaurants next to each other with 2 different menu prices. Asked waiters and confirmed the same restaurant. Prices are based on the entertainment that one offer the other doesn’t. We went into the one with less price tag. Although we didn’t see any entertainment on the other one and thought it might come later late night. The waiters were very friendly. While we were waiting for foods, I happened to check what the reviews said about the place. Ah-​ha… warning about the 20% service charge and still asking for tip. Sure enough… 20% added to our total bill. We asked our waiter. He said the service charge was for the entertainment and had printed on the menu. What entertainment!!! nothing! We didn’t want to give any more tip and didn’t want to pay with credit card (don’t trust them). But we didn’t have exact cash so we gave them few euro with no change back. So beware people. don’t be fool and do not support this kind of business.

On the street of 5 star Hotels I do not understand why other viewers are looking for bargain prices? This is Rome, and I must say that my seafood Fra Diabolo was outstanding! I have had this dish all over the world and this was the best I have ever had. I am not sure about the other dishes, but I had a great experience here. I like bargains as much as anybody else, but in Roma it is about the food!

I can’t believe why this has so few stars! For my wife and I this was by a clear margin the best meal we have had during our week’s stay in Rome. Yes it’s expensive, but the quality is deserving. The wine was outstanding; a cheeky Lazio Shiraz, the steak (800gm) T-​Bone excellent. Plus a selection of desserts to die for. And the service professional, discreet and warm. Nothing seemed to be too much trouble, and all the staff were well informed and willing to help. Come here. I’m so difficult to please, but this place succeeded.

Tourist trap! Avoid at all costs. Menu looks reasonable but priced by gram of meat/​fish. Service cost for entertainment (not even authentic). Our bill was the most expensive of our two week trip — and we’ve had some amazing meals. Food was average. Horrible experience.

My husband and I went to this restaurant today after visiting Borghese Museum. Do not go there ! The menu board is a trick. Although the price looks reasonable, but at the end of the menu there is a 20% service charge. The waiter will not inform you until you pay the bill. We ordered a pasta and a pizza for our meal (€ 12 each). We then ordered 2 coffees out of habit. We were shocked that the coffees were € 5 each. Usually it’s about € 2 – 3 at even upscale restaurants. The bill was € 50 all together. When we paid the check, the waiter, who was wearing a strong cologne, reminded us that, even with the 20% service charge, tip isn’t included and started to bug us about it. We left as soon as we could after we paid. The food is average and you can go to a small shop and get the same food.

The giant slabs of meat hanging in the window caught our attention and our craving for some steak brought us in. My girlfriend and I shared a filet mignon, salad, and a bottle of wine. All of the food we ordered was really delicious, but like everyone else, when the bill came in at $ 200+ I was shocked! They add on a charge for entertainment so get ready for your bill at the end of your meal to surprise you. The staff was really nice and the food was good, but I’m gonna have to give it 3 stars because the sneaky billing.

First meal was a split decision: really good pizza with incredibly tasty cheese topping followed by mixed seafood grill for two that was absolutely vile. But I chalked that up to simply ordering the wrong thing since they promote their steaks as a house specialty so I gave it a second try — and the meat was pretty good I must admit, but here’s the kicker: my wife ordered a two pound lobster «market price» which, when the bill came was $ 140!!! I normally don’t rate a restaurant down because of price but Café Veneto is such a rip-​off I have to make an exception to my rule in order to forewarn my fellow Unilocalers! Stenga directly across the Via Veneto is a far better choice.

TOURIST TRAP!!! This place is a total scam. Although the food is not terrible, they completely ripped us off. They price the fish by the gram and then charged us for a gigantic fish, costing us 190 euros for a San Pietro which was six times more than any other entrée. They also included a 20% service charge for «entertainment» (a man playing piano) although the waiter insisted that tip was not included. We paid quadruple what we paid for any other meal in Italy.

We felt completely robbed. Total bill was 390 euros for only 3 people. The waiter seduced us with complimentary champagne and an after dinner drink, but slipped in crazy high charges. Gave us a huge piece of fish priced by the gram for 190 euros and charged a 20% «service» fee, which when questioned, was supposedly for entertainment. Waiter was quite insistent that tip was not included and insisted we should add more. Most expensive meal we have ever eaten, including the finest restaurants in New York, and it it included only one bottle of wine and no dessert.
We had a lovely time – piano player was fun, and food was good, as it is everywhere in Italy, but we felt completely ripped off. Avoid at all costs.

Like the other comments have stated, the food was decent but not worth the price we paid. This street I general is like the Rodeo Drive of the northern end of town so all of the places are overpriced. We stopped in her because the special was Lasagna and it was not bad at all. The special came with that, a chicken thigh wrapped in bacon, and a small dessert for 20eu. Of course, if you wanted wine, the cheapest one was 45eu and the service was poor at best. Total price was 108eu! There wasn’t a tip included but there was a 20% service charge!
DEFINITELY NOT WORTH IT and now, because of the other reviewers comment, I am checking my cc statement for unexplained charges.

Went for lunch after visiting Gallery Borgese. Food was good, location is great but the price was very high. Watch out for charges for bread and any extras. After all that the waiter explained that the tip was not included! I think the prey on American tourists who migh give them a U.S. sized tip.

The pasta is good here and the view is lovely but it’s really expensive.
The «free» bread they give you at the beginning is 10 euros! Don’t touch it or send it back before it’s too late! They don’t even give you a choice.
The poor waitress was running around everywhere trying to wait on all the tables in the restaurant!
My pasta was warm and delicious but it was one of our most expensive meals in Italy… and it was only for lunch!

Went here for dinner. I had a sirloin steak 26 Euro’s, GF had pasta with clams. (Taglioni Vongole). Food was good, but not great. Water was 5 Euro’s. There was a 10% Service charge, which the waiter explained was for the Restaurant & tip would be extra if I wanted to leave one. I was there in May 2012

Great wine. Awesome wine. Prego!