Why Not Italian Ristorante, Calgary

I am not sure what the other people is talking about. The place is great, and as an Italian I can tell you that the food there is as good as it gets around here. Yes, you might find other restaurants that pretend to be Italian, but they are not. You want to get real, go to this place.

This little restaurant is in a strip mall by our house so we thought we would try it. We tried getting in before but it always seemed too busy so we called last night and were told that they has spots available. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were not greeted by ANY staff members and were passed several times without so much as an acknowledgment. Finally, a waitress came by with a stack full of dishes and said, that she would 'be right with us'. We waited an additional 5 minutes until finally my wife got fed up and asked the waitress that would be 'right with us' if we should just seat ourselves. She said, 'Ya, just take the table at the back there.', so we sat down. We even had to get our own menus. Ridiculous! 10 more minutes passed and we weren't even greeted by the waitress. No settings on the table, no bread, no water ... NOTHING! We finally gave up and walked out the door but not before asking the couple next to us how the food was. Well, suffice it to say, the reviews were not good. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. THE WORST SERVICE I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE AND APPARENTLY THE FOOD ISN'T VERY GOOD EITHER. I wish Yahoo had a 0 star rating because 1 star is 1 too many.

I am strictly vegetarian and ordered the "tortellini ala panna" described as tortellini in cream sauce baked with parmesan cheese on top. I ordered it and it came as veal tortellini, which I unfortunately discovered after I had a bite. The management could not explain to me why veal was not listed on the menu description told me it was not their fault and that it is up to the customer to ask what is inside the tortellini. He also told me tortellini is ALWAYS filled with meat. By the time I got a replacement meal, my mother had already finished her meal and my appetite was gone. They still insisted on charging me for the entire meal and upon leaving when we tried to calmly explain that we are lifelong vegetarians, the waiter raised his voice at me and yelled at me for trying to ask for a free meal. What an ignorant and rude staff, the worst meal I have ever eaten in my life. Never waste any time or money here.

I went there Friday night and it was terrible. The service was rude and slow. The linguini with clam sauce was so salty that no one at the table could eat it. We complained but the management did not take the item off the bill. This restaurant used to be excellent but is has gone totally downhill. Don’t waste your money.