Da Nonna Maria Bistro Italiano - Ottawa

We visited the restaurant for the second and final time. The waiter was not as attentive, as they forgot to clear our main plates. We had to pour our own wine and seek out service. The food was decent. Our usual Italian spot, Orleans, was fully booked, so we decided to revisit this restaurant.

The food was great, but the service was bad. The cook was drunk. The kitchen help to go, you had no record of what we order to pay the bill, we were honest and paid for what we ordered. I've been looking for other reviews and... that's been for a few months. I'll explain the news of Canada's health restaurant.

My husband, friends (a different couple) and I sung in Da Nonna Maria Bistro last weekend. Although we live in Orleans, we had never discovered this jewel. The experience was a joy from the beginning to the end. When we arrived, we were greeted like old...friends, with a warm and warm welcome from a radiant and clearly proud owner and chef, Luigi, and our server for the evening, Antonio, who immediately to our table, but not before extending a helping hand, removing and hanging up our coats. What a personal service, I thought. Within the first few moments of arrival we were made to feel welcome and at home. That's how we felt for the whole evening. While the menu is not extensive, it offers something for everyone. As Pescatarian, I ordered the escargot in a buttery, creamy sauce, flamed with sambuca, prepared on a nearby burner by Chef Luigi. It was heavenly, decadent. I also had the Pasta Primavera. Simple, fresh ingredients, burst with taste. My husband and my friends also enjoyed their meals, my husband especially liked to escape the Calamari and his Kalbsscaloppini. And yes, we also enjoyed a bottle (or two) Chianti. I think it is important to emphasise that all meals here are prepared from scratch – including pasta and bread. And all the ingredients used in the dishes are cut and cubed in place (in contrast to before the time to add the freshness and wealth of experience). As Antonia said, not even a zucchini is cut into slices until an order has been placed. It is clear that here much care and love go into food preparations. All to say, Nonna’s was a wonderful highlight for us and we will definitely be back. Thank you for making Luigi and Antonia unforgettable our evening.

I had been in this restaurant a few years ago and although his a little tired look in, Luigi (owner/kitchen) and his wife Jessica (server) were very nice and the food was good. Quickly this year, Contracted Da Nonna Maria, a 50th birthday party for my wife for about 42 people, assured by Luigi (owner) that he has many similar events. Give a $250 deposit to secure the date with the expectation that the balance of this amount would be applied to my final bill, minus the cost of an antipasto board I requested. The menu provided would cost the participants $39.95 and the cash bill was the responsibility of the participants. The evening proved to be unforgettable for all wrong reasons. The owner and his staff (Luigi and two others) were sick ready to treat the 31 persons shown for the event. None of the guests were provided with a postal code, the person who worked as a waiter tried to track all food and alcohol orders in a notebook in the bar area. It took hours to arrive for the main course, and the guests had to eat in layers, as the food did not arrive at the same time, for example; those who ordered the chicken first ate the calfs' dish and these people then ate the pasta dish torn out. I gave the birthday cake and Luigi gave my wife a butter knife to cut it. None of the guests have been provided a punctual invoice detailing the fees and when they began to ask for a punctual receipt, this is when Luigi's profanity laced tirade started. The following are a few examples of his comments to our guests; Your all effing farmers are you effing stupid, you can't read 're effing cheap, if you can't afford to pay why go out and many others. Luigi had also and expletive laced exchange with his waiting staff (his mother in law and his friend Tony), who tried (without success) to hold him back in the kitchen and away from the customers. During a conversation with Tony later I found out that Luigi had constantly been drinking in the kitchen during food preparation, began to fall into his orders and until that day had not drunk alcohol in 16 days. After the fact, I heard overloaded guests from Luigi and calculated sums in his head and then throw a last number at a guest without reception. To be fair, I will notice that I have several cancellations and no shows, and this evening I also have a slight change in the menu for some guests, but as it turns out that these guests do not receive any meal at all. I received a $40 money refund for my in laws that were charged $232 for three meals, three bottles of beer and one coke and a totally insincere apology to my wife . Luigi accused my guests for his disgusting behavior. A fast internet search shows that this is certainly not the first example of the unacceptable behavior of this person. Saying everything... I strongly recommend a hard pass on this facility, not risk your special opportunity ruined as I...0 out of 5 stars

I reserved this restaurant to take my mom and family for Mothers Day. When I booked I figured it was a safe bet as the reviews were very positive. However, I am baffled as I ended up humiliated that I brought my family here. First,...when the salad came it was a plate of slimy lettuce that had rotted. We had to carefully pick through to find a few good leaves the whole table was in the same predicament. They never gave menus, and the specials, were not what I was told over the phone, no mention of price either. The mains were so small it seemed as though they ran out of food. My veal was undercooked and the texture was offputting. The washroom had dirty towels on the floor and the garbage was overflowing. To top it off, they even put the prices up from what I was told when I reserved. It felt like the chef stayed home the waiters were hungover and haphazardly threw this together hoping no one would notice...well we did!! It certainly makes for a story though....