Twice I ate at Trattoria La Scogliera, via Birolli, Manarola, 5 Terre. Tel 0187.920747, www.trattoriascogliera.com Very delicious food, great service, some english spoken. Fresh, fresh seafood & fish. Primi platti around 7 euro, wine 10 euro/bottle, 7 euro half bottle. Had wonderful pesto lasagna and another time, linguine with mussels, each at 6.80 euro. They did not try to shove me in a corner because I was a woman travelling alone, unlike Billy's Restaurant, which is highly recommended in all guide books. There, they pretty much wanted to put me in the kitchen as they made it known that I wasn't worth their while being only 1 person. I ended up cancelling my reservation there because of their poor attitude.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
695 posts
Gail, we thought the same thing, La Scogliera was excellent but Billy's restaurant was overpriced and service was poor.
Posted by
OP
Victoria on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
126 posts
I'm glad to hear that you agree Martine, because I was speaking with an English lady who runs a small shop in Manarola and rents out apts there as well, about Billy's. She said "it was just their way". I said "their way or not", they were rude to me about being alone. Ciao!
Posted by
Salem, Oregon
33 posts
We ate at Billy's a week ago. The total bill came to the 98 euros. We added it and it was only 62 so sent it back and it came back as 68. So we rewrote each figure to be sure we read it correctly. Eduordo just kept saying he was tired. Poor service. We too were virtually ignored. Menus were left on our table, had to ask for oil and vinegar for salad and they brought the wrong wine and made us feel like it was our fault. We enjoyed our meal at Marino Piccola. Good food nice waiter.
Posted by
Clermont FL, USA
62 posts
Can't agree more. Billy's was not worth the price. The only good thing is it has a view. The food at both places in town were excellent and reasonable. I did not see any real difference but La Scogliera seemed more relaxed.
Posted by
OP
Victoria on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
126 posts
Well it seems I was right in canceling the reservation and going with my feelings about Billy's. It's too bad that no one feels it was worth the price and that service is lousy, given that it's written up in all the guidebooks. Maybe Billy's feels they don't need the tourists any longer now that they're in the various books. I should also mention that when I told the people at La Scogliera that I was going to write about them on this site, they were just thrilled - they sure know who Rick is and what it can mean to their restaurant! Thanks to everyone for weighing in with your opinions - much appreciated.