Japanese Tourists Shocked To Receive Almost $500 Bill For Two Plates Of Spaghetti, Fish, And Water In A Restaurant In Rome
Some restaurant staff are hard-working, honest, friendly, and glad to welcome visitors from abroad to their city. And some staff are out to scam tourists and make a quick buck by lying to gullible travelers about how much they have to pay for food.
Restaurants in holiday-destination Italian cities are notorious for slapping tourists with jaw-droppingly huge and mind-bogglingly unfair bills. For a long time, tourists have been complaining about restaurants found near popular, crowded areas as scamming them out of their cash. The most recent example of this includes two Japanese tourists who were charged 429.80 euros (that’s almost 470 dollars) for ordering two plates of spaghetti, fish, and water at a restaurant in Rome.
Two Japanese tourists were ridiculously overcharged for eating at this restaurant in Rome
Image credits: Tripadvisor
Image credits: harukon_et
That slow-burning anger that you’re probably feeling inside at the restaurant staff as you’re reading this is a desire for justice. The restaurant in question is the Antico Caffè di Marte which can be found in central Rome, near Hadrian’s Tomb (also known as Castel Sant’Angelo).
Plenty of other tourists have been scammed by this Italian restaurant
Image credits: Minh Ngoc Bui
Image credits: Minh Ngoc Bui
Image credits: Minh Ngoc Bui
According to foreign customers on TripAdvisor, the restaurant is ‘terrible,’ dabbles in ‘disgusting thievery,’ commits ‘scams,’ and is a total ‘rip-off.’ One person even had this to say: “Sharks, be warned.” However, far from everybody reads restaurant reviews before heading out for a bite to eat; especially in a foreign city.
People were so angry with the restaurant that they left negative reviews
Image credits: harukon_et
Image credits: cavalier031
Image credits: cavalier031
Image credits: alestepien
The owners of the restaurant told the media that the reason the Japanese tourists paid the exorbitant price was, allegedly, because they ate fresh fish. However, the owners’ defense seems paper-thin because another angry customer said that the restaurant more than doubled the amount of fish and seafood he had eaten, overcharging him.
Tourists are often targetted by restaurants wanting to make an easy buck
Image credits: alestepien
Image credits: DJ442
Image credits: Diana O
Image credits: Diana O
The incident with the Japanese tourists wasn’t the first and, unfortunately, won’t be the last. More and more cases of Italian restaurants ripping off tourists have made headlines recently.
Among recent scams are these stories of how tourists were ripped off: 81 euros (nearly 89 dollars) for two burgers and three coffees in Rome; 1,100 euros (1,202 dollars) for a meal for four people in Venice; 25 euros (27 dollars) for a single cone of ice cream in Florence. The restaurant in Venice didn’t get off the hook scot-free, though. Its owners were slapped with fines equalling over 10,000 euros (nearly 11,000 dollars).
Wanted in Rome has some handy advice for those of you planning on journeying to Italy. For example, like the fact that you’re not forced to order food after taking a seat at the restaurant: you can always leave if you think the prices are unfair. What’s more, you can always ask for a detailed bill if the price of each individual item isn’t written on it. And if the staff of a restaurant won’t let you leave without paying, and you think you’ve been scammed, you can always call the stylish Italian police or the carabinieri on the number 112.
Here’s how people reacted to what happened on social media
As an Italian i want to warn any tourist that ventures here without a local guide, and by local guide i mean an Italian friend not someone you pay to show you around, those are colluded too. Famous cities especially Rome and Venice are full of turist traps, avoid restaurants with Italian flags, menus on the street or view on a monument, their prices are easily three times the standard and you will eat frozen food more often than not. Also we don't tip, you are already paying for the service, it's called "coperto" if you get charged for the tip ask to remove the charge, they cannot refuse.
I remember that about our trips. I only tipped once because the food there was so amazing. The kid was confused so I explained to him that in America if we think something is exceptional we show our gratitude by leaving a nice tip. He was happy about the extra 10 EU and didn't complain.
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Been to Rome a few times, the argument because they ate fresh fish is BS. If it's not fresh or has ever been frozen they must label it as such. I think the most I've ever spent on a meal there is 80EU for both me and my wife with desert and wine. If anyone tries this, you should refuse to pay and tell them to call the police. Consumers have rights in every EU country.
In Kenya, that is the Average Salary for Teachers, Nurses, Government employees and people working in some parastatals. That is also a high school student's fee for a whole year.
Ah, the good ole Italian scammers. They have a reputation in Europe, along with Champs Elysees cafés in Paris.
It's not tourist's fault for being ripped off and scammed while trying to enjoy a vacation. "In Africa, we ask before eating or buying." Sorry, but it's sad people have to worry about local restaurants/cafes trying to rip them off. They're taking advantage of them and if it happened to you in any sort of way, you'd be pissed as well.
They often play the part of the Italiano vero, in a pseudo charming way - actually in with painful stupidity- and the naive tourist feeling flattered and - boom- the trap snappes
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In my country, you can eat solely restaurant food for six months with so much money.
Been to Rome many times, and anything in a tourist street/place is just a scam trap... This c**p needs to be shut down with some very serious penalties for the offender's, who runs dual pricing, or simply refuse to tell prices beforehand, despite a legal requirement to do so.. there is a lot more f scum "restaurants", but in fairness, many very good ones...
Last summer in Florence I thought I'd buy 4 ice cream cones for the whole family, thought it would cost me around 20 Euros, guess what - paid 55 Euros!! My bad - I didn't check the price before but it was just a regular ice cream shop, not a 5 star restaurant, so it hadn't even occurred to me that it could be so freaking overpriced!
I am European, have traveled a lot in Asia but not much in Europe, and I have never heard of fish charged per weight on a restaurant menu ! Those Italians have a lot of imagination to rip tourists off ! (They have earned that bad reputation, yes, which is really stupid considering all the beauties this country has to offer.)
I've been told by people, who frequently visit Italy, that in case of obvious scam (e.g. 50 euro for coffee cup because you sat outside etc.) by caffe/restaurant one should nor get into arguments and immediately call the police. They are well aware of this and deal with these situations swiftly.
It's not just Italy. When I visited Greece, a man persuaded me to visit his bar for a drink. He had a drink with me, then a lady came out from behind the bar and sat next to me and asked if she could join me for a drink. I told her, "No thank you," but the bartender served both of us. I had two drinks. When I asked to settle up, instead of telling me how much it was, she wrote "20,000" -- in Drachmas that's around $50–60. I asked why and she said, "Drink for you and drink for George, then two more drinks and company of pretty lady." I only had 2000 Drachmas on me and left my cards in the hotel safe. A couple of guys came out from behind the liquor display and I bolted for the door. Fortunately there were police not too far away and they saw the guys chasing me. I gave them my info and by the time I walked a few blocks to my hotel, the man at the register gave me a message asking me to contact police about filing charges. Apparently it's a common scam: rip off the drunk American.
Omg! Had the same experience, at a restaurant in Venice, on the Rialto, about 10 years ago. They listed the price of fish as €8.50, when the bill came there was a multiplier of some sort and we were charged €72 per person (there were 2 of us). I still remember, because we were poor students and did not have so much cash back then. We ended up spending all our travel money in that restaurant.
My husband ans I went to Italy on a cruise and as you only get one day in port we decided to split up and each would take a different city take photo's to share with each other, he went to Rome I went to Florence, as I am Catholic he went to the Vatican City and bought me a Gold cross and chain, he believed the guff about it being blessed by the Pope himself. I bought an ice cream which cost £8. tow scoops, I didn't work out the price in advance. Delicious, anyway I thought I'm only here once . After wearing the cross for a couple of weeks (GOLD... blessed by the Pope don't forget ) it went black and then turned my neck green.
And I thought this only happened in the Greek islands... Scamming is a universal art after all.
First time ive ever heard of a restaurant charging per weight? One could easily mistranslaste the menu as a 100g something and then later get trapped with the bill
I don't understand.... What price did the menu say? Whatever the menu price says, they have to honor that! There is no way that I would have paid a dime until they changed the tab. Speaking to the first story, why did your friend even pay for it!? That was a dumb movie on his/her part! Next time, CALL THE POLICE and video the whole thing and take them to the local news!
Currency does not get "worthless" after a few days ... you can usually cash in any bill or coin decades after they were printed. Even the lire - >euro migration took years to get rid of the lire. Or any other currency in the EU. Lots of b******t in here, but some stores actually do have different prices for locals, where an espresso is like one euro vs 2 or 3 for the fat red guy wearing shorts in february and sandals with socks.
I'm so surprised to hear this . Rome is one of my favorite places. The people in general are so friendly and fun loving. The worst thing that happened was when a waiter thought my sister and I were hookers hired for a threesome with our father ! Lol
The only time I’ve ever paid $500 for a meal was a 7 course tasting menu for 2 (we both had 7 courses) and 2 bottles of wine.
This is terrible and if it happened to me I'd probably cause an international incident. But in a weird way it's kinda reassuring to know that U. S. doesn't have a monopoly on all the a******s in the world.
And you were right, had it happened to me, Id taken out not a single cent, and called the cops instantly to weight the fish and close the restaurant forever.
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Maybe you've been unlucky and you lived in a horrible place. Please don't generalize. Italy is full of nice people and places where you can eat greatly at a really fair price.
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Italy is all a big scam. Full of African illegals who work as pickpockets, or if they're 'honest', sell fake handbags. They're a country who created and are ruled by Mafia after all.
The bill clearly says 315,- € for fish for two persons. In a normal restaurant? Are you serious? Even if they were hungry, who could eat 4.8 kg of fish?!
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Still, then a restaurant should serve less fish or give a warning. Over 300 euros of fish is not normal for anyone. Why would they think anyone would want this?
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That is one thing, these people experienced being scammed, robbed, fooled out of their money. They did not order 4.2 kg of fish, the restaurant is charging for several kilos more than they used. Different story.
Load More Replies...
As an Italian i want to warn any tourist that ventures here without a local guide, and by local guide i mean an Italian friend not someone you pay to show you around, those are colluded too. Famous cities especially Rome and Venice are full of turist traps, avoid restaurants with Italian flags, menus on the street or view on a monument, their prices are easily three times the standard and you will eat frozen food more often than not. Also we don't tip, you are already paying for the service, it's called "coperto" if you get charged for the tip ask to remove the charge, they cannot refuse.
I remember that about our trips. I only tipped once because the food there was so amazing. The kid was confused so I explained to him that in America if we think something is exceptional we show our gratitude by leaving a nice tip. He was happy about the extra 10 EU and didn't complain.
Load More Replies... Been to Rome a few times, the argument because they ate fresh fish is BS. If it's not fresh or has ever been frozen they must label it as such. I think the most I've ever spent on a meal there is 80EU for both me and my wife with desert and wine. If anyone tries this, you should refuse to pay and tell them to call the police. Consumers have rights in every EU country.
In Kenya, that is the Average Salary for Teachers, Nurses, Government employees and people working in some parastatals. That is also a high school student's fee for a whole year.
Ah, the good ole Italian scammers. They have a reputation in Europe, along with Champs Elysees cafés in Paris.
It's not tourist's fault for being ripped off and scammed while trying to enjoy a vacation. "In Africa, we ask before eating or buying." Sorry, but it's sad people have to worry about local restaurants/cafes trying to rip them off. They're taking advantage of them and if it happened to you in any sort of way, you'd be pissed as well.
They often play the part of the Italiano vero, in a pseudo charming way - actually in with painful stupidity- and the naive tourist feeling flattered and - boom- the trap snappes
Load More Replies... In my country, you can eat solely restaurant food for six months with so much money.
Been to Rome many times, and anything in a tourist street/place is just a scam trap... This c**p needs to be shut down with some very serious penalties for the offender's, who runs dual pricing, or simply refuse to tell prices beforehand, despite a legal requirement to do so.. there is a lot more f scum "restaurants", but in fairness, many very good ones...
Last summer in Florence I thought I'd buy 4 ice cream cones for the whole family, thought it would cost me around 20 Euros, guess what - paid 55 Euros!! My bad - I didn't check the price before but it was just a regular ice cream shop, not a 5 star restaurant, so it hadn't even occurred to me that it could be so freaking overpriced!
I am European, have traveled a lot in Asia but not much in Europe, and I have never heard of fish charged per weight on a restaurant menu ! Those Italians have a lot of imagination to rip tourists off ! (They have earned that bad reputation, yes, which is really stupid considering all the beauties this country has to offer.)
I've been told by people, who frequently visit Italy, that in case of obvious scam (e.g. 50 euro for coffee cup because you sat outside etc.) by caffe/restaurant one should nor get into arguments and immediately call the police. They are well aware of this and deal with these situations swiftly.
It's not just Italy. When I visited Greece, a man persuaded me to visit his bar for a drink. He had a drink with me, then a lady came out from behind the bar and sat next to me and asked if she could join me for a drink. I told her, "No thank you," but the bartender served both of us. I had two drinks. When I asked to settle up, instead of telling me how much it was, she wrote "20,000" -- in Drachmas that's around $50–60. I asked why and she said, "Drink for you and drink for George, then two more drinks and company of pretty lady." I only had 2000 Drachmas on me and left my cards in the hotel safe. A couple of guys came out from behind the liquor display and I bolted for the door. Fortunately there were police not too far away and they saw the guys chasing me. I gave them my info and by the time I walked a few blocks to my hotel, the man at the register gave me a message asking me to contact police about filing charges. Apparently it's a common scam: rip off the drunk American.
Omg! Had the same experience, at a restaurant in Venice, on the Rialto, about 10 years ago. They listed the price of fish as €8.50, when the bill came there was a multiplier of some sort and we were charged €72 per person (there were 2 of us). I still remember, because we were poor students and did not have so much cash back then. We ended up spending all our travel money in that restaurant.
My husband ans I went to Italy on a cruise and as you only get one day in port we decided to split up and each would take a different city take photo's to share with each other, he went to Rome I went to Florence, as I am Catholic he went to the Vatican City and bought me a Gold cross and chain, he believed the guff about it being blessed by the Pope himself. I bought an ice cream which cost £8. tow scoops, I didn't work out the price in advance. Delicious, anyway I thought I'm only here once . After wearing the cross for a couple of weeks (GOLD... blessed by the Pope don't forget ) it went black and then turned my neck green.
And I thought this only happened in the Greek islands... Scamming is a universal art after all.
First time ive ever heard of a restaurant charging per weight? One could easily mistranslaste the menu as a 100g something and then later get trapped with the bill
I don't understand.... What price did the menu say? Whatever the menu price says, they have to honor that! There is no way that I would have paid a dime until they changed the tab. Speaking to the first story, why did your friend even pay for it!? That was a dumb movie on his/her part! Next time, CALL THE POLICE and video the whole thing and take them to the local news!
Currency does not get "worthless" after a few days ... you can usually cash in any bill or coin decades after they were printed. Even the lire - >euro migration took years to get rid of the lire. Or any other currency in the EU. Lots of b******t in here, but some stores actually do have different prices for locals, where an espresso is like one euro vs 2 or 3 for the fat red guy wearing shorts in february and sandals with socks.
I'm so surprised to hear this . Rome is one of my favorite places. The people in general are so friendly and fun loving. The worst thing that happened was when a waiter thought my sister and I were hookers hired for a threesome with our father ! Lol
The only time I’ve ever paid $500 for a meal was a 7 course tasting menu for 2 (we both had 7 courses) and 2 bottles of wine.
This is terrible and if it happened to me I'd probably cause an international incident. But in a weird way it's kinda reassuring to know that U. S. doesn't have a monopoly on all the a******s in the world.
And you were right, had it happened to me, Id taken out not a single cent, and called the cops instantly to weight the fish and close the restaurant forever.
Load More Replies... Maybe you've been unlucky and you lived in a horrible place. Please don't generalize. Italy is full of nice people and places where you can eat greatly at a really fair price.
Load More Replies... Italy is all a big scam. Full of African illegals who work as pickpockets, or if they're 'honest', sell fake handbags. They're a country who created and are ruled by Mafia after all.
The bill clearly says 315,- € for fish for two persons. In a normal restaurant? Are you serious? Even if they were hungry, who could eat 4.8 kg of fish?!
Load More Replies... Still, then a restaurant should serve less fish or give a warning. Over 300 euros of fish is not normal for anyone. Why would they think anyone would want this?
Load More Replies... That is one thing, these people experienced being scammed, robbed, fooled out of their money. They did not order 4.2 kg of fish, the restaurant is charging for several kilos more than they used. Different story.
Load More Replies... 
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