04/13/09

If You Enjoy Being Treated Like Dirt

by Teach

You're treated as though you should be grateful they allowed you into their restaurant. If they get a triple-A rating, it's for: Arrogant, Argumentative, and Adolescent.

• Pros: Food almost as good as the prices
• Cons: Meal-Ruining Service

01/11/09

Delicious food, great service.

by altarubia

You can't come to Machiavelli and not expect a wait. I have been here multiple times, and the hostess is always very sweet, informing us when our table is close to being ready. Once seated, we are immediately served water and bread with that addicting dipping sauce. So delicious. The meals are reasonably priced,too. If you want big portions, go to Olive Garden. If you want big taste, come to Machiavelli.

• Pros: delicous meals, great ambience
• Cons: long wait time, a bit small and congested

12/19/08

Best small eatery ever

by Traveldoc

This restaurant is obviously not for people who demand FULL PLATES so big that they have to roll away from the table, as the Richard character seems to imply. I've eaten here many times, I'm a guy, I'm not on a diet, and the food is plentiful. Perhaps Richard needs to learn a little bit about what a serving of food really is. And that "guys who think like girls" is about as annoyingly bigoted a line as I've ever heard.

This restaurant is for people who understand the concept of small, authentic italian food. end of story. it is the best of its kind, almost anywhere I've ever eaten, and i travel a lot. It's not Claimijumpers however. Which is a good thing.

12/18/08

It is not fare, faire etc.

by richard98101

Small portions and if I hear the word quintensential again I am going to *&^$. What does it take to get a little more food on the plate. I will go again and order better. I live in the neighborhood and want this to be the place to be but I am slowly giving up. Sheeeeze.

• Pros: Nice looking place
• Cons: Traveldoc eats there

12/01/08

I've only had awesome service here...not sure what these folks are talking about!

by jamienewbold

I'm so surprised to read the latest 2 'bad service' comments. We are in fact regulars who have had the pleasure of eating at Machiavelli's for years. Never once were we given special treatment and were allowed to be seated in advance of other customers. Either this was a once off situation or people had their name down but were waiting outside (as happens a lot in the summer). In regards to the customers who were asked to leave, I have to be honest - if you're sitting at a restaurant that has TEN tables, and you decide to gab for 20 minutes after paying, I don't see anything wrong with the hostess asking if you could move back to the bar. This place gets crazy busy and as I have experienced the long waits associated with a great restaurant, I appreciate the staff moving folks around to let the next hungry people in. I had one instance where the chicken in my dish tasted funny, not sure why, but no questions asked, they brought me a new dish of my choice and didn't charge me for either. That's a sign of a good wait staff!

The food is awesome and no where else in Seattle can you get a dinner of this quality for 2, including wine, for under $30. And you get a 5% discount if you pay in cash. Please don't let the previous nasty posts deter you from trying one of my husband and I's most favorite restaurants.

11/07/08

extremely rude service - not recommended

by girlseattle12345

I had dinner here with a good friend and altough the food was tasty, I left with a very bad taste in my mouth. After we finished eating and paid our bill, we were chatting quietly at our table for a bit when a waitress came over and asked us to leave because other people were waiting for a table. I have never had wait staff ask me to leave a restaurant. I wish I could take back my tip. I will never return to Machiavelli's.

• Pros: decent food
• Cons: extremely rude service

07/21/08

Hurtful Service...Machiavellian at best.

by idiotante

This restaurant was recommended to us by the front desk clerk at the Sherwood Hotel and Suites. When we arrived we were told we would have a 45 minute wait. No problem, the place must be worth it. We each ordered a glass of wine and asked if we could put the drinks on our bill. The bartender said they kept the bar and food accounts separate so we would need to pay for it now. Hmm...okay...this was different than what we were used to but okay. So it was a little disconcerting twenty minutes later to hear a customer say, "Put it on my tab." The bartender didn't hesitate--seemed happy to do so.

Now, it was close to an hour wait and still no sign of getting a table. This situation in itself was not a problem--afterall, it was a Friday night. (July 18) What troubled us was the apparent private club activity going on--the preferential treatment that lurked around us. Two tables were seated before us--people who had arrived later than we did, and then "ouch" another one.

What was the secret code to getting a table?

One of the customers who came in appeared to be a regular as he hugged and kissed the hostess and bartender. A couple of other people came in and were very animated with the staff as they hovered around the hostess and seating chart--pointing and chatting up the staff. They were all seated--ahead of us.

Maybe that was the code-- hugging, kissing and chatting up the staff. Helen decided to give it a try--not the hugging and kissing part--just the chatting. She smiled and asked where we were on the wait list. Chatting up the hostess didn't work for Helen. She was ripped into with "You've only been waiting 50 minutes!"

It was quite frankly...well...hurtful. What was wrong with us? We're not worthy, we're not worthy.

We took our hurt hungry selves around the corner and ate a wonderful place called Tangos--where the food was marvelous and the staff attentive and friendly.

• Cons: service

04/21/08

Consistantly good!

by Wombat98112

Really good, really dependable, really consistent. I'd listen to them when they tell you that everything is good. Not a super large menu. Extremely reasonable in price. Try their antipasto - super good. And yes, you have to wait. You have to wait because it is good and the food and drinks are reasonable and so lots of people want to eat there. Just plan on having a very, very cozy cocktail in the bar first and you will have fun. And a note to others who watch their calorie intake at restaurants like I do - when I split the antipasto with one or two people and have their 1/2 roast chicken entree with a flavor to die for, my bathroom scale is still nice to me in the morning!

• Pros: Good food, good atmosphere, good service, good prices.
• Cons: You wait.

08/19/07

Very Good, Affordable, Italian In The City

by secretrestaurantreviewer

On the corner of Melrose and Pine, there is a restaurant. As you approach the restaurant, you will see a full dining room and possibly a small crowd waiting to get in. There is also a small bar in which, if you score a seat, you should feel quite lucky.

It is small, painted in warm colors, romantic despite concrete floors. Candlelight flickers, tiny tables for two dominate the small dining room.

A plate of pasta will set you back $9.75 (I recommend the penne with red pepper pesto with walnuts). A special such as veal piccata, the most expensive dish, will be $14.95. A glass of red wine will be $5 and a soda will be $1.75. Combined, your dinner with your sweetie will be about $40, including tip.

Go early (before 6:30) or go late (after 9pm) to avoid a long wait. I recommend going late for the romance of it.

• Pros: Food, price/value, "little Italian joint" ambience, neighborhood feel, location.
• Cons: Wait times - everyone seems to know about it!

07/27/07

Not horrible.

by pjstjohn

I've been waiting to go here for a while. I've heard mixed reviews but lately my friend told me it tasted like the food in Rome. Convinced we went, and if the this is like the food in Rome, I'm not sure I want to go there. The food wasn't bad, just not very good. The service was ok, but we had three waiters/waitresses and when I asked what was good our waitress replied "all of it". I wouldn't recommend eating here, but wouldn't tell people not to go.