Bebo Trattoria, Chef Claudio Sandri in Crystal City - Closed.

[ScotteeM]

But someone - anyone! Tell me what I can do differently so as to have the kind of experience that others have had there. We thought about ordering at the bar, but didn't feel it would be much help, since the bartender seemed too busy to really be expected to give any attention.

I can't help you. I tried twice: once at the bar and once for an early Sunday brunch. Service at the bar was as you described. Our experience in the dining room was much like yours. Server didn't know what beers were on offer and didn't want to bother to find out. Forks, spoons, and even plates were an afterthought, brought long after the food had hit the table. Creamy polenta was identified by the server as "mashed potatoes, or polenta, or whatever you want to call it." Food that should have been hot was room temperature. There were only 3-4 other tables occupied when we were there, and servers spent most of their time huddled in a group speaking in Italian.

The food itself was quite good, but not worth what we had to endure to get it.

[edenman]

From a Bebo email:

Claudio Sandri has recently joined Bebo Trattoria as the new Executive Chef. Though he is a new face to Bebo Trattoria, many of you may remember Chef Claudio from the Galileo team, where he worked closely with Chef Donna both in his main kitchen as well as his Laboratorio and assisted Chef Donna during his second and successful Iron Chef battle in New York against Iron Chef Morrimoto!

Morrimoto = Pirate Iron Chef?

[danfishe]

I had my worst experience yet at Babo last night. Went there around 9:15, there were only 5 or 6 tables filled. We were led to our table by the host and then of course ignored for 15 minutes (no waiter, water, silverware, bread). Finally a new waiter ambled over to us and took our order. Amzingly, they had ran out of something like 8 out of 10 of the cured meats on the menu. Then radio silence for another 15 minutes, after which we finally got our cured meats. We asked for olive oil with our bread, only to be told that they were OUT OF OLIVE OIL!! At an Italian restaurant. Amazing. The pizzas finally came and frankly they were the worst I have had at Bebo. No zing to them, and the cheese and sauce were totally dry, as if they had been sitting under a heat lamp. The few diners at the restaurant were constantly getting up to bus their own plates, re-fill their own water, etc. since there was no service. It was a total embarrassment; I went with an out of town friend to Bebo instead of Two Amys because of proximity and really regret it; I will never go back, having given it around 5 tries; and the entire feel of the restaurant last night was of one on its last legs.

[Banco]

We asked for olive oil with our bread, only to be told that they were OUT OF OLIVE OIL!!

I had a similar experience a few weeks ago when my wife and I went there after a play, not very late as I recall. The place was like a ghost town. We sat at the bar, were told the kitchen was closed but charcuterie would be OK, then moments later were told that charcuterie was not OK. I ordered a martini, specifying vermouth as is sadly necessary these days, and was told they were out of vermouth. I said to make me one anyway, emphatically asking for a twist instead of an olive. The drink took forever to arrive as the bartender did all kinds of other things with only one or two other couples at the bar. When the drink finally arrived it had an olive. When I pointed this out, a twist was added to my drink, so now I had both. The dessert we were able to order was quite good, but this place is just weird and would give Basil Fawlty a run for his money.

[danfishe]

I had a similar experience a few weeks ago when my wife and I went there after a play, not very late as I recall. The place was like a ghost town. We sat at the bar, were told the kitchen was closed but charcuterie would be OK, then moments later were told that charcuterie was not OK. I ordered a martini, specifying vermouth as is sadly necessary these days, and was told they were out of vermouth. I said to make me one anyway, emphatically asking for a twist instead of an olive. The drink took forever to arrive as the bartender did all kinds of other things with only one or two other couples at the bar. When the drink finally arrived it had an olive. When I pointed this out, a twist was added to my drink, so now I had both. The dessert we were able to order was quite good, but this place is just weird and would give Basil Fawlty a run for his money.

The oddest thing about my experience last night was that there appeared to be at least 3 or 4 manager types just standing around watching.

The real shame of this is that it is permanently scarring Roberto Donn'a reputation in D.C. I know that a number of people (myself included) will be extremely reluctant to try whatever restaurant he opens next, based on the customer abuse we encountered at Bebo.

[jpschust]

I just don't understand how this restaurant is still standing? It's reminiscent of the treatment women seem to go through dealing with wedding vendors.

[squidsdc]

I just don't understand how this restaurant is still standing? It's reminiscent of the treatment women seem to go through dealing with wedding vendors.

Because it appears everyone keeps going back to see if its gotten any better?

[danfishe]

Because it appears everyone keeps going back to see if its gotten any better?

Actually, based on the (lack of) crowds I have seen my last two times and some discussions with one of the waiters, not sure they are turning many tables at all anymore.

On a side note, and Don, feel free to delete this part, given Joe H's exuberant puffing of Bebo in the past, I am genuinly curious to hear his take on the current situation.

[youngfood]

I just returned from a comically bad meal at Bebo with a friend of mine.

...

All in all a terrible experience service-wise ...

Would I go back there again? On a casual weekend lunch, perhaps, but never for dinner and never with anyone I did not know well.

Service was terribly confused, wrong apps and entrees brought to our table even after repeated corrections, bread not brought with meat starter, wine not brought with meal. Would have mentioned to manager/hostess but she was on her cell phone the whole time. ...

would probably go again, but only for lunch or an early/casual dinner--not as part of any kind of special evening or night out.

Would I go back for a quick pizza lunch or a very casual dinner? Absolutely. Would I go back for more than that? No.

I had my worst experience yet at Babo last night. ...

I will never go back, having given it around 5 tries; and the entire feel of the restaurant last night was of one on its last legs.

The oddest thing about my experience last night was that there appeared to be at least 3 or 4 manager types just standing around watching.

The real shame of this is that it is permanently scarring Roberto Donn'a reputation in D.C. I know that a number of people (myself included) will be extremely reluctant to try whatever restaurant he opens next, based on the customer abuse we encountered at Bebo.

Enough already, take your own advice and stop going there!

[danfishe]

Enough already, take your own advice and stop going there!

You stay classy.

[monsterriffs]

You guys are like heroin addicts when it comes to Bebo. Suffice it to say, everytime we belabor this topic, it makes me never want to step foot in this restaurant, which is sad because Donna's talents aren't allowed to shine through because of the horrible press this place gets.

[Al Dente]

Because it appears everyone keeps going back to see if its gotten any better?

You could be on to a brilliant new marketing concept!

[food.fiend]

Because it appears everyone keeps going back to see if its gotten any better?

Or, is this ridiculous? That I now, after hearing all these comments, want to go to see how bad it can actually be for myself?

[eating out]

Because it appears everyone keeps going back to see if its gotten any better?

I've stayed away because of a personal bad experience and the overwhelming number of bad experiences of others. The thing is, I do find myself thinking about the place. Despite all the real issues with the service, I believe the food can be great, and I find myself wishing that I could have a positive experience. However, in my post a while back, I said (and have stuck to), the only way I would go again is if I know I am guaranteed the good food minus the aggravation. It's not worth chancing on my own, certainly not on my own dime. Such a shame.

[Walrus]

Not sure what it's worth, but we live in Arlington, haven't been, and probably will never go. There are SO many great restaurants in this area -- I'm really not going to waste my very hard-earned dollars on what might -- at best -- be good food with bad service, and what might also be bad food and bad service. No thanks.

[pizza man]

I have to say the best pizza I have had in the DC area was at Bebo *EDIT* I ate that very best pizza I have had in the DC area on a night when Roberto himself was manning the station, it was about 2 months ago. My dining companion was an Italian gentleman *EDIT* I commented on how good the pizza was and he agreed *EDIT* that it was the best he had in the area. *EDIT; T.M.I.*

Bebo has other issues to be sure, but Roberto makes a mean pie!

my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

[lackadaisi]

Reading the quoted chain of Danfishe's reports sheds quite a light on the situation for me, but only because I too keep trying and trying and keep getting burned. But, at least every other time, it works for me. I feel like I am chasing the popular boy, and he keeps choosing someone else and tossing me a bone occasionally to make sure I stay available. But, I love that bone so much, . . .

[DonRocks]

In case anyone cares, I went last Wednesday and had very bad service and very good food. My houseguests were wondering why everything was taking so long, especially when plates of food began arriving out-of-order. Me? I bristled at the ascending prices, and at the steadily declining wine list. But when the polpette came, all was well. People come here for good Italian cooking, and when it hits, it hits. And this night it hit, batting an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth for a come-from-behind victory. We all left happy, singing the praises of the meal, but if the food hadn't been good, we would have been extremely pissed.

Is it all clear now?

Cheers,

Rocks.

[jpschust]

In case anyone cares, I went last Wednesday and had very bad service and very good food. My houseguests were wondering why everything was taking so long, especially when plates of food began arriving out-of-order. Me? I bristled at the ascending prices, and at the steadily declining wine list. But when the polpette came, all was well. People come here for good Italian cooking, and when it hits, it hits. And this night it hit, batting an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth for a come-from-behind victory. We all left happy, singing the praises of the meal, but if the food hadn't been good, we would have been extremely pissed.

Is it all clear now?

Cheers,

Rocks.

Yah. New marketing phrase for Bebo: "Bebo. We're the Cubs of the food world."

[TomA]

We went to Bebo today for a quick lunch...the pizza with ham, ricotta, mozz and tomato sauce was very good as usual, not the best we have had here but right up there....I varied from pasta for the first time in months and was pleasantly surprised by the grilled Salmon with fennel salad...very fresh piece of fish cooked perfectly and a nice light accompaniment. prices are creeping but with 20% off for rewards network a good value lunch for $38 for two. Service at the bar was very good today at 11:30..time-of-day may be important..the place was doing a good lunch business when we left at 12:15. I agree with Don, Bebo can deliver the goods for simple, honest Italian cooking..I wish others on this board had better luck with the service because that can color an experience to say the least.

[claudio]

In case anyone cares, I went last Wednesday and had very bad service and very good food. My houseguests were wondering why everything was taking so long, especially when plates of food began arriving out-of-order. Me? I bristled at the ascending prices, and at the steadily declining wine list. But when the polpette came, all was well. People come here for good Italian cooking, and when it hits, it hits. And this night it hit, batting an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth for a come-from-behind victory. We all left happy, singing the praises of the meal, but if the food hadn't been good, we would have been extremely pissed.

Is it all clear now?

Cheers,

Rocks.

thank you for the compliment about the food, trust me, I am working very hard for give to our customers the bes food esperience, for the service, we are working to fix this problem, for the " ashending prices ",we are just following the market, everything in going up "flour, cheese, extra vergin olive oil, just an ezample...the price we pay for the bread increse of 35%......and we do not charge for that.

the wine list is still the same and really I don't see the declining.

any way thank you again for stop by, next time "if you wont" let me know you are in the restaurant and I will be very happy to say ciao to you

claudio

[danfishe]

thank you for the compliment about the food, trust me, I am working very hard for give to our customers the bes food esperience, for the service, we are working to fix this problem, for the " ashending prices ",we are just following the market, everything in going up "flour, cheese, extra vergin olive oil, just an ezample...the price we pay for the bread increse of 35%......and we do not charge for that.

the wine list is still the same and really I don't see the declining.

any way thank you again for stop by, next time "if you wont" let me know you are in the restaurant and I will be very happy to say ciao to you

claudio

Claudio, I appreciate your participating in this forum. Could you explain how an Italian restaurant could run out of olive oil at 9:30 with a number of diners still in the restaurant?

Thanks.

[claudio]

Claudio, I appreciate your participating in this forum. Could you explain how an Italian restaurant could run out of olive oil at 9:30 with a number of diners still in the restaurant?

Thanks.

hello danfishe, the problem was another one.....

the server maybe do not remember we have a bakeup of 4 gallons of extra vergine olive oil, or maybe he dont want to look in his station or came to me and ask............

you know, is very hard find good servers

I am very sorry for the problem

thank you very much

claudio

[Ilaine]

I go back because the food is celestial, and I honestly don't care all that much about the service.

To me, complaining about service in a restaurant verges on "Mom Always Liked You Best" -- this concept may not translate well beyond a certain age.

Of course it's unpleasant to sit around going hungry in a restaurant surrounded by plenty but that's never been my experience at Bebo's, we always sit at the bar and if things don't go our way we are aggressive about having our needs taken care of, end of story. I will never sit silent suffering because my wait person is not up to snuff, oh woe, oh woe.

I've got money, and I want good food, and the owner sells good food, and wants my money, so we aren't going to let a silly waitron come between us.

It may never be a place where service is smooth and well-oiled but the food remains celestial, and so I will always go back.

That said, good service is always appreciated, and rewarded appropriately.

[CrescentFresh]

I go back because the food is celestial, and I honestly don't care all that much about the service.

To me, complaining about service in a restaurant verges on "Mom Always Liked You Best" -- this concept may not translate well beyond a certain age.

Of course it's unpleasant to sit around going hungry in a restaurant surrounded by plenty but that's never been my experience at Bebo's, we always sit at the bar and if things don't go our way we are aggressive about having our needs taken care of, end of story. I will never sit silent suffering because my wait person is not up to snuff, oh woe, oh woe.

I've got a bank account full of money, and I want good food, and the owner sells good food, and wants my money, so we aren't going to let a silly waitron come between us.

It may never be a place where service is smooth and well-oiled but the food remains celestial, and so I will always go back.

That said, good service is always appreciated, and rewarded appropriately.

I have had bad service at Bebo on 95% of my visits. I live a five minute walk from Bebo and have not been back in over six months. I never will. There are too many restaurants in our area serving celestial food at all price levels. Bebo will never be worth it.

Best of luck to you Claudio, but methinks you're the Columbia River salmon, swimming upstream and hitting dam after dam after dam after dam after dam. And that'll damn well wear you out pretty quick.

[claudio]

I have had bad service at Bebo on 95% of my visits. I live a five minute walk from Bebo and have not been back in over six months. I never will. There are too many restaurants in our area serving celestial food at all price levels. Bebo will never be worth it.

Best of luck to you Claudio, but methinks you're the Columbia River salmon, swimming upstream and hitting dam after dam after dam after dam after dam. And that'll damn well wear you out pretty quick.

thank you for the good luck, but I am harder than a rock and for shure I never quit, for me BEBO is my house, my life, and my form to express myself, of course in the kitchen, and I will do my best to change the service too.

see you soon

claudio

[Michael Landrum]

...I am harder than a rock and for shure I never quit...

Must...not...post...Must...resist...Getting...dizzy...Sides...splitting...Losing

..consciousness...Deletion...iminent...

[JimRice]

It was good Friday night. We hadn't been back since dinner there in February, when the food was sort of mediocre. Biscuit Girl and I sat at the bar as usual. I had the hanger steak, which was excellent, and shared some of her pasta. There was a minor error on her order, but the bar staff was extremely apologetic and made it right. They wanted to make sure we had a good dinner, and we did.

[Escoffier]

After a hectic day and a water heater that decided to dump 40 gallons of water in our basement, we decided to overnight in a hotel in Crystal City. Because we were close, we walked to Bebo. We were prepared to wait no more than 15 minutes and then head elsewhere. After a minor discussion about being seated at a 4 top at the total back of the restaurant when we had passed a number of empty tables closer to the front (and the pizza oven... and being told there were 4 people at the bar waiting for that particular table...hmmm, I looked at the bar area and after including the bartender/server, I only counted 2 people at the bar...but what do I know? must be that new math), we were seated. We waited...and waited...and waited for a grand total of 5 minutes before our server arrived to take our drink order and ask if we'd like to order...we hadn't gotten past the first page of the menu! We gave our drink order and the server disappeared toward the front of the restaurant...surely this is where the wait will start...next up a runner with water and bread (a grand total of 8 minutes so far...this was going WAY TOO SLOW )...followed closely by our server with our wine. He took our order (now up to a grand total of 11 minutes...time was rapidly being wasted here) and, who should show up but the maitre'd who asked if we'd like to move to the same 4 top that we had been refused just 10 minutes before...uh, noooo, we're seated and we've ordered and there's certainly no reason to move now... (and besides, we didn't want to change now to another server after this one was being so attentive). After roughly another 10 minutes, our pizza showed up...our server had custom ordered our pizza toppings (which made the price lower) and delivered exactly what we wanted (sausage and mushrooms)...I spend 30 seconds trying to find something to complain about with no luck. We ate our custom pizza (which was very good by the way) and were thinking about dessert. Out came the dessert menu and a server patiently awaiting our order...I didn't want anything else, Grover wanted dessert...which came about 3 minutes after our order...

So, as far as service goes...we had no problems (even though after all the horror stories we expected long waits and slipshod service), the food was very good (the bread was excellent but I found the olive oil to be a bit bitter) and we'll go back. Bebo is no Dino but the pizza was very good and the service was excellent. Our server Arturo is to be complimented on his attentive and rapid service.

[TomA]

We have had some pretty solid pies the past few weeks at Bebo..it looks like they have a new pizza maker; at first his pies were a bit underdone compared to the previous guy, but lately they have been close to perfect. Also had the Rainbow Trout, which was very fresh and nicely executed, and a few decent pasta dishes, as well as the very good Bebo burger. Arturo is indeed a fine waiter, and while we always eat at the bar, service seems to be a bit "warmer" of late. Hopefully this will continue. The menu has been simplified, but if the execution continues to be consistent, this is not a problem.

[u-bet!]

I am harder than a rock and for shure I never quit

If that's not a line from a hip-hop song, it should be.

[monsterriffs]

From the WSJ Law Blog's interview with Justice Scalia:

As for favorite restaurants, we heard that your favorite D.C.-area Italian eatery, A.V., closed recently.

Isn’t that a shame? I sometimes go to Tosca, but Tosca’s a lot pricier than A.V. used to be. What I recommend is right across the river in Crystal City, a little place called Bebo. It’s much less pricey. The ambience is not as posh. But the food is just as good. The pizzas are perhaps even better than they were at A.V. They have a wood-burning pizza oven imported from Italy.

I wonder if Scalia can manage to get good service!

[agm]

I don't know if he gets good service at Bebo, but if he thinks the ambience at AV was posh, he's getting good drugs somewhere.

[monsterriffs]

I don't know if he gets good service at Bebo, but if he thinks the ambience at AV was posh, he's getting good drugs somewhere.

I think that he was referring to Tosca as posh.

[Sthitch]

With no power and the prospects of not getting any for who knows how long my wife and I decided to find see if Bebo might lift our spirits a little, mine needing quite a bit of lifting after Comcast arrived two hours late for the 3 hour appointment window and since by that time we had no power. But I digress. We arrived at Bebo around 7:00 to find the restaurant about half full. The only lapse in service was the longish wait for our otherwise good waiter to show-up at our table. We ordered a bottle of wine and he quickly returned telling us that they did not have the bottle we asked for and instead recommended a similar bottle that was amazingly $3 less.

Now the food I wish that they had more non soup/salad options for appetizers, but unless I missed something last night that is all that they offered. My wife started with the arugula salad and the greens were impeccably fresh and lightly yet perfectly dressed. We then moved onto the pizza. In the past I have found that the crust has been overly salty, a problem that did not exist this time around. The "Prosecutto e Funghi" was delicious and would have only been improved with a little more char on the curst, but the ingredients all worked together quite beautifully. The same cannot be said for the "Quattro Stagioni". In Italy a four seasons pizza is generally separated into four parts (with a bit of crust dividing them) and each section has a single topping, Bebo's tossed all of the toppings together. On its own this would not really be a big problem since 1) we weren't in Italy, and 2) I have always thought that it would be most complex to mix them up. The real problem came from the olives and the artichokes. The first problem with the olives is that they were Kalamatas, I like these big Greek olives, but not on an Italian pizza, also they were some of the briniest I have tasted, and when you got a piece the brine overwhelmed your palette. Instead of being salty, the artichokes were tinny and absent of any real artichoke flavor.

Since the mushroom pizza was mine, I went back to our dark house happy, my wife, not so much, but she will give it another try soon this time passing on anything that contains artichokes or olives.

[qwertyy]

With no power and the prospects of not getting any for who knows how long my wife and I decided to find see if Bebo might lift our spirits a little....

I read this wrong the first time through and missed "power."

[squidsdc]

I read this wrong the first time through and missed "power."

(same here )

[monavano]

With no power and the prospects of not getting any for who knows how long my wife and I decided to find see if Bebo might lift our spirits a little, mine needing quite a bit of lifting after Comcast arrived two hours late for the 3 hour appointment window and since by that time we had no power. But I digress. We arrived at Bebo around 7:00 to find the restaurant about half full. The only lapse in service was the longish wait for our otherwise good waiter to show-up at our table. We ordered a bottle of wine and he quickly returned telling us that they did not have the bottle we asked for and instead recommended a similar bottle that was amazingly $3 less.

Now the food I wish that they had more non soup/salad options for appetizers, but unless I missed something last night that is all that they offered. My wife started with the arugula salad and the greens were impeccably fresh and lightly yet perfectly dressed. We then moved onto the pizza. In the past I have found that the crust has been overly salty, a problem that did not exist this time around. The "Prosecutto e Funghi" was delicious and would have only been improved with a little more char on the curst, but the ingredients all worked together quite beautifully. The same cannot be said for the "Quattro Stagioni". In Italy a four seasons pizza is generally separated into four parts (with a bit of crust dividing them) and each section has a single topping, Bebo's tossed all of the toppings together. On its own this would not really be a big problem since 1) we weren't in Italy, and 2) I have always thought that it would be most complex to mix them up. The real problem came from the olives and the artichokes. The first problem with the olives is that they were Kalamatas, I like these big Greek olives, but not on an Italian pizza, also they were some of the briniest I have tasted, and when you got a piece the brine overwhelmed your palette. Instead of being salty, the artichokes were tinny and absent of any real artichoke flavor.

Since the mushroom pizza was mine, I went back to our dark house happy, my wife, not so much, but she will give it another try soon this time passing on anything that contains artichokes or olives.

The Quattro Stagioni is Chef Sandri's favorite, and something he would order in Italy.

[Sthitch]

The Quattro Stagioni is Chef Sandri's favorite, and something he would order in Italy.

Maybe so, but the astringent olives and the industrial artichokes ruined what was otherwise a well made pie. I know that my wife will happily order it again and again on our trips to Italy, but not Bebo's version.

[claudio]

Maybe so, but the astringent olives and the industrial artichokes ruined what was otherwise a well made pie. I know that my wife will happily order it again and again on our trips to Italy, but not Bebo's version.

hello, what I know, and I was in ITALY for more then 35 yers, in the pizza 4 stagioni all the ingredient are mix toghether,

probably the olives was not the best one, probably the artichokes you don't like it, but this pizza still is for me the best one.

and is exactly the same I was ordering in Italy.

[B.A.R.]

I was at Bebo last Saturday night and had an all around good meal.

I did have many service issues, but none of them were "server" issues. To a fault, every employee I spoke with at Bebo was charming and gracious, and seemed really to be trying. The vast majority of the issues were with items that were out of stock: wine, fettucini, individual components of dishes,desserts, etc.. What I was served was, on the whole, fabulous. I was surprised when I sat at the bar how few selections of liquors were available on the back bar. Vodka choices were Stoli and Smirnoff. They ran out of almost 25% of the things we attempted to order, it became a running joke at the table. They don't allow you to "tip" on credit cards. And they hand you a pre-printed note with your check informing you that their credit card processor is having "problems" and that it takes almost 15 minutes for your transaction to be processed.

After my transaction was processed in less than two minutes, I couldn't help but think what the card should have said was "Please Pay in Cash". I've been in the service and hospitality industry for many years. These are not good omens for a businesses longeivity. I wish them well.

[TomA]

Claudio has done a lot of things right lately at Bebo, simplication and execution are paying off and the current servers are gracious and helpful.. one thing, we have always been able to tip on our AMEX card, so I find that mystifying, I do know that at times there have been card processing issues, but for us this was many, many months ago. The other night, our orachiette with sausage and broccoli rabe was outstanding as was our artichoke pizza (these artichokes were fine -- I really don't always like the marinated kind anyway)...the crust was incredible...and I agrre with the other poster that the salt contant of the pizza crust has come down a few notches....I talked with the one of the chefs from M&S down the street (and a former colleague of Jamie Stakowski) who was in the Bebo bar on break and he thinks very highly of what Claudio has been doing.

[agm]

If credit card transactions can take up to 15 minutes, it's not surprising they won't allow you to tip on the card, since the transaction has to be done twice - once at the meal price, and again with the tip added.

Overall, it sounds like they're making good progress on resolving their issues. That's great news, and it looks like it might be time for me to go back.

[treznor]

If they aren't allowing tips on credit cards, hopefully they are letting people know prior to the meal. Otherwise I could see some upset servers when they end up with no tip because people don't have cash.

[goldenticket]

From the Bebo newsletter

Texas Hold-Em Free Poker Tournaments on Monday Nights

Bebo Trattoria is hosting Stars-n-Bars Poker Night Series on Monday Nights. Come and test your Texas Hold-em Poker skills for FREE! That's right, there is NO admission fee & you play with NO money!!! It's a fun night of entertainment. First game tournament starts promptly @ 6:00 P.M. and the Second @ 9:00 P.M. Winners will receive a Bebo Trattoria-sponsored gift certificate and all are welcome! Reservations are not required.

[TomA]

On the credit card issue: we have eaten three meals at Bebo (all fine, with improving service evident in the dining room) this month and been able to tip on the credit card. I do know that those participating in the poker tournament can get discouned menu items ($10 pizzas). My only problem these days is the shortness of the menu; the items coming out of the kitchen and pizza oven have been good-to-excellent with an emphasis on simplicity and good ingredients..hopefully some more diversity in the menu will occur as Claudio gets comfortable in establishing his style for the place.

[iEat]

You guys are like heroin addicts when it comes to Bebo. Suffice it to say, everytime we belabor this topic, it makes me never want to step foot in this restaurant, which is sad because Donna's talents aren't allowed to shine through because of the horrible press this place gets.

What's tough is that it seems like minor changes could be made to improve the service and allow diners to enjoy their food. At this point, enjoying the food is an afterthought. It doesn't take a rocket scientist turned restaurant consultant to know that a proper host/ess stand that is manned by an employee is better than a large, low-to-the-ground unstaffed table, a sheet of looseleaf paper, and an open Dell laptop with a screen facing the groups of would-be diners who are utterly confused about why there is no one to ask about being seated.

I would have never gone back a second time after my first experience, but I was being taken out by a family member who made the reservation on his own. Thank G-d we had Dairy Godmother for dessert to save our evening from mediocrity.

[TomA]

Had two really good pies at Bebo last night...an artichoke, mozz and tomato, and a marinara with smoked mozz...perfect crust with just a little char, thin but firm bottom, and great balance of toppings. Service at the bar was great with the only glitch being that the taps were still locked on the kegs early in the evening, but they have added Pilsner Urquell and Peroni to their draught list, a much needed addition to a sparse selection of beers. Our check was our check, unlike the bizarre experience mentioned in the previous post!

[jiveturk21]

Although I promised myself that Bebo was a "never again" restaurant, I got talked into it on Friday night since a friend was staying close by. The rain assured that the restaurant was empty, maybe 20 or 30 souls when we walked in, but it didn't keep the service focused. We were greeted pleasantly right away and walked to the middle of the restaurant when the host realized that none of the open four tops had been cleaned. Literally, in that entire space, not one table for four people had been cleaned and re-set. He told us to wait here for a minute while he got someone to clean a table, after standing there for a minute with no one in sight, we simply sat at a round table for six people. Whatever, fine by me, but those tables never got cleaned during our entire time there, not that it affected us directly, but it wasn't a pretty sight to me. Service during dinner was absent and we had to ask for things constantly, I've had worse, but it is just depressing.

And, to be honest, the food wasn't a whole lot better. The pizzas were all soggy, so all the taste in the world, and they were tasty, just couldn't make up for it. The bolognese was stuck together, literally the whole thing was pretty much stuck together. Just not good.

Listen, I got tired of all the bashing that Bebo took on this board, it seemed excessive at times even if it was all 100% true. In fact, it actually kept me from writing about it for the past five days, but my friend who was visiting from Connecticut actually asked me this morning if I had written anything about it because she still couldn't get the bad experience out of her mind. So, here I am writing about it, which is truly depressing when there are all these other great restaurants to go visit and write about. No more for me, I am just not going to go to a place that has disappointed me over and over again.

[lekkerwijn]

Although I promised myself that Bebo was a "never again" restaurant, I got talked into it on Friday night since a friend was staying close by. The rain assured that the restaurant was empty, maybe 20 or 30 souls when we walked in, but it didn't keep the service focused. We were greeted pleasantly right away and walked to the middle of the restaurant when the host realized that none of the open four tops had been cleaned. Literally, in that entire space, not one table for four people had been cleaned and re-set. He told us to wait here for a minute while he got someone to clean a table, after standing there for a minute with no one in sight, we simply sat at a round table for six people. Whatever, fine by me, but those tables never got cleaned during our entire time there, not that it affected us directly, but it wasn't a pretty sight to me. Service during dinner was absent and we had to ask for things constantly, I've had worse, but it is just depressing.

And, to be honest, the food wasn't a whole lot better. The pizzas were all soggy, so all the taste in the world, and they were tasty, just couldn't make up for it. The bolognese was stuck together, literally the whole thing was pretty much stuck together. Just not good.

Listen, I got tired of all the bashing that Bebo took on this board, it seemed excessive at times even if it was all 100% true. In fact, it actually kept me from writing about it for the past five days, but my friend who was visiting from Connecticut actually asked me this morning if I had written anything about it because she still couldn't get the bad experience out of her mind. So, here I am writing about it, which is truly depressing when there are all these other great restaurants to go visit and write about. No more for me, I am just not going to go to a place that has disappointed me over and over again.

I thought that restaurant was only temporary Donna reopoened Galileo?? Shouldn't that have happened already or be soon? Any word on that?