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Trattoria de Ajijic - Ajijic


jkgourmet

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(was this place formerly Giovanni's?)

Please note that we are well traveled and reasonable people. We don't expect to get great Italian food all over the world. (Though we did have a decent pizza in North Thailand once, just on a lark). Nor do we expect to get great sushi in places that don't have easy access to fresh fish. We are logical about our expectations.

After dining at Trattoria Ajijic, we can say we have finally had a really bad meal in Lakeside. In three years of visits, this is the first time we can say that the food, service, atmosphere, everything was awful. Place was nearly empty, totally empty by the time we finished. The birds in their cages are charming, but the smell from those cages. . . The service was disinterested and apathetic. The food was bad. Just incredibly bad.

dea), is way high. Reds that are widely available in local restaurants for $140-$170 pesos were $200 and up here. Nearly a 4X markup from retail, which is ridiculous, IMO, anywhere in the world. We each ordered only a glass of wine, which on happy hour prices was 5 peso's less than the regular $45 pesos. Dreadful swill - this may be one of the few times I left wine in the glass when we left.

We split a medium pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and a few other things on there. I can't tell you what because the most memorable thing about this pizza was the Walmart quality pepperoni, the soft gushy crust, and the notably cheap cheese. Half of it went home with us, never to be touched for next morning leftovers.

We split an order of linguine Carbonara. I'll give the restaurant points for including a generous amount of meat (bacon and prosciutto) in the dish. I only wish I could report it tasted good. I recognize that this is a heavy, rich dish. But this one was a greasy and oily mess. Ever hopeful, I packed up the leftovers and reheated the next morning. Upon exiting the microwave, the dish was swimming in oil. It didn't taste any worse or better than the night before, but the appearance of that oil just put me off. Most of it ended up trashed - a shameful waste of decent bacon and prosciutto.

If there is any reason to visit this place, I can't imagine what it would be.

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We used to get their Lazagna and salad for lunch - 60 pesos. Then we went back and they rainsed to 80 pesos. 25% raise in price. When I was working I was lucky to get a 2-3% raise. We have not been back since they raised their price so much.

The traveler

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We went there once, about nine years ago, for very good veal parmesan. They also had nice music and good service.

We went there once more and they had raised the price and reduced the portion size considerably. The waiter was a 'wise guy'.

We went once more, when we won a dinner at some event. It wasn't worth the trip and they weren't happy to honor the certificate they had donated. Service & food were poor.

We went once more, some few years ago, to see if things had improved. That was a mistake.

Never again! I think it has become a 'sports bar' sort of place, where the food doesn't seem to matter.

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We went there once, about nine years ago, for very good veal parmesan. They also had nice music and good service.

We went there once more and they had raised the price and reduced the portion size considerably. The waiter was a 'wise guy'.

We went once more, when we won a dinner at some event. It wasn't worth the trip and they weren't happy to honor the certificate they had donated. Service & food were poor.

We went once more, some few years ago, to see if things had improved. That was a mistake.

Never again! I think it has become a 'sports bar' sort of place, where the food doesn't seem to matter.

I've enjoyed the eggplant parmesan there but stopped going when I couldn't get a simple glass of water, had to buy a bottle. To me, that is penny-wise and pound foolish.

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My wife and I were there last about 3 years ago. I ordered the eggplant parmesan which was quite good. When the bill came, my eggplant was $30 pesos more than on the menu. When I asked the waiter about it, he said I had veal parmesan, not eggplant. I politely told him he was mistaken, that I definitely had eggplant, and asked him to remove the $30 pesos from the bill. When he refused, I asked for the manager. She came over and said she could tell I had the veal as my plate had oval ends and the veal is served on oval ended plates while the eggplant is served on round plates. Friends with us, that ate there at least once a week, told her I had eggplant. She again argued I had veal. I told the manager I would pay the bill, minus the $30 pesos, but would never be back and our friends, whom the manager knew to be regulars said the same. The manager turned red in the face, ripped our entire bill, and told us to get out and never return. We haven't.

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This might explain why the place is nearly empty all the time.

You can sometimes get away with poor attitude and lousy customer service skills if the food is great,or adequate food with a welcoming, warm ambience - the trattoria has neither.

We have eaten there several times,and were accompanied by friends from Mexico City on one occasion who wanted to try it [ I think that was due to the heavy advertising the restaurant does in the area] They found it very expensive by their standards,found the food to be poor,and we all had less than stellar meals. A mixed seafood plate in a tomato broth was dreadful- chewy overcooked squid and shrimps swimming in a bitter tasting oily mess -when it was removed from the table with very little eaten, no one bothered to ask if there was a problem with the dish.

The fettucine alfredo was thick and gluey, I think they may have used the recipe that includes Carnation Milk - just plain nasty.

The lasagne was probably the best thing we ate there, but again very oily and overly rich.

I hear that the pizza is supposed to be decent - didn't want to risk another visit.

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This might explain why the place is nearly empty all the time.

You can sometimes get away with poor attitude and lousy customer service skills if the food is great,or adequate food with a welcoming, warm ambience - the trattoria has neither.

We have eaten there several times,and were accompanied by friends from Mexico City on one occasion who wanted to try it [ I think that was due to the heavy advertising the restaurant does in the area] They found it very expensive by their standards,found the food to be poor,and we all had less than stellar meals. A mixed seafood plate in a tomato broth was dreadful- chewy overcooked squid and shrimps swimming in a bitter tasting oily mess -when it was removed from the table with very little eaten, no one bothered to ask if there was a problem with the dish.

The fettucine alfredo was thick and gluey, I think they may have used the recipe that includes Carnation Milk - just plain nasty.

The lasagne was probably the best thing we ate there, but again very oily and overly rich.

I hear that the pizza is supposed to be decent - didn't want to risk another visit.

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We've had good and bad food here. The small vegetarian pizza is OK for a quick take out meal. However, the last time I ate there, I had the salad bar. Spent the next two days in the bathroom with a nasty case of food poisoning. Can't be sure the salad did it, but you can bet, I won't go back there.

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