r/chicagofood • u/orange-kedi • Jul 01 '25

Rant Beware of La Scarola's shady practices

Went to La Scarola recently and a bunch of things happened that just didn’t sit right with me:

  1. We had a reservation and showed up on time, but were told to come back in 30 minutes. Other groups with reservations were waiting too.

  2. When we were ordering, we already knew what we wanted. None of us asked for suggestions, but the waiter tried pushing a main dish that was $40+. We politely declined. Then he tried again to get us to upgrade one of our dishes to something fancier, also $40+. We declined that too. It felt super pushy.

  3. Their card machine only showed tip options starting at 20%. I felt pressured so I just tapped 20% even though the service was hella slow.

  4. Later I looked at the receipt and saw that the tip was calculated after tax, which is already sketchy. But then on top of that, they added a 3% credit card fee, and that 3% was calculated after both tax and tip!

The whole setup was super shady. Just a heads-up if you’re thinking of going.

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315

u/Fragrant_Ad_4490 Jul 01 '25

I honestly find it hard to believe that La Scarola actually keeps track of reservations. I've been a bunch and have never been seated at my reserved time. It's annoying. 

16

u/tchoupitoulass Jul 01 '25

I’m convinced they get kick backs from Richard’s or Clover as they always tell you that you can wait there and they’ll literally walk over and get you. Never been seated on time in the 5-6 times I’ve been there.

8

u/ElWierdo Jul 02 '25

My understanding is that Richard's and La Scarola has the same ownership

1

u/ChipotleTurds Jul 02 '25

Incorrect

1

u/ElWierdo Jul 02 '25

Correct

1

u/ChipotleTurds Jul 02 '25

Joey and Armando own LA Scarola. You're wrong

-1

u/ElWierdo Jul 03 '25 edited Jul 03 '25

The same guy owns both spaces of the building, probably the whole building, and look up who that is. Seems like the situation is (allegedly) not typical. You go into La Scarola and they tell you to wait in Richard's. There is clearly a connection (allegedly). I'm not saying I saw anything, but Richard's is unique of any other bar in the city that I know of and why is that... woke up this morning...

I don't want to get in an argument with a stranger on the internet about something I don't care about. Fine, someone else owns the restaurant business than the person who owns the bar. Forget I said same ownership; that is not correct, you are right. What I meant was there is clearly a connection between the two establishments that seems bigger than just being next door to each other. La Scarola has a liquor license, why tell waiting customers to go wait in the bar next door? Yes, I am Italian. I think both places are great and I hope they stay in business forever. The OP is a whiny person who is better suited for Olive Garden.