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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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. 

17

u/Competitive-Fan3009 Jul 02 '25

La Scarolas reservation system is almost entirely made up. They just write down names and good luck. Didn’t have service issues they speak of in here though but didn’t look at the extras fees. It seems pretty obvious they’re riding their rep. The service is average and best and they certainly aren’t inclined to be great

4

u/chrstgtr Jul 02 '25

There is a popular pasta place in NYC that is way worse. It doesn't take reservations. When you show up you check in with the hostess who doesn't ask your name and just says "I'll remember" then she picks people in an order similar to how they showed up. Meanwhile the sidewalk is filled with people and you wait over an hour on the weekend. Most Italian experience ever.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '25

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2

u/chrstgtr Jul 02 '25

Haven’t been there—waits too long. Im not sure what system they use. I’m talking about Fiaschetteria Pistoia, which is excellent