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Local The BiBo

Discussion in 'Food, Drinks and Dining' started by hungry, Mar 18, 2011.

  1. hungry

    hungry Guest

    anyone try this place yet? it looks amaaazing! the best part is that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. http://thebibo.com/
     
  2. Craig

    Craig Guest

    I was at Bibo on Tuesday March 22nd for dinner. We had red wine by the glass and decided to share Gnocchi with meat ragu and a Boccone Pizza. The Gnocchi was cooked well, but the sauce was average in regards to the flavor. The Pizza was tasty but was almost floating in oil. We had asked for extra parmesan cheese, and once we emptied the cheese from the side dish, we filled it with the oil that we drained off the pizza plate (there was that much). I have not been to Italy, and also admit I have never had a pizza experience like this.

    I mentioned to the server (Julie) that the pizza was good, but far too oily. She did not acknowledge the complaint or do anything about it. When it came time to pay the bill, another male server came to settle the bill. He asked how the meal was and I told him about the oily pizza. Behind the server, this man in pedestrian clothing (jeans and jacket) interrupted the conversation and wanted to explain to me why the pizza was so wet and oily. Having no idea who this guy was that so rudely interrupted our conversation, I told him I was not interested in what he had to say. I thought he was from the table behind us.

    The guy that interrupted my conversation then dimmed the lights – so despite the lack of professional attire, I realized he worked there. I wondered how on earth this guy could have interrupted my conversation without identifying who he was, or introducing himself. I asked out waiter who he was _ and she said he was the owner.

    I asked to speak with him. He approached the table and I told him how rude he was to speak over his employee and to interrupt our conversation without introducing himself or revealing his position. He did not really seem to care one way or the other, and seemed more satisfied by telling me that we have free speech and are entitled to our own opinions.
    I am not sure what happened to the pin striped suits that we saw at the opening, but I think they went out with the style and class
     
  3. milquetoast

    milquetoast Senior Member

    Judging from some other comments I've heard, you're not the only one disappointed. The most common complaint I'm hearing is the pizza being soggy (maybe they need to step up quality control in the kitchen). They brought out all the guns for their launch party to impress the food bloggers and social media pundits but I guess they couldn't maintain that level of service and quality.

    Nevertheless, I'm still willing to give them a try. The prices seem okay, can anyone comment on the portion sizes?
     
  4. Natasha

    Natasha Guest

    On behalf of the owners of The Bibo – Lorenzo and Andrea – we are sorry to hear that you’ve had a negative experience at the restaurant. Lorenzo – the gentleman who joined your discussion with the waiter – is extremely passionate about his restaurant and food and wanted to quickly resolve your concerns about the pizza. We apologize if you felt his manner was inappropriate to the situation. Please note that the owners take feedback very seriously. They’re aware that the Neapolitan style of pizza they offer may not be familiar to all Vancouverites but hope the flavours and blends will appeal to the majority of their guests. Lorenzo and Andrea extend their apologies to you and invite you to join them again at your convenience for a glass of wine while you taste-test the latest incarnation of their beloved pizza.

    Blogger Relations & Care
    Natasha N Davies
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    i think 'craig' is a competitor trying to give bibo a bad name because he posted his bad review on several blogs and sites.
     
  6. bibo

    bibo Guest

    another bad bibo review.. http://www.facebook.com/notes/nancy-wong/bibo-a-bad-experience/200140876673831

    "I don't normally comment on restaurants. It's not my nature to criticize, but I had a terrible experience this afternoon that i think deserves sharing. What do you think? I & a friend went to the newly open & much-lauded BiBo for lunch today. They are open 11 - 3. We arrived well before 2, ordered 2 glasses of wine & perused the menu. The charming server informed us right away they were out of burrata (one of their specialty ingredients) - fair enough. We order 2 pizzas (promoted as a specialty from their wood-burning oven). About 8 minutes later the server returns & informs us that they are 'out of pizza.' How does an Italian restauarnt that claims to specialize in pizza be 'out of pizza' at least an hour or more before closing? The room was less than 20% full. We are partially through the wine, and are stuck. We don't want pasta, so decide to leave. The manager has left the server to deal with us on her own. She is clearly distressed No offer of a 'rain check', no apology, no 'we hope you'll come back.' We are given a a bill for the wine. We pay it and walk across the street to Trattoria Kitchen where we receive a warm welcome. Won't bother going back to BiBo. Trattoria Kitchen across the street has nothing to be afraid of."
     
  7. milquetoast

    milquetoast Senior Member

    ^It happens. Maybe with all the buzz they had more pizza orders that day and didn't prepare enough dough. Depending on how they prepare it, it can take a few hours. Commenting on the fact that the room was only 20% full is moot, the fact that they had to 86 two items means that it was likely busy in the 2 hours before the reviewer arrived. Maybe they had a lot of take out orders as well. It could even be the case that they're still working out how much they need to prep since they are a relatively new restaurant. Perhaps I'm too forgiving.

    I agree, it certainly reflects poorly on the restaurant when they have the 86 one of their main items but given the circumstances (a lot of social media attention), it's not out of the ordinary. Now if the reviewer arrived way earlier, then it would be odd.

    I'll give them the bit about service as it sounds like the restaurant could have handled the situation better.
     
  8. Kate78

    Kate78 Guest

    Hi all,

    Thankfully, my experience with the restaurant has been more positive. I went last week with a girl friend and shared a fantastic pizza. I also had one of their fresh pastas which was cooked perfectly. They seemed really busy, but growing pains are a sign of success in the biz ;).

    Kate
     
  9. pizzaiolo

    pizzaiolo Guest

    Real authentic Neapolitan pizza is soggy or wet in the middle, Bibo is aiming at authenticity. Search neapolitan pizza + soggy and you'll see what i mean.
     
  10. randy hammer

    randy hammer Guest

    Unhelpful and hurried would be a kind way to describe my first and last visit to the bibo. Save yourself the disappointment and inconvenience by choosing anywhere but this joke of a restaurant.The Bi-boooooo had no problem taking a reservation for 17, but is seriously lacking the organization or skills to make it a pleasant or fulfilling experience for anyone.The group was split into two tables. (10 and 7)Not the end of the world, but would have been nice to know this in advance.At the smaller table, we had no introduction or greeting from our waitress, were hurried through our meal, and as we soon found out, had our tables booked for a second seating 2 hours after ours.I guess that would explain why the 2 owners were constantly pacing, pointing, and coming by to look, without once asking how we were doing. They were much more concerned with turning over the tables than making it enjoyable for anyone. In fact, their constant pacing and looking made it uncomfortable, and unenjoyable from the moment we were seated.The waitress was put-off that we didn't have our orders ready right away, yet we only had one menu for 7 people.It bothered her that she had to fetch enough so we could actually order the meal. It got worse from there.When my underwhelmingly small portion of pasta arrived, there was no fresh parmesan, or pepper, or bread, or anything we might expect from a place who's menu makes such a point of touting it's own magnificence.Before anyone was half way through our meal, we were made aware that our table was needed for the second seating in 45 minutes. Not really our problem, but we tried to be helpful and oblige by eating quickly and moving to the other, bigger table. No offer of drink refills, no mention of dessert, or any apology for their mis-management or poor performance. When we tried to consolidate to one table, the bill arrived there as well before people were even done dining.When I did speak to the owner about how terrible the whole experience was, and made him aware that none of us would ever return, his response was this:"I have lots of patrons that like my restaurant. So don't come back."We weren't rude, noisy, or drunk, as people tend to get at birthdays and large gatherings. We just wanted to eat and be treated as proper, paying patrons.My only saving grace was that I avoided ordering one of their "authentic" soggy, limp and lifeless servings of shit on a shingle that they call pizza.In 37 years of my life I have never had a worse dining experience.If the Bi-Booooo closed today it wouldn't be soon enough. Good luck with your business, jerks.
     
  11. Jeff

    Jeff Guest

    I have, it's terrible. One of the worst dining experiences of my life.
     
  12. K.S.

    K.S. Guest

    To randy, i think it's a little unfair how each person at your table is individually posting bad reviews all over the internet. my 2 cents.
     
  13. milquetoast

    milquetoast Senior Member

    So I finally got around to dropping by BiBo yesterday. Ordered a Margherita pizza to go, it took 28 minutes (forgivable since it was a little before their scheduled opening time). They had neat historical Vancouver books and a whole book filled with Audrey Hepburn pictures in the waiting area (+1 from me for that).

    Left with the pizza, opened the box and noticed that they didn't cut it into slices (lolwhat, how eat?). No utensils or napkins either :confused:.

    As for the pizza itself, there was leoparding on the crust, the pizza sauce smelled great but the cheese did not melt in the most distributed fashion. Taste wise, the cheese and crust were good but the sauce reminded me faintly of soap, oddly enough. I have no basis for comparison for this kind of pizza so maybe the type of tomatoes they're using has to do with it. In terms of how wet it was, the surface was pretty moist and toppings were definitely sliding around. However, to call it soggy would be a misnomer since it didn't soak through and the bottom crust remained nicely done.

    Overall, it was okay but I'm not a huge fan of this type of pizza. It's a try once type of deal for me but I'm still open to trying their pastas and desserts, would also give me a chance to see if their service is as awful as often claimed.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. randy hammer

    randy hammer Guest

    To those claiming it is unfair for a large table to all post negative reviews:
    A negative review is the only legal and fair way a diner can get any retribution for being treated terribly. If we just didn't like the food, then yes, it would be unfair.
    However, the owner who I spoke with directly told us he didn't care that we didn't enjoy our experience and didn't care if we ever came back.
    To me that is grounds for a thousand terrible reviews, a rock through the window and a punch in the face.
    However, being a semi-civilized human, I chose negative reviews.
    He is lucky that only 5 of 17 pissed off people from our party posted negative feedback.
    The stories aren't made up, and we didn't want to be treated royally, just with the respect a paying customer deserves. Not too much to ask.
    The owner did post "apologies" on urban spoon where he accused us of being late for our reso. and basically did himself no favours.
    For the record: 5 of 17 people being between 15 and 30 minutes late is normal for a party of 15+ people and if the majority of the party is there, it shouldn't matter.
    Anyhow. Bibo is still the worst.
    The food is OK, but the attitude and terrible service has got to go.
     
  15. milquetoast

    milquetoast Senior Member

    I've read those apologies and they seem diplomatic to me. I don't see where he's laying blame on you guys. Although, with so many reviews highlighting poor service, I'm starting to think that the owner might have a personality that doesn't go too well with the service industry. Maybe he needs to take a step back and let his employees or wife handle situations more. Making good first impressions is always better than having to do damage control after the fact.

     
  16. randy hammer

    randy hammer Guest

    Maybe I should have clarified that his apology to me is fine and seems genuine.
    I should also clarify that any amount of back pedaling and apologies will never make up for telling a patron that you don't care if he and his group ever come back to your restaurant.
    In my books that is rude and is no way to run a business.
    You get one chance to make a first impression, and he made it clear that he didn't care to make our dining experience enjoyable, or acceptable in any way.
    His apology to the woman who organized our dinner was in no way an apology. He instead accused us of being late and said he never should have seated us.
    In fact, she and the majority of our party were there well before our reservation. A few stragglers were 15 to 30 minutes late, but that is the norm for a party of 15 to 20 people.
    Anyhow, judging from all of the negative press they are receiving, they are doing a great job at alienating diners and making them feel as unwelcome as they did for us.
    I can only hope that this disaster implodes upon itself before it ruins italian food for everyone.
    end rant.
     

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