Osteria Alla Vigna

It was a sucker punch. A bait and switch. My wife and i were attracted by the attractive olive trees and the 2 tables down the steps . We were instead led into a large dining room, not the quaint little place we thought it was. We ordered octopus on the grill for the main. The octopus head was not cleaned well and it had a shell in it. The bread was a little stale. But what did me in was the men’s toilet. It did not flush. The service was fine. The prosciutto e melone was pretty good with white melon and nice prosciutto. We just walked in and regret not doing some research. Seeying it’s 3.2 stars makes sense. Not my fav place.

It’s a scam. Tourists, beware! They charged us €14 for two coffees. When I asked why the price was so high, they replied, “This is Italy.” Well, no. Fortunately, Italy—and Matera in particular—has many places where customers are not ripped off. On top of that, the place was dirty, poorly maintained, and the service was far from professional. No quality whatsoever, just a deliberate rip-off.

We had our first local dish Pignata is a traditional Matera dish featuring tender lamb or mutton, slow-cooked with fresh vegetables, herbs, and local spices in a clay pot. Super nice and the sit have a great view of the Matera.

I'm only giving this a 2 star due to what happened. It started of so well (sounds like a song). We ordered 2 beers and 2 pizzas. They arrived and all was good. We got to talking to another 2 customers at another table just before our food arrived and all was good. The waiter was polite, but when we had said fair well to the couple that were leaving, things seem to change. He started pouring our drinks, asking if everything was OK. We were enjoying the view and taking our time with our meal. I had just finished my pizza, when he more or less just gave me the bill. I never asked for it, he just bounced, and there it was. My partner hadn't even finished her drink. If that was bad enough, another customer arrived and asked for a table for four. One table was empty and the other two were still filled as one of us hadn't even finished. He basically pointed at our table and offered it before we could finish. Not very professional. Mind the extra cost on you bill, it's not worth it.

It wasn’t the choice for our only night in Matera but the children wanted pizza, and we all wanted a view by tramonto, which was great. Service was friendly but with minor slip-ups, the so eagerly anticipated first Aperol spritz of holidays was served completely tasteless but immediately changed. Pizza and other dishes were fine but not overwhelming. It looks the place needs a nice revamp as the potential is there