Birreria Francigena In Berceto

26/12/2023: With family and friends we decided to have Christmas lunch at Malaspina, with regret I can say that this was our first and most likely last experience... Fixed price €60 with drinks included and live music: not bad on paper considering that the menu consisted of starters with salami and focaccia, cod meatballs and octopus soup, 2 first courses with artichoke and shrimp lasagna and yellow risotto with sausage , a second course with roast with mashed potatoes and chestnuts, 2 desserts and coffee. Children's menu €30: a little expensive considering a plate of pasta with tomato sauce, cutlet with potatoes.. Premise...there must have been at least 200 diners in our room alone, plus another smaller room, so there were really a lot of us. When booking, a deposit of €20 per person was rightly requested, refundable up to 7 days before Christmas. Upon arrival, before starting lunch, you obligatorily had to pay the bill otherwise they wouldn't start serving you: understandable because the crafty people who go out with an excuse and don't pay are often there... We start lunch around 12.30 with the starters, which in my opinion are good, after which the problems begin... 45 minutes to serve the lasagna, unfortunately very unappealing (see photo). After a wait of 55 minutes the risotto arrived... it turned out to be the best dish. The problem is that it was 3pm and we were still eating the first one.. After another hour of waiting the second course arrives...unfortunately the puree was so acidic that it made the entire course inedible, having been served together. At this point some diners abandoned their tables and left both because of the food but also because the service was too slow. The restaurant manager went around the tables apologizing and tried to make up for it by bringing cheeses that were not on the menu. Finally around 5.30pm we manage to conclude the lunch, which has now become a wedding, with a slice of chocolate panettone or panettone with cream and coffee. The live music consisted of a singer and a musician, with 70s/80s/90s revivals. Something probably happened in the kitchen that caused all these unexpected events, the waiters did their best to limit the damage, but the experience was not good. I hope it was an isolated case because the structure is beautiful and has a lot of potential.