Business ProfileforMilano Cafe & Deli

Very disappointing. I purchased a Groupon coupon that offered $30.00 in food for $15.00. They only give you the choice of two pasta dishes. I chose the spaghetti with two meatballs. The meatballs were very dense and difficult to cut with a fork and tasted awful. The spaghetti was undercooked, chewy, and mediocre at best. There were three tiny, wilted, flavorless pieces of basil in the spaghetti.I did not like the spaghetti sauce at all. There was no small container of Parmesan cheese included. The salad was iceberg lettuce and was only the bitter yellow pieces, no green leaves. The dressing was strongly vinegar and not pleasant. The croutons were good. While the offer was for $30.00 worth of food, that was a joke. The menu on the wall showed that the spaghetti with two meatballs cost $12.99. The horrible salad and the dry focaccia bread with no olive oil or herbs was not memorable. This was definitely not $30.00 worth of food. I think this was an unethical business practice. They sell deli items and the Bonne Maman jams sell for $8.99 and even at Gelson's, it's only $7.99. You can buy it for $4.99 at Amazon Fresh. I had my order to go. Instead of putting the cold salad in a separate bag from the hot spaghetti, they put the salad on top of the hot spaghetti. I will never return to this restaurant again. They've been open for more than six months and should have corrected these problems already. This Groupon deal was a ripoff. They do not provide $30.00 worth of food for $15.00. Just now.

Typical case of "no good deed goes unpunished". This women came in confused about whether she was in the right place to redeem a Groupon. She forgot her phone and forgot to bring a printed coupon so she had no idea what she bought on Groupon.

I felt sorry for her because she looked a bit down and out in need of a meal. Even though we were busy I went to my computer to look her up and redeemed her $15 Groupon for a $20.48 meal, based on her name and drivers license. I believe she paid only $12 or less for the Groupon as it was on sale from time to time by Groupon. Go to Groupon and you will see our offers (though I have deactivated them). But the question is, how would she know what she bought as she did not bring in the Groupon or her phone.

Here is what she bought: Milano Meal for One Person: (Two Entree Options) with Caesar Salad and Focaccia Bread $20.48.

Here is what she thought she bought from Groupon: Happy Hour: $30 Toward Dinner for Two People or More; Valid Any Day 3 - 5 p.m. $30

She took the meal to-go and did not eat it here so who knows what she did to it. If you read our other reviews the only way it could have been as bad is she says is if she forgot and left it in the car for hours, forgot to refrigerate it (considering everything else she forgot this is entirely possible) and/or she microwaved it to death in order to reheat it. I forgive her for her grossly inaccurate post because I sense she has dementia or other issues that bring out forgetfulness and meanness.

If we did something wrong I would gladly apologize but she thinks she bought our $30 Groupon when in fact she only bought our $15 Groupon so I understand why she is upset, her anger just is not legitimate. I can only say I feel sorry for her and will pray that her condition does not further deteriorate.

As for pricing, we are a very small enterprise and do not get volume discounts like Gelson's does for all its stores. Depending on the product we can be a little more or a little less than the competition. If she wants to spend $3 in gas driving to Gelson's in order to save $1 on jam then that is her prerogative but again this is not rational thinking.

I overlooked the BBB's response to my complaint until now as I have been involved as an Election Worker for this current primary election.

The first thing that stood out to me when I read the response from the owner of Milano Cafe is how bizarre it was. When something is this over- the-top, it is obviously made up in order to make the writer look good by making the complainant look badly. To begin with, I am an educated, professional, woman with a Bachelor's degree from UCLA and a master's degree from the University of Southern California (USC). I have been a Licensed Clinical Social. Worker since 1985 and had a rewarding career doing adoption work. Nothing that this man said even resembled reality.
I was not confused about whether I was in the right place to redeem the Groupon coupon and knew exactly what my coupon was for. It is true that I inadvertently left my phone at home, which is not a sign of mental illness! At ten lbs. overweight I definitely did not look as though I was in need of a meal. I probably have more income than he is able to generate from his little cafe, where I was the only customer in the establishment, and definitely have more education than he has.

What I received for this coupon is a meal that sells for $12.99 in the cafe. The coupon advertises that you're getting up to 31% off. Judging by these misstatements, I have formed the opinion that this man is conniving and dishonest. I suppose he can get away with this ostensibly false advertising by using the term, "up to". He claimed that I paid $12.00 for a $15.00 coupon for a $20.48 meal. This, in itself, is odd. The meal I received showed on the menu as selling for $12.99. Perhaps the tasteless slice of focaccia and the alleged caesar salad, which was made with the bitter yellow inner leaves of iceberg lettuce, rather than a true caesar salad which is made with romaine, were a la carte. At any rate, the meal was terrible.

The owner went on to concoct a story that I may have left the meal in a hot car for hours, forgot to refrigerate it, or microwaved it to death. His story became more convoluted the more he wrote. He said that I ordered the meal as take-out rather than ate in the cafe. There are no tables or chairs inside the cafe. The allegation of my having dementia is rather extreme and shows that he is attempting to make me look as deranged as possible in order to prove his point. He goes on to state that my thinking is not rational however he created a scenario that I would be spending $3.00 to drive to Gelson's to save $1.00 when he has no idea where I live or if I even was interested in buying the over-priced jam. His stream of consciousness and lies prove the point I made, namely that I believe this is a dishonest man. He is the one who is guilty of irrational thought.

The happy unintended consequence of my complaint is that this man has deactivated his offers with Groupon, which is a good thing. If you would like to have a more accurate demonstration as to who is telling the truth,I would suggest that you arrange a meeting and have both of us come to your office. You will then see how disturbed this man is.

This man's lies began in response to the negative review I wrote of his cafe. I think he became enraged because he was revealed as dishonest and having awful food. In his original response to my review, he stated that the cafe was very busy when I came in and that he just went ahead and let me have the meal. I was the only customer in the restaurant. Upon my entry, a man was picking up a take-out order and nobody else even entered while I was there. When I looked on the website for this cafe, I saw only one negative review. Since he removed my negative review, my suspicion is that he removes all negative reviews. He accused the writer of the negative review of committing libel. He should have taken his own advice and not "committed libel" when discussing me!

I will look forward to your response.


Yours truly,



Dee Dee Shulman
P.O. Box 2702
Toluca Lake,CA 91610-0702