So, I needed a bite to eat after arriving in Birmingham mid-evening. When it comes to a reliable, inexpensive I've given up on Ask in London in favour of Pizza Express, but this one was close to my hotel. The interior is very bright and cheery in a 50s-70s way, with mint green vinyl banquettes and funky chairs. The designers have clearly worked hard. There are lots of tiles on the walls and floor, which tends to reflect the noise bit. But it was all very clean. I was seated pretty quickly but then, despite being pretty quiet, it took over ten minutes to get served. I think they'd forgotten me, to be honest, and I hate having to wave to attract attention. Still, once served the olives and their new "Messina" craft beer arrived soon after, were nice, and the Pizza came swiftly. This was less good - a bit doughy and chewy to be frank. A pity. Service had perked up with my coffee arriving quickly. So an ok experience, just not memorable. read more

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Ask Italian is located towards the end of New Street in the centre of Birmingham, it is a pretty good location and is central. The staff here were probably the worst I experienced not just during my time in Birmingham, a city where I spent two nights in July 2019, but also at any Ask branches and I've visited over 5% of their stores to date. I tried to ring the store and press the bell on numerous occasions for help getting into the store and they offered nothing - they mentioned they ignored it when another guest went in, which proves the store does not care about disabled people to the point where they ignore a speciality disabled service bell, I'd accept the fact they ignored phone calls too down to them being busy but they weren't. To make the service levels worse, the staff member refused to move when I asked for a few minutes to look through the menu with my friend which made me want to get the hell out of there - the store wasn't too busy so she felt it was appropriate to just stand there and stare, despite asking her for a few more minutes before ordering on three occasions. I was also upset to find out regarding the unavailability of many menu items and drinks - I mean come on, are the suppliers and the staff having a competition for being so damn shitty? I've visited six different branches of Ask Italian (around 5% of their branches) until now my average has been 3.1 with experiences resulting in a three-star rating from Sheffield to Manchester, to a four-star rating in London, up until now I've never experienced a really bad branch which warranted less than a three-star rating which is what makes this all the more shocking, to have an experience so bad I had to leave. I felt unwelcomed so this place surely has to warrant a one-star rating to match that. read more

I usually try to avoid chain restaurants as much as possible but ASK Italian has definitely earned my repeat custom! I must admit that I tend to have preconceived notions about what I can expect from chains, and those thoughts caused Brittany A. and I to avoid ASK Italian until recently. Let's start with the food. I judge Italian chains on how well the pasta is cooked and the quality of sauces. At this location, I've tried spaghetti with pomodoro sauce and rigatoni with pesto. On both of these dishes ASK definitely passes with distinction. The pomodoro or all pasta dishes can in fact be ordered as a half portion with a side salad at a lower cost. The size of a half portion is still substantial enough to fill me up. Their pomodoro is thick and rich with the garlic and herb flavours accenting the tomatoes well. The pesto is sublime, once again rich, not watery with a good salty bite from the garlic and pecorino. The pasta in all cases was cooked properly al dente, as it should. One of my favourite things about eating here outside of the food is the pricing. If you have a NUS Card, Gourmet Society Card, or sign up for discounts on their website, you can average anywhere from 20-40% off your total bill. We recently dined on a Monday evening, where we were able to share an appetiser, dine on two pasta entrees, and share a dessert all for £20. Even without a discount the food is of high enough quality and large portion size for it to be a good value in comparison to a lot of other chains in the New Street area. Service at the New Street location is exceptional. Staff here delicately balance the need for service without bothering customers too much. Tap water is served in large pitchers that are quickly refilled upon request. At busy lunch times, you can expect to get in and out within 30 minutes or so depending on your order, and an evening time three-course meal can be completed in an hour. If you want a no frills, classic Italian lunch or dinner priced right with quality ingredients (and don't mind a chain), then ASK Italian is definitely worth a look. read more

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I was very pleasantly surprised when a friend and I visited this recent addition the ASK chain. I have never been to an ASK restaurant before I was not expecting it to be nearly as good as it was. The restaurant itself has a 'chain' feeling upon arrival but has had some more interesting touches and lighting added to inject a little personality to the space. I went for the antipasto starter that was fresh, well presented and full of flavour and the Insalata Ottima Salad which contained chicken breast, butter beans, walnuts and avocado.....all things that I LOVE. Again the salad was very well presented and the offer of fresh black pepper and parmesan from our waiter was a nice and authentic touch. My only slight negative about my experience was that the waiters although attentive and helpful seemed a little over worked. They kept a smile on their faces the whole time but were clearly very busy, maybe a few extra staff on shift would have made this a 4 star review! read more

ASK Italian - Italian Near Me - Birmingham, BIR

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Recently visited ASK on a Monday, knowing they did 40% off for NUS extra cardholders! It was my first time visiting this location and I really enjoyed it. Decor is modern but classy, definitely feels quite affluent and in keeping with other restaurants on New Street. We started with aperol spritz, a Venetian aperitif that my partner and I fell in love with in Italy and have sorely missed and ASK's version was pretty damn good! The waitress made a mistake telling us they served Peroni "rosso" but when she realised it was not the beer we were asking for she kindly offered to return the beers to the kitchen and take them off our order so we did not have to have unwanted items, fantastic service. We asked for tap water which was provided in a carafe with ice and lemon. Perfect. The food was excellent - although if you are expecting authentic focaccia this isn't the place for you - and the portions are more than generous. On request the staff provided me with a take out box and boxed up my risotto as after gorging myself on starters (fried zucchini in batter, calamari, focaccia with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dip) I could only manage half of my creamy chicken and mushroom risotto! From experience they do an amazing hazelnut ice cream I would heartily recommend, but on this visit I was too full even for this! Next time, Gadget! read more

ASK Italian - Aperol Spritz - Italian Near Me - Birmingham, BIR

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Pleasant enough visit to Ask for an early dinner. Had one of the prima pizzas topped with sliced steak. Steak was beautifully done but pizza was a bit light on chillis and other flavours for my taste. They did provide chilli oil on the side though. Had the chocolate lava mountain for dessert, one to avoid if you're on a diet! Nice enough though if you like rich chocolate desserts. Overall it was fine but I don't think I'll rush back. read more

ASK Italian - Italian Near Me - Birmingham, BIR

While I've been to Ask in Solihull many times, this is the first time I've visited the one on New St. When you walk in, you'll see the restaurant is nice and spacious, and furnished in a strange modern 70's clash which somehow works quite well. The staff seem quite polite, but our waitress in particular was a bit inattentive, and explained in an almost patronising way how our voucher for 2 courses for £10.95 worked. Maybe she was trying to be helpful, but it came across quite bad. After the starters were taken away and the main course came, we had to ask for more cutlery to actually eat it with. Later on when my girlfriend asked for another drink, and nothing came for 10 minutes, she had to go to the bar to ask for it, and then another 10 minutes later the waitress came over to see if everything was OK with the meal (we'd almost finished by then) so we pointed out the lack of drink which we'd ordered, she said "It's on the bar" and took a step away, then said "I'll go and get it then". The food was great though, and they have changed the recipes on some things for the better since my last visit to the Solihull branch, so that was also a nice surprise! The waitress did agree to take the drink which almost never came off of the bill, however the poor service did leave a bit of a sour taste. Hopefully our experience was a one off, and the other staff do a better job, but I couldn't fault the restaurent itself or the delicious food! read more

Yes it's a chain, and I know everyone resents chains. But forgetting that for a second, this place is actually pretty good. Nice wine (we had the pinot grigio), and excellent pasta mains. The rice ball starter was a little disappointing I thought, I wish I'd chosen better. The decor here is clean, fresh and hip, and it's a good location. Service was good, but not outstanding. Just enough to get by! Weird side note, the floor in this restaurant is so slippery that both my colleague and I nearly fell flat on our faces (whilst wearing flat shoes). Maybe a little grit would help keep everybody upright? read more

Sunday night late lunch for four people... and they did very well. The waitress was busy but still managed to get around to us with only slight delays. She turned up right on que when our final party member The food was good quality and well done. We had the long pizzas (mozzarella) a calzone, vege salad , the butterfly king prawns and side salad. The pizza is was lovely and thin and the prawns were very nice. We had a peroni, white wine (don't remember the type) & juice which as all good and served cold or in an ice bucket. The only slight niggle about the meal was the Sea Breeze cocktail was fairly light on the vodka. All over a decent place to dine :) read more

This place looks really good from outside and inside. Lovely interior and at a really good location. Victoria Square just a minute away and few minutes to Colmore Row. Had pizza and was good just wished had more toppings and barely any chicken on it. What is it with these pizza places and toppings? pricey and barely anything on there. read more

Can't go wrong with Ask. Very good quality food. Very very good prices. As a 21 year old I often look at prices, not being tight but...I'm not made of money! And for a starter (garlic bread) 2 mains (Stromboli pizza and Mushroom pasta with chicken, cheese and side salad) and a desert (honeycomb cheesecake) -with a soft drink and alcoholic drink, £36.65. The service was fast and friendly, and everyone else around us got treated the same. For a busy Saturday evening I was rather impressed. I would recommend this to anyone in Birmingham City centre as it's in a good location and easy to find. read more

Love the decor here! Food is great too- reasonable selection and not too over faced with pizza! Service was reasonable and meant that I was able to go within my lunchtime:) read more

Not bad. Went for a Fettucini con verdure, some rosemary salt bread and washed it down with a pink lemonade. The food didn't let me down but it's not amazing either. Reliable chain option. Very very (too) kid friendly even quite late on a weekend night! read more

Wanted a quick, convenient evening meal. Couldn't be bothered cooking after meeting wife at the station. She said she fancied an Italian, so we picked Ask. It's right on New St, just a short stroll from the station. Even better she had found an online voucher for 25% off food. It looks good, stylish with a really nice interior. So top marks for decor. We were met at the door and seated straight away. Unfortunately we were underneath the AC unit with a bit of a cold draught. Took a while to attract attention but once we asked to move we were quickly given a new table. So to the menu. To be honest, it's a bit formulaic and I just didn't find it inspiring. It took a few minutes to decide but then it took a lot more minutes to attract anybody's attention to give our order. The service was so poor I was within seconds of walking out. For starters we ordered the selection of anti-pasti (stuzichinni) with rosemary bread. This was similar to what arrived, for some reason they brought olive oil bread instead. The antipasti was pretty good, the bread was so-so. For mains we had meatballs (Rigatoni) and Penne Al Pollo. Both were disappointing. The meatballs were a bit stodgy and lacking in flavour. Maybe it was the lighting but the Penne looked a very unappetising colour, sort of grey, most unappealing. It was also bland. lacking in flavour. The wine was acceptable and, had the food been better, the price was very reasonable (helped by the voucher). In summary, all top show. Decor good, style good, service poor food bland and stodgy. How did they ever become successful? read more

Got my food lightening fast only to end up waiting 20 mins for the bill. I had to flag two wait staff down before I finally cashed out.

This was only my second time visiting an ASK Italian after a decent first visit for some reason I was a bit skeptical about another visit. Before I had the new rump steak tagliata pizza which was severed medium rare and very tasty. I went for the same again expect on the bigger prima base. My doubts were put to rest as the meat was perfectly cooked and I was pleasantly surprise by the thickness of the base as some rustica are stretched too thin these days. As a group of 8 all the food arrived pretty much together. everyone enjoyed the experience and with a 25% discount before 5 it was great value too. I still mourn for a larger selection of beers in Italians as I don't think just stocking peroni is good enough these days. So I went for a glass of chianti riserva which was really nice. Don't be put off with the dark exterior. The restaurant is bright, warm and welcoming on the inside. I look forward to my next visit. read more

ASK Italian - Interior - Italian Near Me - Birmingham, BIR

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A friend and I decided to go here for a quick bite one Saturday lunchtime; we walked in from the street and got seated within a few minutes. We were sat at a table that was situated close to the other tables around it which was a little awkward at first as you could hear other people's conversations, but once we'd tuned them out it was okay. The staff weren't quick to pick up on the fact that we'd made up our minds about our order which would normally have been fine but as we were in a rush it was a little inconvenient - we just waved enthusiastically though and someone was right there to help us soon enough. We both ordered the same pizza but my friend is lactose and wheat intolerant so she had hers without gluten or cow's cheese. They were very helpful about this and the waitress confirmed with the chef that this was all possible; after a few checks that they had the order right, our food came out very quickly; it seemed like 10-15 minutes or so. The pizzas were delicious and I couldn't fault them and I also like the fact that they serve the fruity San Pellegrinos for soft drinks - blood orange all the way ;) At this point I feel I should add that the glassware, crockery and decor are all very funky here and make for a good conversation piece! Once we were done and wanted our bill, we waved at a member of staff again and it was all done quite efficiently, we were both able to get to our next appointments in time. I'd certainly recommend this place for a quick lunchtime stop when you fancy a break from your shopping. read more

Loved the food and the décor in the restaurant but overall didn't have a great time here. To be fair we arrived without a reservation at a busy time and were seated immediately. The table was directly next to the kitchen which made for a hot and noisy environment. The problem was the service, we waited a long time for our starter (which we could see sitting on the kitchen counter for 10mins just a foot away from us, I was tempted to help myself), then we waited in vain for our second round of drinks which only arrived when we flagged down our waiter. We were told there was no barman (which was true given the pile of glasses around the corner) but didn't receive an apology and the drinks were only a glass of water and a can of pop (not exactly cocktail). So we left a bit disgruntled. In fairness to Ask, they have been really great and apologised in a big way since so we will give it another chance soon as the food we had was good. read more

I have only been in ASK once but I became a fan. There was a real buzz about the place and this was only lunch time. There was 6 of us and we all said the place was great and the waiters were very friendly. I asked a question about the food and they went to find out and came back to me straight away with an answer. The food was lovely and hot. All of us enjoyed it and said we would go back again. read more