The closest I have ever felt to being in Italy in Manchester! A really relaxed dining experience…read morewith a fantastic menu. It is a bit out of the way on Chapel Street but it is a trendsetter and will soon be joined by many more businesses I am more than sure! I visited on a Tuesday lunchtime so it was very quiet, service was very attentive and the owner spent a lot of time making sure we were well looked after and answered all our questions. The lunch menu at the time was small and consisted of sandwiches but we were told that this would be expanding soon. A must visit!

If I could add more than 5 stars, I would. The food and service was outstanding. I wish we had…read morefound this earlier than the last night of our trip, we certainly would have gone back.

Been here once on a very cold, very icy day. The warmth alone was probably enough for me to give it…read more5 stars! The food is your typical Italian American fare, burgers, pizza's, etc. They have an open kitchen, which is always nice, as you can see the food being prepared and cooked and can see how clean the kitchen is etc. The service was prompt and the food good, very big portions, bit pricey though if you ask me for what it is. I've been to other Frankie and Benny's and it has to be said it's always been fine, I quite like the music they play and I do know they sing happy birthday to those that ask, making it a good place for parties etc.

A great restaurant specialising in home style cooking 'just like Mamma used to make it'. This is a…read moregreat place to take the entire family and represents excellent value for money in a fun atmosphere. The bar also serves a wide range of beers, wines, spirits, cocktails and soft drinks with a smile. The waiters are hilarious!!

Great place: nice atmosphere, fantastic food and very friendly staff!…read more The visit started with friendly waiter showing us to our table. The menu is quite extensive, and on top of that you have dishes of the day. The staff were also very happy to advise us on the choice when we weren't sure and to explain differences. Portions were quite generous, and the food itself so yummy! Whatever I couldn't finished I took away with me in a box to have a treat for lunch the next day. I would definitely like to come back one day!

I am on a mission to try all the San Carlo restaurants located in Manchester. Cicchetti was nice,…read moresmall, intimate, pretty. Loved the bar area. Service was nice, attentive. Food was delicious, very tasty. The plates were quite small, but great if you want to try more options in one sitting. The only thing I was not happy about was that a mocktail was 8pounds which I think is beyond excessive. Specially when a glass of wine is the same they should fix that. Otherwise, great spot.

Oh my word it was greasy spoon dishes albeit at greasy spoon prices…read more We had only come away from the contracted - out, Coronation St (95 minute tour - £35 a head) that opened at ITV's studio site near the Lowry just in March 2022. We remembered this MPW place fondly though this was pre covid. The reputation brought us back. The restaurant was closed at 2:30pm on a Saturday afternoon except for pre booked afternoon tea, so we were invited to order from the downstairs pub menu, which we did, after all we were told the food was from the same kitchen and, after all, it's MPW so it'll be ok, right? There was little on this menu that I wanted. I'm not a big fan of beef burgers and the meat - based pasta dishes didn't excite - very few fish options - just deep fried cod or farmed salmon. So I tried a brown bread, cod fish finger sandwich. This was a first ever for me as I thought I'd be served a small portion of quality food. I think my wife thought I'd lost my senses. Nope, I was wrong too. It was greasy spoon muck. I'd be astonished if the (3) lukewarm battered fish fingers - that were deep fried and tasted quite greasy - are not bought in pre - frozen from a supermarket. I had rocket on the plate with awful coleslaw (seemed a vegan liquid) and tartare sauce from a jar - if I'm wrong about coming from a jar it sure tasted like it. After tasting I set both aside as they were grim. Most of the sliced, factory - made bread, that wasn't toasted, was also left on the plate. I ordered a side portion of beer battered French fried onions (£3.95 for 8). Again, they were warm, not hot. Had they been served hot they would likely have been really tasty, but here too they were poor and greasy. They did come with a very good béchamel style sauce, so more by accident than design I at least had a sauce to add to the greasy, lukewarm, fish fingers. My wife ordered up a club sandwich with French fries. She says it was fine. Code for not very good - 3 star. Again the fries are factory made so even MPW staff can't even be arsed anymore. I do realise and repeat that we paid greasy spoon cafe prices but I did expect it to be so much better. I'd be happy to pay more for quality. Finally according to the menu, my dish was meant to come with salted crisps but they were left off. I didn't say a thing as I'd enough grease already before me. The bill that included one Coke Zero was £30.05. I rarely ever feel sick as I've a cast iron constitution but as I write this late evening same day review I'm feeling queasy. We won't rush back.

I'm sorry to say Marco's New York Italian MediaCityUK really has gone down-hill in terms of quality…read morebased on my past two experiences in the past year, it seems every dish I've ordered just hasn't been right. Not only is it awkward entering the restauraunt which involves going through a corridor with many doors through conference rooms of the Holiday Inn, but it can also be hard to find a staff member as I was waiting in an unstaffed restauraunt for over five-minutes without a table. I found my gluten-free pizza to be doughy, while my Christmas Dinner was just a mess with hard vegetables and chewy meat, meanwhile, the bread of my burger was also doughy with the meat dry and overcooked. A real shame to see this place go down-hill especially as it falls behind MPW standards. 1*

Food was excellent, but overshadowed by poor service. Our appetizers were delivered but the…read moreappetizers plates were not, until we asked, and even then only kids were given plates despite there being adults. We were given a small glass of water when we were seated and they were not refilled until half way through dinner. The restaurant owner brought by a small carafe of water soon after he started making rounds, but our waiter's attention was elsewhere.

Lovely food, central location and quick service, what else could you possibly ask from a…read morerestaurant? I went in there for a lunch time meal, which is a great way to save costs without quality compromise. Despite the limited selection the choice was fantastic and I don't think you can go wrong. I have to mention that a charity donation has been added to our bill without asking us wether wanted it. I haven't made up my mind yet whether it's a good thing or not. As one hand if you can afford a restaurant maybe you can afford to donate a pound to charity, on the other I don't like when others decide what should I spend my money on.

This place was packed, which is to me a good sign. There is patio seating available, but for faster…read moreservice we sat inside. There is a full, authentic Italian menu. The table next to us had folks speaking Italian, another good sign. Staff were reasonably attentive though we never did get the water we asked for three times. It was a very noisy Saturday and the ambience was pretty fun. As for food, I had the best caprese salad I've ever had (I want to mimic it at home) and 'pasta normale'.

San Carlo has a few restaurants around the city centre, this is their main and larger one, on King…read moreStreet West, just off Deansgate and Bridge Street, opposite the House of Fraser. Being one of the first restaurants to reopen for dine-in, I decided to give this place a chance despite my bad experience at their sister restauraunt, Fumo on New Years Day 2020. The Reservations system is awful, due to the ongoing NHS Track and Trace programme, everywhere from pubs to restaurants must, of course, record their diners information with table bookings wherever possible however the online booking system wouldn't accept either one of my emails, with an off-brand Yahoo email or Protonmail, this meant I had to enter a fake email so I didn't receive any confirmation to my booking, which was concerning. The restauraunt is accessed by a couple of steps but there is a disabled entrance which appears to be unsafe as they place a ramp on a very narrow side-street where there is a curb, meaning it can be very difficult for a disabled person to safely use it. They should speak to Manchester City Council regarding extending the pavement or dropping the curb for customer safety. Big changes to the usual dining experience due to the pandemic included protective screens, similar to buses and supermarkets to separate tables and they used disposable menus. Unlike other restaurants, they still had table service without the need to order on an app. My first disappointment was, of course, the reservations system, and the next a violation of UK law which warranted a complaint to the licensing department at Manchester City Council. They refused to serve me tap water. Under UK law, any place which serves alcohol must also serve tap water. Instead, I had to buy a beverage which I didn't want, an orange juice advertised at fresh (which wasn't) for £3.60. This is serious on its' own as it is a breach of the business' alcohol license. The staff also seemed pretty rude, I was originally told they didn't have gluten-free pasta, only to be told they did (bad communication). They also seemed disgusted with the fact I'd ask for tap water (I don't like drinking with standard lunch meals on my own and prefer water), I also had to ask on three occasions to remove the service charge which is optional (It wasn't stated anywhere), I mean I ordered one course and a drink I didn't want for one person, a service charge is a little much? Interestingly, as soon as I sent an item back and denied the service charge at their sister restauraunt, the staff turned on me and turned "toxic" and it seemed to happen again, the staff member seemed openly angry when I denied the service charge, he sighed and tutted very loudly which made me feel uncomfortable. This is after he pretended not to hear me when I asked to remove it the first two times. The restauraunt was surprisingly busy, I don't think the staff were controlling alcohol intake either, this is supposed to be a classy and high-end restauraunt, with the clientele often including footballers, Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City was spotted here recently. Considering this, the fact they let customers openly walk around shouting very loudly made what was supposed to be a high-end experience, seemed cheap in everything but the price. My Gluten-Free Carbonara, unlike Fumo, came out rather quickly and was hot, however, the pasta just didn't taste fresh and the sauce was so bad, it tasted like dishwater and bleach combined. Gross. I've made much better fresh pasta myself which really shocks me considering the reputation this place has made, I'm not sure if they're trying to cut back on the experience due to revenue lost in the pandemic but that is no excuse for subpar food, rude staff and a breach of the law of the land. Multiple breaches here which means I no longer feel sorry for the business from breaches to customer safety, their alcohol license while serving subpar foods at premium costs. I have no intentions to return to any San Carlo location based on today, propped up by my bad experience at San Carlo Fumo earlier this year. 1*

San Rocco really is out on its own in the Cheetham Hill desert, free from anything else worth…read morementioning really, yet people make the effort to come here. Its a chain but there is only eight of them and they're all around the north - a truly Mancunian establishment then whilst remaining truly Italian in its good quality food. This used to be the standard dinner out when I was younger; you know a treat for the family every once in a while. And it delivers all the friendly, totally unpretentious atmosphere, quick service and range of dishes that such a treat needs. How could it be pretentious I suppose but still, you know what I mean. The building here is really elegant and cool - both inside and out. The restaurant is really spacious and it does really feel like you are in Italy by the sea somewhere: cream walls, light wooden chairs and plants everywhere. Everyone around here knows that San Rocco serves up good Italian food at a good price and you really should always trust the locals.

A hidden gem in the heart of dodgiest Cheetham Hill! Just walking into San Rocco's does feel like…read moreyou have been magically transported from deepest darkest north Manchester to sunny Italy. The food is great too love the (very unitallian) rollmop starter, the wood fired pizzas are superb, perfect handmade pasta that's making my mouth water just thinking about it, very nice house wine! Everything oozes authenticity and quality, and all at prices that didn't scare the shot out of me when I was a poverty stricken graduate!

I really adored this restaurant. It's ran by the type of people who REALLY give a darn about what…read morepeople think of them, their food and especially their service. The staff will joke with you as if you were their friend, they'll make a fuss of you, compliment you and recommend EVERYTHING on the menu. No seriously, don't ask for a recommendation because they say everything - and you can see why when it arrives! You have to go for the full shebang here - Starter, Mains and Dessert. Don't you dare not order one of them! You'll miss out! I opted for Duck for the mains - I love Duck, it's my favourite meat to have for a dish - and it was exquisite. The sauce was definitely homemade, with a tangy orange finish presented with shavings of orange peel. I loved the attention to detail with the dishes even with the restaurant HEAVING. They don't lapse and they don't forget. Main dishes (meat) come with sides of roast potatoes, green beans, carrots and broccoli (chef's choice of seasoned vegetables). The roast spuds had soft centres and crispy coatings - delish! Roasting done right. For dessert (see pictures) I ordered a lemon sorbet accompanied by the sweetest toffee sauce drizzle in the shape of a flower! Again, presentation is clearly a key aspect here. Loved it. Being a Tuesday night and celebrating my Dad's birthday, you wouldn't really expect a lot of people at a restaurant for starters on a Tuesday night (wrong!) and you wouldn't expect every other table in there to be there for someones birthday right? WRONG! EVERY single table was there for a birthday. No joke! They crank up the birthday music every time! I'd meant to make a cake for this occasion but I hadn't had time. I asked the waitress if it was possible to wish him a happy birthday and add something special to his dessert. If you look at the picture I uploaded, they wrote Happy Birthday in sauce and added extra strawberries to his cake. As we were leaving, the staff practically dressed up - wrapping us up in our scarves and holding our coats as we put them on. They joked with us about bringing more people and which football club we supported and made everyone feel very wanted and valued. I do love good customer service and this place has it, under pressure, and doesn't cease to surprise.

I came here for my mum's 60th birthday and luckily we booked. Non-stop all night, people pouring…read morein. The owner was very welcoming and gave us free garlic bread as starters which was needed as the green lipped mussels for starters took ages to arrive which they were well aware of and in the end they served us our antipasti without the mussels. Once the muscles arrived, they were big and worth waiting for. We all ordered different mains and they all came out together. The seafood dishes looked great with lobster on top but the steak looked a bit drab drowning in the sauce and one of the pasta dishes didn't look appealing but tasted great. The service was great all night and we had numerous wait staff looking after us and they were happy to take photos of us etc. When we ordered our dessert one of the wait staff was extremely proud to have made two of the dishes - the panna cotta and the creme caramel. I ordered the panna cotta, although the consistency was thicker to what I am used to it tasted delicious. Despite how busy the place was for a Sunday night we didn't see any celebs. I can understand why people keep coming back as the owner makes everyone feel welcome and you feel as if you know him as he wishes and hugs everyone as they leave. Ample parking over the road but you have to navigate through broken glass to get into the restaurant.

Customer service was fantastic. We didn't have to wait long at all and the staff were very…read morefriendly. The pizza was the best I've had, and the salad was delicious too.

Best pizza I've had in a long time. Go out for food at least once a week and will be making this a…read moreregular visit. Staff were absolutely amazing. We'd definitely go back.