Came here after wandering around the mall looking at food options. This place had no wait and an…read moreinteresting menu so we decided to give it a shot. Service was slow, but that's to be expected for how understaffed they looked. Pesto pizza was excellent and I would have given them 5 stars if the service was faster.

Came here for dinner and craving some carbs. My carbonara was average but it really hit the spot…read more The broccoli was very flavorful and had a kick to it. Price was very reasonable. They do seem to be understaffed. Even though there were plenty of tables available, it took a bit to be seated, to order and to get our bill. The staff was friendly. After we ordered though, the food did come quickly. Overall we had a pleasant experience here, it just took a little long.

Food: As a table of 7 it's fair to say we tried most dishes. They were touch and go. Some where…read moreamazing and some okay. All were priced fairly. The salmon pasta was a crowd favorite as were the beef meatballs. Service: Sadly the service is the reason for the lower review. While our waiter was so kind and funny and engaging, we were sadly met with long waits. Firstly we waited nearly 20 mins for a table. Then we waited approx 15-20 mins to place a drinks order after being sat. Then once the food had been served it took the server an additional 30 mins to ask if we wanted any more drinks. By the time we got dessert everyone had empty glasses and the waiter had given up asking if we wanted top ups. We were only offered two drinks the entire meal. Finally, after a long wait and sub par service we then noticed a 10% service charge had been added to the bill with no prior notice. As an American, I am always inclined to tip quite highly however after such poor service, I was appalled to see this added with no mention. Ambiance: we came to pesto for a family birthday meal and were met with a perfect family atmosphere for all ages (our group ranged from 17-70)

After a long day of shopping, I just wanted something cheesy and comforting!…read more We decided to go to pesto as my family is vegetarian. To my surprise, Pesto had many vegetarian options! We had the £11.95 per head lunch which gave us an option of 3 dishes which I think was a great deal. I had the Salad, Tuskish wings and penne pasta with grilled chicken. Salad dressing was really nice and flavourful and the penne pasta was decent as well. I personally am not a fan of chicken with skin on and so did not have enjoy the wings as much! I had a cappuccino later and the coffee beans were amazing! One of the best coffees I've had around this area! Overall I feel this is a decent place to dine with family and it's quite pretty too! Service was great! The four stars are only because of the chicken wings!

I'm not the biggest fan of Frankie and Benny's, it's a chain restaurant which takes on too much…read more Not satisfied with being an American or Italian themed restaurant, it instead tries to take on both. And I'm sad to say it fails pretty miserably in most areas. Nothing is outstanding, the service is pretty mediocre but that's the same in most of the Trafford Centre. It's kind of a good location being based in car park because it's not always as busy as the restaurants inside as people forget about it. The prices are OK but not cheap. It's OK for lunch but I really wouldn't head here for dinner. It's a jack of all trades, master of none.

Like other people have said, the service is V.E.R.Y. S.L.O.W…read more... The food was fine. I liked the atmosphere. Just prepare to sit for a while.

Came here with a friend for a catch up. Great food at great prices. We were slightly disappointed…read morethat they had run out of a couple of ingredients that were, in my opinion, needed in the dish. Additionally, once served our first drink and meal we did not see our server again. As you pay via phone they never came to drop a bill off. Sadly this left us with no drinks for the second half of our meal. Overall a satisfactory lunch

Disclaimer: ELH doesn't often do chains. But heck, Zizzi is a chain worth doing. Chain-wise you're…read morespoilt for choice when it comes to a shopping trip in the Trafford Centre, with some interesting localised options thrown in like ChaoBaby and Rice. But trundle we did across this mecca of restaurants, and Zizzi seemed to do the opposing options we were in the mood for - pizza and salad. Immediately we noticed just how sweet our server was, who instantly grabbed us our drinks and was very friendly and polite. It's actually laid out very nicely as Trafford Centre restaurants go, and veggies won't be hard pushed to find some great choices on the menu either. I opted for a superfood salad with puy lentils, butternut squash, goat's cheese, ribboned courgette and myriad other delicious ingredients. My companion chose a rustic pizza with some pepperoni and chillies, and we went for some garlic bread with cheese as well - I was intrigued by the fact that it came topped with caramelised onions. Oh, what a treat. When the food arrived the portions were staggeringly huge, putting to rest any talk of perhaps having gone to TGI Friday's just for the sheer heck and decandence of it. And that garlic bread was the star of the show. Flatbread smothered with tasty cheese and herbs and topped with onions that had clearly been caramelised in balsamic vinegar, just heavenly. My salad was amazing and the pepperoni pizza looked delicious and surprisingly authentic, with a thin crisp crust and plentiful topping. All in all, I felt it was indeed as good as it gets, a chain that clearly has high standards across the board. It only missed out on a fifth star because the drink glasses were so small!

Cafe Mef is the latest addition to the Chill Factore restaurants, and in my opinion a welcome one…read more Okay, the design of the restaurant isn't quite to my liking - there's far too much black and chrome going on which gives the place a rather jarring feel despite the accents of crimson and the main room looks more like a college refectory, tables up tables lined up next to each other. But all that pales into insignificance to a hungry post-skier or snowboarder looking for a cheap and filling bite after a couple of hours on the slopes, and who's looking for glamour anyway in the Chill Factore? The menu has some wonderful Italian dishes including my personal favourites, Linguini Piccanti (Linguini in rich tomato sauce with mushrooms, sweet peppers, onions, garlic & fresh chilli) and the more unusual Risotto Bolognese (risotto with, you guessed it, Bolognese sauce) both around £6-7. The real draw here though are the £10 3-course menus and for me the Peroni on draught! Service can sometimes be slow but the generous portions and price more than make up for it.

I called in Carluccio's on a recent trip to the trafford centre, looking for a safe place to eat…read moresome gluten free food. Having bad good experiences with branches in Leeds and Manchester Piccadilly, I thought I'd give this branch a try. This branch is located inside The Trafford Centre's "Great Hall" and although it is meters away from the central, fast food part of the Orient, it is a much quieter place, making it a good place to have a bit of peace in the Trafford Centre, which we all know is more mayhem than a primary school reception class. The service here was reasonably quick, and the staff seemed nice / helpful, however this was mainly down to this restaurant being as quiet as a library, ironically in a shopping centre, as busy as the attractions in Rome. I ordered a GF Carbonara, having noticed they had a good gluten free menu, although it would have been nice to see pizza on the menu, as this is an italian chain, I still looked forward to having pasta gluten free, as it is something I rarely have. The pasta was quite nice, and it was better than the GF Carbonara I had on a recent trip to Rome (So nice job Carluccio's), I also found it to be very cheap for gluten free food and restaurants, costing around £8, which easily could have been 30 - 50 percent more elsewhere. I like the addition of parmesan cheese, and overall it was good quality. Even as not a big fan of bacon, I enjoyed it being added into my meal. This is also quite a nice restaurant in general, due to limitations with it being inside "The Great Hall", it does not consider the traditional Carluccio's layout, but seems a nicer place, and a little more high-end and posh (although as far as I'm aware the prices are the same!) If you're looking for a nice place to eat in the Trafford Centre, which has MOST items reasonably priced, I'd say here is your best shot, but still I can't give more than 3 stars due to some minor problems, and an issue when paying on my card, meaning I had to tick a box to tip when paying on my card (I only paid on my card to avoid giving a tip, but felt like I couldn't refuse when they was a waiter standing there and even pointed it out to me) UPDATE: After a recent visit, a downgrading quality of food where the pasta just tasted like stale, bland cardboard still for a high price with poor service from the floor staff and the manager who never even resolved my complaint or made any attempt to address it, I sadly feel this is now a place to avoid rather than to rush too, sadly warranting a single one star.

This was wonderful. The service was friendly, prompt and professional. We were reassured that our…read morefood wouldn't be long, as it was taking a little longer as the swordfish was being properly cooked. At one point a manager came out and explained to us that she wasn't pleased with the swordfish portion and so asked for them to make it again. We were impressed at this true passion for quality, and even more astounded that when our bill came, they half priced the swordfish as it took longer to come out than planned, even though we made no complaint! As for the food, the carbonara and the swordfish were both excellent and truly filling. For dessert we had the chocolate and salted caramel sundae which was wonderful, especially with the crushed amaretti biscuits, and the chocolate rum cake. The venue feels both like a restaurant indoors, despite having no walls, and like being outside thanks to plants and lighting, it's been very cleverly designed to work well with its surroundings whilst remaining comfortable and welcoming. The food, service, and quality was excellent. We'll definitely be back.

Pesto are a small chain of Italian restaurants with 8 branches in the UK, there branches tend to be…read morein rural locations, this one is probably one of their busier stores being in the Trafford Centre, one of the largest shopping malls in the UK, outside the city centre of Manchester. While looking for something to eat in the Trafford Centre, gluten free of course I decided to call in here but I was dissapointed with many aspects of the visit including the decor and overall feel of the store, the menu and the service. I asked about the gluten free menu, and a member of staff gave me a menu, this menu just seemed to be designed really poor, perhaps like it had been designed by a 5 year old, the selection was very poor, they did have gluten free pizzas with a really small selection of toppings, in a way it was set out like a kids menu which is quite disgraceful considering it was the only gluten free menu they had. I also was annoyed with the service, the woman just started at me while I looked at the menu, she seemed like she would have nothing better to do, she just seemed really off-putting, she seemed too confident that I would want to dine there, rather than give me time to take a look before I decided whether to eat or not, it felt like she was the wicked witch of the west plotting a demon plot on me as she started at me while I was browsing the menu, refusing to leave. The decor and inside of Pesto also seemed really poor, lacking and old fashioned and like a really bad back street Italian, it just seemed really old-fashioned and not very nice inside, due to the look of the store as well as the menu and the service, I felt upset and I felt the need to walk out, therefore I feel Pesto deserves a single one star, which I'm sorry to report considering this is Pesto's first review in over 5 years, which coincidentally was also a one star rating.

Italian tapas? Are you quite mad?…read more Not quite, it seems. Gone are the hearty large meals ordinarily associated with Italian cuisine, replaced with noblets and tidbits and slices and a series of small bowls. It makes sense when you think about it. Italian food is supposed to be languished over during a long, wine fuelled evening. Thus why not turn it into nibbly little portions? There's a great bread menu for starters, which I'd certainly advise getting involved with as you might find yourself going hungry with the smaller dishes. Especially if you're sharing. Sharing isn't always fair. Other nibbles include antipasti like olives, marinated mushrooms, prosciutto and cheese, bruschettas, potatoes and asparagus. The mini salads are a great idea if you're in the mood for a bit of everything, and the five inch pizzas are just darling. The likes of deep fried squid, smoked salmon and prawns make up the fish menu and you can get little meat tasters as well as miniature pasta dishes. If you go there absolutely ravenous, you'll fall victim to the same process as a sushi bar. You'll clean yourself out financially. Best go when you're in the mood for a light lunch, and that way, you might not feel as guilty about overindulging in the wine (so easily done when having tapas). The chain quality might not blow you away but Pesto's worth a try at least once.