I think I have a new favourite Italian in the city! Very reasonably priced for generous portions…read moreand an extensive bar menu - what more could you ask for! My friend and I both ordered the two risottos on the menu as they came highly recommend and they didn't disappoint. The beef ragu rice balls were a first for me and I'll defiantly be having them again. I also inhaled my lobster risotto main! Top notch eats! The bar and dining area boast lovely views of the city and the staff were really attentive and friendly! Possibly because we provided their evening entertainment drinking the bar dry!

One of the best italian food I have had in Manchester! Certainly will be coming back again! While…read morethe portions aren't huge, the prices aren't either. I ordered a Seabass ravioli with lobster bisque sauce and it was divine. I don't understand how this place hasn't been reviewed yet because it is delicious. The wines are lovely too and most of the waiters and waitresses are Italian, so they are very knowledgeable about which pairing between wine is food go together. The interior of this restaurant is much more modern yet still has that Italian touch in certain aspects.

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!

Salvi's Mozzarella Bar is an independent, family run Italian in Manchester. It is located in the…read moreCorn Exchange and can be accessed through the entrance with steps outside, or by being escorted through the basement by security if you require a lift, which is the case for the majority of the restaurants in the Corn Exchange which have a basement other than Pizza Express. Manchester as a city, one of the main and major cities of the UK is dominated by chain Italian restaurants who have multiple branches to each of their names, so Salvi's is a refreshing change and although the pricing is slightly higher as you'd expect from an independent (they have two branches in the city) with a lack of offers you'd normally receive from the major chains, one could say it is justified due to higher quality food and service than the average Bella, Carluccio's and Prezzo etc. They do have some gluten-free options such as the risotto which I opted for, priced at £14.95 this is perhaps slightly above average but based on the quality and portion size it is justified, however, I do feel a smaller portion perhaps at a lower price would have been a good idea, or perhaps with a side dish such as some form of potatoes, as these were proper Italian sized portions which alongside the traditional Italian decor, reminded me of being back in Rome. (Large A5 menus too!) I ordered the Risotto Ai Funghi, it was seasoned perfectly with a mixture of the parts of the mushroom which made it taste fresh, with good, juicy pieces of the vegetable throughout the dish, added with the saffron it was quite enjoyable. The rice could have been slightly softer similar to other risottos I've had such as at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, in Manchester but all in all the taste, freshness and seasoning was all very good. The staff throughout did seem quite nice, there was slight confusion at first in taking my food order but this was sorted quickly, I also liked that despite being a naturally gluten-free dish they wrote gluten-free on my receipt and when sending my order to the kitchen which of course let them know so they'd cook it separately etc. It would have been cool to see a gluten-free menu or a member of staff talk to me about more gluten-free options (being able to order pizza and/or pasta would have been fantastic), but they still did a good job. I also liked how attentive the staff were in ensuring I was never out of the water, the water was presented in a premium jug which I also liked, it felt as posh as tap water could get. The spirits and booze are also priced well here if you fancy a drink at around £6 for a double mixer. Moving back on to the overall feel - a slightly dark and cool vibe, similar to what one would expect at a proper Italian restauraunt reminding me of being back in Rome also made this a much nicer place to be in than the typical chain Italians which dominate the city. Other than the food quality, I also found the takeout containers to be good quality, with the portion being so big I had to take home just under half of my risotto, it took a few minutes to come back from the kitchen but it was once again presented beautifully in a Tupperware dish and brown paper bag, this is compared to messy, dodgy cardboard boxes and bowls I'm usually given so this was a nice gesture again. I would have liked to see risotto on the menu with meat hower, with the only two I noticed being a saffron and mushroom or seafood risotto, but that isn't meant to take away from the good quality risotto I did have and enjoy on my visit. Also adding more gluten-free options such as pizzas and pasta and talking gluten-free guests through them would also be nice. The main issue I had during my meal was an issue with the grated parmesan which I normally have with my Italian food eating out, I was told it contained gluten which confused me as it is cheese which is naturally gluten-free so I'm not sure if they add something to it to give it flavour, but if they do it certainly doesn't need it and the fact they're adding gluten to cheese really makes no sense, but then again this could have been a rare mistake from the staff member. One of the few good quality Italian in Manchester city centre, not without its flaws such as those previously mentioned and the restauraunt feeling a tight squeeze (despite being large, they seemed to sit all tables next to each other - I understand why they'd do this to improve service and cleanliness but even a gap of one table between customers would have been so much more relaxing and comforting), but overall this is a great, yet not perfect place but the quality of food and service definitely deserves a four-star rating, this once again goes to show how good this place is like the lowest it has ever been rated on Yelp is numerous four-star ratings.

I very much enjoyed the sight of distressed overheated Italians joyously realising that this place…read moreis about as close to being in the piazza back home as they are going to get in Manchester. Aperol Spritz is the best in town and the food looked and smelled amazing, especially the garlic prawns. Am excited to come back to eat. Only thing is they need to get some outdoor furniture - people sitting on the high chairs from the bar in side that were lowered to a uncomfortable level weren't as relaxed as they should have been in what otherwise is a delightful slice of la dolce vita overlooking one of the smartest, if not exactly picturesque, areas of the city centre.

Attentive and friendly staff. Had a removable ramp to allow accessible entrance. Delicious food,…read morefresh bread and Gnocchi dish was perfect. Highly recommend! Wheelchair accessibility There's one small step to enter the building, we popped a wheelie to get in but they have a removable ramp they put down to allow quick and easy access.

A must-do while you're in Manchester! Delicious food, fantastic service, friendly atmosphere, and…read moreextremely accommodating and attentive staff. We had a variety of pasta dishes, plus the bread (and trio of dips- delish!), bellinis and a couple glasses of red wine. One member of our party is in a wheelchair, and the staff even brought out a little ramp to make entry and exit to the restaurant easier, and the bathroom has easy access as well. Good people, great food, will absolutely be back in the future.

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*

Chef needs replacement.- I ordered Spaghetti with clam sauce…read moreA few pieces of clam was in the spaghetti Not what I would expect for the price. Other restaurants give me a dozen little neck clams with the order Also,the pasta is not dried out.

I have a love-hate relationship with Gino D'Acampo My Restaurant, the staff are great and the food…read morecan be so good, but I've also had a couple of bad experiences here, to the point my friend has refused to dine here again if I wanted to. So I'm torn! I've reviewed this place a few times in the past, but after a mix of accidentally deleting a review and wanting to combine them to avoid it being a snooze-fest, I added this one here. I've previously awarded them one, two and four stars. My first experience here was back in July 2020, I was upset with the temperature of my food, the price, menu changes and social distancing on offer, after expressing my concerns, I was invited back by the manager, Lorenzo to give them a second chance. Lorenzo was really friendly and wanted to make my second visit perfect, the temperature of my food was good, and the vodka and coke I ordered were great too. Despite being inside the Corn Exchange, this is a pretty large restaurant and I do like the decor, and they have made it pretty comfortable. My biggest problem is the inconsistency, I have had a couple of visits here where my pasta has been lukewarm, and my friend did complain her food was dripping with grease, that isn't like authentic Italian food should be! The staff are also great, perhaps this is to try and warrant the service charge, which is a principle I disagree with, especially if it is just one person looking to come in for a quick lunch. Gino's in my opinion can offer the best gluten-free pasta I've had not just in Manchester, but in the whole country, but it's a question of when, rather than delivering those standards every time which is frustrating, and with prices much higher than most Italians in the city (many of which are located nearby within The Corn Exchange), it's hard to excuse that. 3*

Located in Manchester's city centre on Clarence Street, just off Princess Street and close to St…read moreAnne's Square, Croma is an "independent gourmet pizzeria", with a few branches around Greater Manchester, with this being their only city centre location. Having been impressed by their Prestwich branch, where I most recently awarded it a three-star rating (previously a four!), I decided to try this out after stumbling across Croma on UberEATS. Originally the app didn't allow me to specify gluten free - this is something which needs addressing however after a quick call with the store, the manager seemed friendly to assist and make sure my order was gluten-free and I could still get my food. The restaurant its self is an impressive old building, it is up a couple of steps to get in - which could be a problem for some. I ordered a Gluten Free Americana pizza, the pizza its-self was quite good quality, the passata was a little runny at times but overall the pizza was a decent pizza, especially for gluten-free, much beating most other takeaways I could have had including Domino. The overall prize was good too for delivery, my pizza came delivered the short half a mile journey to the Hilton Manchester Deansgate for £11, the delivery free was set by UberEATS and cost around £2.50 in that total. The pricing for eating in, however, is pretty much average, with it being a small restaurant they lack the offers which bigger chains do, meaning it could work out slightly more expensive than rivals, including (but not limited to) Bella, Pizza Express and Zizzi. The menu selection is pretty good too, if you like pizzas but maybe not so much for everything else. is this somewhere I'd order from or visit again? Yes, and it does definitely warrant a solid three-star rating, issues with pricing when dining inside, selection other than pizza including starters and sides, and the access issues mean I sadly don't feel I can go any higher than a score which would match Croma's other branch I've visited in Pretswich, of three-stars.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the food here. I have become a regular customer now. Wish I had found it…read moresooner as I now live in Birmingham so I'll be missing it when I go back to uni. But I love it really authentic and quirky.

TL;DR - Truly authentic Neapolitan pizza, without the queues…read more When did Manchester become the place for some of the best pizza of your life? I've no idea, but I'm not complaining. We called into Noi Quattro for lunch after a friend recommended it, and found the place completely deserted. I've no idea why it was so quiet, but it is tucked a little out of the way and I suspect the nearby Mackie Mayor swallows up a lot of passing trade. The venue is large and modern, very nicely decorated. We were seated in the window which gave us a great view. The menu had a good variety of pizzas on it (several of which catered to vegans) and there were a couple of specials up on the board... I went for a mushroom pizza, Sparky went for an anchovy and olive one. Both were really delicious and we washed them down with a couple of beers. Pizzas here are truly authentically neapolitan - let's be honest, most people will compare these pizzas with those offered by Rudy's, and they are easily on the same level. I gave Rudy's 5 stars, and I'm giving Noi Quattro 5 stars too. The pizzas are really delicious and I really don't understand why people weren't queueing out of the door here like they do at Rudy's.

We ordered chips, three pizzas (margarita with olives, spicy salami one and the one with the…read moreaubergine and peppers) and a couple of drinks each. The pizzas were all well cooked and full of flavour. I particularly liked the base. The waiter was especially lovely to our 3 year old kid and went out of his way to talk to him about what he'd been up to today. The place was bright and airy and it had a good feel to it. There was one table with four swings around it. There's plenty of regular seating too. I'd definitely come again for a pizza fix.

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.

Salvis' NQ opened in December 2019 and is the newest branch of Salvi's, which have a couple of…read moreItalian restaurants in the city centre. After having a good experience at their branch in the Corn Exchange, I decided to try out their new store which is a slightly different concept, but still with a selection of Italian classics including pizza, pasta and risotto. The overall feel of the place is pretty good, they've added some authenticity with their decor and the place obviously does feel new and I do like the open kitchen concept, however, the kitchen was so noisy, I presume they were using a machine which sounded like a really loud blender to make the pasta but it was so loud and seemed never-ending. I was surprised to learn they had gluten-free pasta here, I decided to opt for that and I rather wish I didn't - not only did it take a long time to prepare but my first dish, but the pasta was hard and chewy, I'm not sure on the type of pasta they used as they were shaped like penne but much thicker and shorter. After sending my dish back, the staff member seemed to rush to get me another dish even though I did specify I didn't want one as I presume it would be the same - I gave her the benefit of doubt on the basis that the restauraunt wasn't busy and I presumed it wouldn't take too long for my replacement dish - however, I was wrong and had to wait another 25-30 minutes for a dish which might have looked worse, but at least it was edible. Luckily the second lot of pasta had a lot of sauce which removed most of the dryness, making the pasta edible, even though it was still dry and hard at parts. The dish also didn't taste or remind me of carbonara, the sauce was really salty and there wasn't enough meat either. This normally came to £12.95 however with the ongoing promotion for 40% off Sunday-Thursday when pre-booking with OpenTable in January, it came to £7.77 but considering I only ate the dish due to how hungry I was (after it took so long to arrive), I do think it is overpriced especially for the quality of the dish. There was only one staff member working on the floor, she seemed really nice and even offered me some olives while I waited (she just brought them over - I don't like olives), she seemed really slow and for most of the time, she was talking to either the kitchen staff or what I presume was off-duty staff / on break, meaning it took longer than it should have done and was rather hard to get a staff members attention. After having such a good experience at Salvi's nearby in the Corn Exchange, this place was the opposite from awful food which costs slightly more than anywhere else nearby (excluding the January 40% off promotion which isn't well advertised / easy to obtain), the service where I felt forgotten even though the restauraunt was mostly empty and the food not being up to standards in terms of taste and waiting time. It just for me was a dining experience from hell and I don't understand how they could mess up most of these things so bad considering there must have only been 7 customers in the restauraunt across three tables, including myself and the table of staff members on break. Avoid at all costs. 1*