I came here to celebrate a friend's birthday. From the offset the service was highly attentive…read more Complimentary bread , olives and dipping oil were first served . I can take or leave olives but these were so moreishly flavoured. The menu consists of the usual Italian segments. Meat, fish , pizzas and pasta. The Meat and fish were really pricey so for starters I opted for a antipasti without the bread for and a seafood risotto for mains. My friends ordered a garlic bread to share and pate while I scoffed the antipasti which consisted of various parmaham, artichoke, prawn salad, cheese and chorizo. This was well presented and tasty..definitely manageable for one person! Next the risotto..again this was cooked beautifully and went well with a large glass of malbec. My friends ordered a simple carbornara which looked really rich. To finish we ended the meal with a liquere coffee. Overall this was a nice Italian..I haven't had much luck with the ones in Manchester! But yes quite pricey if you want something other than a pasta or pizza dish..and they do try charging you a optional service charge. Decor and ambiance is classic Italian with bold reds and "romantic. " I might be back after I've checked out the others .

We ended up at this restaurant completely by accident. Somebody had recommended Don Giovanni's to…read moreme, but I'd just remembered that it was at the end of Oxford Street and had an Italian sounding name (my hair isn't even that blonde), so we found ourselves in Giorgio, just across the road. The restaurant has more of an Italian feel to it than pseudo-Italian restaurants such as Felicini, and the staff were Italian too, which added to the air of authenticity. Prices are pretty standard - ranging from £6.50 for a margarita (but who orders a margarita?!) to £17.50 for the sea bass. We stuck to pizzas, which were delicious, but for the more wealthy and adventurous there is quite a varied menu including duck marinated in orange liqueur and several variations on the fillet steak. Vegetarian choices are not quite so exciting though there are still a couple of pizzas and pasta dishes to choose from. So, it's an authentic Italian restaurant with good reasonably priced fare. Why only 3 stars? Well, we were sitting not more than 20cm (I kid you not) from another table. I usually quite enjoy a good eavesdrop, but this was too close for comfort. It felt like we should've been sharing food and chatter with the couple next to us. Of course we're British and were too polite to complain as the restaurant was busy at the time, but this little predicament has encouraged me to head over to Don Giovanni's next time I'm on Oxford Street and in the mood for an Italian.

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.

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!

Definitely a good choice if you are attending a concert at Bridgewater Hall. Gio offered a prix…read morefixe menu and was quite expedient about service so concert goers can get to the show timely. Food was good, too. Overall a solid performance. We'll definitely be back.

On a wet fall Manchester day, the urge of a good charming little Italian restaurant was on the…read morelookout. Walking on Oxford street and not finding anything until I spot a little place in the corner of my eye. Seemed inviting at a distance therefore took it upon myself to give it a fair look. The closer I was getting, the more it was telling me to walk in. Standing in front of the main entrance, drenched and wet, I decide to walk in the place. First thing, the person at the reception tells me "What happened?" What he really meant to say was, "you're soaking wet". I instantly felt the warmth of the place and got emerged in the Italian family spirit of the place. Sat down at a table and the rest was history. I believe that it's a family owned business with true speaking Italian people. The food was typically Italian, good, plenty of flavors, all of what I enjoy of an Italian restaurant. The rest of the evening was history. A must place to go. Good as a single or family supper.

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*

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.

"Delicious Favourite Chicken - Tasting is Believing"…read more I have tasted and wasn't delicious. In NYC, there are off brand KFCs known as Kennedy Fried Chicken. I'd say this location is similar to an off brand KFC but without the flavor. The cooking/breading of the chicken was inconsistent. Hot sauce added much needed flavor to the chicken. While the fries were unsalted, it was good with the garlic mayo.

Few takeaways can claim to have been featured in a groundbreaking TV show. But McTucky's, right on…read morethe corner of Canal Street, was immortalised in Channel 4's Queer as Folk. It always makes me smile when I'm watching the series; it's in the scene where Stuart gets rid of his young niece by giving her money for chips, so he can confront his nephew about a blackmail attempt (Yes, I'm a huge Queer as Folk geek!). Anyway, he says: Here's £20. Get yourself some chips from McTucky's on the corner. The mention is a lovely little nod for this takeaway, which has been part of post-club village life for years. However, TV stardom aside, it really is just a bog-standard chicken shop. Still, it does have a cheekier name than most a blatant fusion of McDonalds and KFC! This place is open pretty late and has a menu that's packed with well-priced fried chicken, chips and all that jazz. Unlike many other nearby takeaways, it has quite a few formica tables for you to sit at, too. So it's a good place to grab something to eat after a boozy night out. Just don't expect it to be a life-changing experience!

This place began as Metz in the mid 90's and took the village by storm but has struggled in its…read morelast few incarnations (Eden and now Delicatezze) to regain a place in the heart if the scene, which is a shame. It's location is great, large wood filled interiors and canal side terrace, a charming little bridge and best of all it's fixed barge outside which provides both a sun trap and shelter from the rain. Not tried the food but how far wrong can you go with Italian?

The food was baaaad on my visit. I didnt eat much aside from my starter...the starter of halloumi…read morehowever was the best I'd had in a while. Despite the fact the margarita pizza was inedible I would still give this place a go....the servers were second to none, friendly and polite. When they realised I wasn't able to eat my pizza they instantly wanted to make it right, comp-ing the pizza and even giving me a drink. I could not fault the servers or the environment at all. All I would say to the establishment (I hope they see!!) is to take a little more time to get the food 'right' and not worry about getting it out fast. Oh and change the pizza sauce totally(!)

Paid a bit more than I would usually spend for fast food but I was mightily impressed !read more

This is a really good option for a quick meal at Piccadilly station. I like the way they are geared…read moreup for the traveller - even the posters in the window give you info on how long it will take to prep your panini or pasta (3 and 5 mins, respectively). I was torn between pastas and was advised to try the Bolognese which I really enjoyed - great flavour (might be too early for some, but I liked it) and a generous portion. Although I'd like to try the rest of the menu, I'd be tempted to get this every time! There's loads of room inside to eat or they have takeaway cartons.