Al Forno - Wimbledon in Merton

Whenever I get dragged to this place I know I'm going to hate it. Its crowded and you always need to queue to be seated. But the food is just terrible, my pizza which i thought was the safest option appeared to be made from a jar of halepenos and a pr-esliced packet of chicken. I gave it to a homeless man, I hope he was ok. Staff nice n friendly , wine not bad. But the food bloody embarressingly poor. Please dont eat here as so many people do, it will only just encourage them.

A gem in Wimbledon. Nice food. Remember me the taste of Italy

Service was great and the food was delicious! Food came out very quickly after ordering.

Employees with their foot on customers chairs, employees bitting their nails whilst sitting on the tables, employees shouting across the room.

My brother, sister and I visit every December to celebrate our late Dad's birthday, he loved this place and it never fails to deliver with service, atmosphere and of course the amazing food. Recommend to anyone who loves Italian cuisine

It's part of a chain, and it does an okay job of not appearing to be a chain. But ultimately, pretty average. And the drinks, especially the beer, were overpriced. I get that some central London pubs are trying to get away with seven quid for a pint, but in Wimbledon? Pizza, which I didn't try, looked decent, if not special. Pasta, which I did try (penne with salmon) was under-seasoned and the salmon was a bit overcooked and too scarce in the dish. It's okay as a family spot, with correspondingly low expectations for the food, but with Central London pricing, I expect better.

Staff really great and helpful, it is very popular and for good reason, the food and atmosphere are excellent

Best homely Italian food in SW London? Look no further. This is it!💪🏽 PS. Coming from me😬 I usually never have anything nice to say. Just read my other reviews.🤣

unreal food and beautiful restaurant and staff! Come here ever year for my birthday will never stop!

This place is a bit hit and miss. Nice inside, although dating a little. Service can be good, especially if you get the Portuguese waiter. But last time I was here a younger guy was very rude & I'm not used to that in Wimbledon. I got put next to the bar and had staff literally on my back the whole night and couldn't wait to leave, even though the food I had was quite nice. I would only go back at lunchtimes and check who is serving.

Really disappointed with both of our pizzas. Third time we have ordered with Al Forno - - the same two pizzas each time. The first time it was some of the best pizza I’ve ever had, second time it arrived cold and this time it was soo average I wish I’d ordered from Pizza Hut. Literally no love put into it. Won’t be ordering again.

Friendly staff quality food lovely atmosphere highly appreciated and recommended

A cosy place to eat Italian food with a friend. The calzone was fresh out of the oven ❤️.

Very good cooking for a set lunch, better than we have found in Italy in fact! More expensive of course.

Lovely service and amazing food

True Italian place, love it and never miss a week to come to a dinner

Tomato sauce is one of the greatest I’ve had in my life!

I booked a table for three for Saturday lunch to celebrate my husband’s birthday, but when we arrived, they hadn’t reserved a table for us. This was disappointing and unprofessional. Our server smelled strongly of beer, which was off-putting. He kept insisting we order the Lobster Spaghetti, even though we had already decided on other dishes. It felt very pushy and made the experience uncomfortable. I also asked about the pizza sizes, as we didn’t need a large one after ordering two pastas and garlic bread. Despite this, the server suggested we get the larger size to share. We ended up leaving half of it uneaten. Overall, the service was unhelpful, and the experience was far from what I expected. I wouldn't come back here.

Stopped for pre theatre show dinner and pleased we did. Staff looked after us fabulously from greeting us at the door to leaving, even suggesting we could leave our takeaway pizza box with them until after the show. Pizza itself was huge and tasty hence the need for a takeaway box. Prawns were great too. No hesitation in swapping a glass of Prosecco that lacked a bit of sparkle for us too. Overall a great experience and would highly recommend

We came to Alforno tonight with my friend, we met Monika and Saeed, the managers, and our servers Leticia and Roberto, who welcomed us like family. They all made us feel very special. We could see that they were very busy but they looked after us like we were the only customers in the restaurant. We had the linguine allo scoglio and the gamberoni Arrabbiata, they were freaking delicious. Thank you so much for making our evening so lovely. We will definitely come back here soon and will also recommend your place to our friends and family. Thank you so much for being there for us.

The Linguine Scoglio was fantastic would highly recommend. The atmosphere was amazing and our server Leticia was so helpful and looked after us very well. Many thanks to the chef for the amazing food and thank you to the staff for the very special evening.

Always the best, home away from home. Dino & team are absolute legends

Had a nice time :) leticia was so lovely!

Great food, and friendly staff, will definitely return

Absolutely delicious food and atmosphere! The staff are the most friendly and welcoming people you could meet!

Most lovely and friendly staff members! The food is so so good too! Special thank you to Weronika:)

I’ve just been here for desserts but I can tell you that all of them are amazing! We ordered the chocolate fudge cake, apple crumble and tiramisu - all home made and excellent! Staff are polite, friendly and welcoming. Service was efficient. The ambience is great too - it feels like you’re in a restaurant in rural Italy. I’ll surely come back to try their mains. Great to be here and thanks, Al Forno! One of Wimbledon’s crown jewels. 😄

This place is amazing. The food was brilliant and the staff were all so friendly and accommodating. The place was really busy but they ran it like a well oiled machine.

Love going to Al Forno - the pizza is great!

I went there for a dinner with my wifey. I really enjoyed the Tagliatelle Alfredo that was meticulously cooked with rich cheese sauce. I like the ambiance in the restaurant, made me feel in a traditional ristorante Italiano. On the other hand, the pasta in Penne Arrabbiata didn’t seem handmade. I reckon it’s the common issue nowadays for these chain restaurants. The staff didn’t have time even for some talk with the customers due to high reservation. They did thrive to bring the food and pock up the leftovers. I was happy with the service. As a result, it’s worth trying the food. Definitely, it does deserve between 4 and 4.5 ⭐️. I, maybe, go for a pizza next time.

Went there before theatre had a lovely value for money pizza, my friend had prawns and rice, she thought it was bland what did she expect. it was replaced without being an issue. Service was rushed but that suited us. All very friendly and reasonably priced.

While the food looked good at this restaurant it was absolutely loaded / overloaded with SALT! To the extent that I have salt poisoning, have been awake since 4am and feel utterly terrible. This happened to me last year when I ordered their chicken and asparagus pasta. I hoped that was a one-off. And exactly the same has happened again. So in this case, I know it’s definitely the hugely abusive levels of salt they put in the food. Never again.

Great vibe, great staff & amazing food. Shoutout to Arthur for his recommendations.

The best Pizza in Wimbledon. The nicest staff in south west London. Love this place.

Fantastic food, great service and an awesome atmosphere. My family has been coming here for 20 years and we will definitely be coming back for many more!

Brilliant food and great service

Thanks to Leticia (unsure of spelling) great service!

Sadly not what it used to be pre-covid. Waiters were blunt and rude & food was mediocre to say the least. Another victim of business cost saving.

They say its the company that makes events amazing - but this restaurant really proves otherwise!! I could have been sat on my own and just been broken up with and I would still say this was the most amazing restaurant ever. I did get quite a lot of gas afterwards - but this may just be my IBS ! Oops

Great location. Great good. Lovely and helpful staff. What’s not to like? Recommended!

I love this Italian restaurant!

Beautiful diner, authentic feel, friendly service, food was amazing. Overall 10/10

Always lovely service and food. A family favourite!

Had the medium pizza, was the size of the table & very tasty along with the Tiramisu which was also great

Great authentic Italian food including a mega pizza, attentive pleasant staff and a great atmosphere, found it by chance while staying in Wimbledon and loved it so much booked for the following evening.

Wonderful food and service, will definitely come back

Service was very quick and was very attentive. The food tasted very fresh and was lovely.

Is very good place to have some good wine and food

Great food amazing service, would come again, Arthur was a legend!! Thanks so much !!

Fast, hot and generous servings!

We host my husband birthday dinner at Al forno and have been many times before. The staff are great and the food is so good, especially the big pizzas!!

Always has been great food, atmosphere and friendly helpful staff, been going 20 years.

Every visit to this restaurant has been amazing! We've had a wonderful time each time, enjoying the delicious, high-quality food in such a warm and friendly atmosphere. I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a memorable dining experience🌹🌹🌹🌹

Very attractive restaurant, beautiful balcony level upstairs, atmospheric lighting and ambience but this is slightly ruined by music being piped in that is way too loud and not really appropriate for the setting (very dancy). Due to the size of the venue and music this means the level of noise, as people try to talk over the music and eachother, gets uncomfortable. The menu looks amazing but when actually served isn't as flavoursome or as interesting as you would think. It also wasn't particularly well presented on the plate. That said it was pleasant enough but I left thinking I could have cooked something more interesting and tasty as home. The front of house gentleman that greeted us upon arrival wasn't very friendly or welcoming but all other staff were very pleasant, efficient, helpful and seemed good at their job. When we left there was a lady downstairs who seemed to be front of house at that point who was beautifullly smiley and friendly and thanked us for our custom so mostly staff were great and maybe the other person was having an off day, but if not, that is something that needs addressing as a warm welcome sets the tone. All in all it's a good place to pop into for dinner but for me it wouldn't be somewhere I'd go to for a special occasion. Oh and talking of special occasions, at one point during our visit it was another diners birthday and they played "Happy Birthday" over the speakers at a deafening volume - it was really blaring. This sort of thing makes you feel like you are either in a holiday camp or children's ball pit play area and isn't conducive to a relaxing evening - so it's unlikely I'll return. All in all I think this restaurant is beautiful on the eye (in a rustic way) but is maybe too big to feel calm and in my opinion has a few issues it could correct to improve things. If you like more noise and maybe if you are visiting with children, it's likely more suitable for you. Oh something else - if you order fish it isn't filleted but the menu doesn't say so - so if that's something that bothers you, please check first.

Nice restaurant with lovely interior. The staff is very friendly and the food selection on the menu is just fine. My friends had pizzas, and apparently, they were quite OK. My chefs speciality was very mediocre, though. The duck was eadable but overcooked, and the sauce was quite starchy.

The service was very good. The food was delicious.

Popped in for a lunch time pizza and very disappointed, I’m Italian and can honestly say it was one of the worst Pizza’s that I have ever had. So obvious that cheap poor quality ingredients being used. Will not be back.

My favourite Italian in London - perfect mix of authenticity, lively atmosphere, friendly staff and delicious food. This isn’t just a meal out, it’s an experience & one which is great value for money!

Authentic little pasta and pizza place 😋😋

florentina and 4 cheese pizza were phenomenon...

Great atmosphere in this bustling Italian restaurant, It was a very busy Friday evening, hadn’t booked, but, they still accommodated us & we only had to wait a small amount of time to be seated. The waiter’s & waitresses were very friendly & attentive & the food was delicious

The best Italian in London they’re so welcoming they treat you like family. The garlic bread and chocolate cake are the best

No flavour at all. As an Italian, this is an embarrassment. Ordered carbonara and it was made with egg whites and cream, total opposite to what it is, had phlegmy blotches of egg throughout. Stopped eating halfway through and sent back, had to add some of the red onion from my girlfriends meal to give it some sort of flavour. Stuffed aubergine bland and salty, how can something with that many ingredients have so little taste. The girl serving was lovely, the only saving grace of the whole establishment.

Good vibe. Friendly staff. Do not recommend the food for picky Italian food lovers.

Visited this restaurant for the second time this evening as a visitor from Yorkshire. On both visits, my family and I have enjoyed a beautiful meal served by attentive and friendly staff. Would recommend Al Forno without hesitation 👌

They cater for very large groups, and it's just too chaotic. The staff are rushed off of their feet. It's so packed. My fish was burnt. The starters are expensive for not a lot, It's not for me. But they are busy. So ?

Food was very good, beer on tap very mediocre. Enjoyable none the less

We got our food to go which may have been part of the problem but this was top five worst Italian food I’ve had. The sauces were so watery the food tasted like nothing. We got Arrabbiata which had absolutely no spice because it was so watery and flavorless. Of an appetizer and two pasta mains, the only thing we liked was the side salad which is sad at £45.

If you refer this place to people you clearly haven't been in genuine Italian restaurant. Pizza dry like frozen from Tesco, pasta overcooked sauce in it like from the tin. Very nice service and olive oil was decent.

Very good but more cheery in evening and a bit rushed in afternoon perhaps. Food a 'bit saucy' as Larry David would say.

We always visit every year during the Wimbledon fortnight. The service is always ace. Can’t fault the food. It always hits the spot. The staff are fantastic. Special thanks to Monica for looking after us. Well done you smashed it again 🎾🙌

Pleasant staff Wimbledon,that's where it ends. Can't believe what was served to us & the cheek of overpriced service charge was laughable for what we got. A tiny plate of runny tasteless spaghetti Carbonara(had to get up & ask for salt & no parmesan offered) My Calzone undercooked & pretty empty contents inside & also tasteless. Couldn't get out of there quick enough. We'll stick to Verona in Morden in the future. Shocking place Al Forno.

It’s summer 2024; despite Wimbledon being in full swing, it’s raining and I’ve got a cold. All I want is to be on holiday but we’re in a cost of living crisis. The next best thing: Al Forno. As soon as I step in I’m transported back to Tuscany to my non-existent Italian grandma’s kitchen. The staff are like cousins, greeting you as if they’ve known you your whole life and this isn’t a job for them. Everyone is relaxed and enjoying themselves, and so they should with the incredible food that’s served. I had the garlic bread with mozzarella, spaghetti bolognaise and apple crumble, all of which pasta-d the test. Truly a unique and wonderful place to go; Al Forno, you have a pizza my heart

Very pleasant, reasonable and tasty Italian with nice outdoor seating area. Quick service too.

Recommended to book. A friendly welcome, prompt service with a smile and helpful staff. We sat in the outdoor area on a warm summer's evening on a Thursday. A very pleasant area, relaxing in the shade of the early evening sun. Not cramped. The service was very good. Our meals arrived together. Price-wise on par with most Italian restaurants. Not expensive. The food was very good. We just had mains accompanied y a small basket of bread. Busy and very popular.

Amazing, food, staff and atmosphere. I love it

Delicious food, nice and friendly staff and a great atmosphere. What else can you ask for.

Food good undercooked fish 🐟, excellent meat 🥩

Thanks guys everything was amazing 👏 ❤️ . We are coming back soon.

Excellent food and service. The big pizza was delicious and very light. Nice place and atmosphere... definitely we will be back!

Great family italian restaurant. Really friendly genuine service.

Excellent food, fun decor, good atmosphere. BUT any restaurant adding 12.5% to every bill without making this clear at time of booking and not indicating it's optional does not deserve a high ranking. Service was friendly and quick. Would have been nice not to squeeze our party of 6 onto a small table so that customers and staff knocked my chair all the time. Worth a visit for the food which is excellent...

Excellent pizza and very good value for money.

I visited Al Forno this evening for dinner. On previous occasions I had tasted a take out pizza from this restaurant and it was really nice so I really wanted to eat at the restaurant. When I had tried before to book I couldn’t get a table as it was too busy. I was grateful when I called on a Saturday afternoon and managed to get a table for 6 the same evening. The person who answered was really accommodating and polite. The atmosphere at Al Forno was really vibrant and busy. We ordered a number of dishes including pizzas, pasta and risotto. Service was quite poor. We asked for some tap water a few times and didn’t receive any. Finally we ordered some fizzy water and that came. Also we wanted to order food and the gentleman knew we were waiting and he dismissed us and didn’t come back. I didn’t feel very welcome or looked after but I appreciate it was a busy Saturday evening. Food did come very quickly which was good as we were all hungry. At the end of the evening I walked away from my table and wanted to lay discreetly and there was some big issue with their computer systems so it took ages for them to be able to give me the bill and pay which made it a little embarrassing. The food was really tasty, in particular the pizza. I would definitely go back for the food. Just wish the service was a little more attentive and easier to get their attention .

The food is great and everything is cooked well. Service is slow, however, but that's OK as they are always busy. Some Waiters need to reminder that they sat people down but don't give menus until 10 minutes later apart from that it's all good and well, if you have a lot of people going and y'all need a table for 10 then call a week ish in advance. If they don't have room then there is a pub next door for you to drink your sadness away.

Our family loves coming to this restaurant. The service is great and everyone is very hospitable. We love the food and beverages as well.

Tiramisu and cheesecake were obviously homemade and lovely Staff was super nice and great atmosphere

It was the best restaurant I ever went.

Traditional Italian eatery-waiters with big peppercorn grinders and grated Parmesan👌

Alforno Restaurant is an exceptional Italian dining experience. Highlights include fresh pasta, rich sauces, and perfectly baked pizzas

Amazing service and food, whilst being incredibly busy. Super nice staff - Sara served our table and was lovely, so big thank you x

Great place with great pizza 💥 I recommend it

Very traditional often do specials on the day has a decent wine list as well

Service was fantastic, great recommendations. All our food was superb. I had veal , pan fried then the tiramisu.

This place was nice and very busy on a Saturday night to be expected. You are crammed in as others have reviewed but this was ok for us but wouldn't suit everyone. Service was friendly and efficient. Food was tasty only two things that could be improved on, 1. No vegan cheese for pizzas. Really simple but really disappointing as I really wanted a pizza it is readily available everywhere. The bread basket was very cheap at £3.95 but it was only 5 small pieces of thin bread. I would be happy to pay more for some proper nice crusty bread better quality. All in all a nice evening good food and the portion sizes were great just a few simple tweaks and it would be even better!

The food is amazing, the service was also very good. Definitely worth checking out if your love Italian food.

Ordered on Deliveroo twice consecutive days. Food absolutely amazing both times. My girlfriend loves Linguine Allo Scoglio. The best part very knowledgeable team on allergens and very friendly.

We have visited Alforno a few times, and it has never disappointed. The food is incredible , staff are always so welcoming and friendly, a waitress recommended delicious foods with a concern of allergies. The homemade dessert banoffee pie is an all time fave, following with the tatufo nocciola. The atmosphere overall is amazing for a late night evening. Great experience. We’ll be returning very soon.

Had a great time last night, food and service was excellent. I had the cannelloni (the special for the week) recommended by one of the waitresses, it was delicious! Will definitely be back soon.

Great place to dine in, the service is immaculate, staff is really kind & very helpful in recommending delicious dishes like the special we have had today; cannelloni and linguine scoligio, also the home made dessert banofie pie was amazing, we will definitely be visiting again!