Ariete Bar & Restaurant in St. Helens

Prices are high but the food is average and rather bland.

Nicest Sunday dinner I’ve ever had, all the staff were lovely and friendly! Highly recommend, can’t wait for another visit on Christmas Day :)

Always great service and fabulous food. Roast Sunday lunch up there with the best I’ve had 👌

Nice food but expensive considering how little you get, had to eat when I got home

1st time we've been. Lovely food and service. Highly recommend.

Excellent love this place great food , atmosphere and staff can’t fault it

A delightful Italian experience 😀

We came in August for my birthday meal and will be returning for my sons 21st. We loved everything about this restaurant. ❤️

Atmosphere was nice. Expensive but food nice. Had sea bass. Would come again eventually.

We just came back from our dîner. Not the first time there, always a pleasure! The food is delicious, the place is classy and the team is very kind and professional. We recommend it!

Visited here to celebrate a Birthday, the venue was chosen by my Step-Daughter and what a great choice, quickly seated to our table, very efficient service. The meal was excellent, three course of delicious food.

Lovely food in a relaxed atmosphere and the best strawberry daiquiri that I have ever had 🍹

Really nice looking place and super lovely staff, great atmosphere. Only thing that lets it down is the food. Not much flavour at all. What was meant to be a spicy "devils" pizza was a plain peperoni pizza with unseasoned beef on top. Everything was cooked perfectly and the textures across the board were spot on, everything just lacked flavour. Really a shame. Portion size for the duck liver pate was extremely generous in patè-to-bruschetta ratio. Pacing of service was perfect with super lovely attentive servers until we finished our main and had to wait around 25 minutes to ask for the bill. Great selection of drinks for cocktails and mocktails, and would recommend for drinks, just maybe give it a pass if you wanted your food to take you to flavour town.

Great experience all round Food, service, and setting top marks

Really excellent Italian food, great cocktails, nice wine menu, and friendly friendly and professional staff. We had a great time

We had very enjoyable experience and very good authentic Italian food

We've not been to this restaurant since it was was called Ariettes. Wow, we were not disappointed. The atmosphere, food and service was amazing. Such a friendly place. The best Italian food we've had for a long time. We'll done Cancello 👍

We booked a table for 10 for a birthday, the venue is beautiful with a really good atmosphere. Someone was singing and playing live music all night. The food was really lovely, one meal was accidentally missed, but they sorted straight away and refunded that meal then brought free garlic bread out..the staff couldn't have done enough for us. Kept the drinks flowing through the night. Great place..I'd definitely come back!

Since this became Cancello it has gone really downhill. I ate there tonight and the salad that came with my food was brown, withered in parts and mushy in others. I honestly believe it was rotten. When I pointed this out to the waiter his response was, "You don't eat that, it's just for display, just for looking at." An utterly laughable response. Seriously considering reporting to local authority, how on earth can you be happy serving gone off food and trying to say that the food you are served is not meant to be eaten? It's a shame because it used to be very good Edit: was meant to be one star, accidentally clicked two (far too generous for serving gone off food)

Lovely meal , the only criticism was that is was really warm and we asked to sit outside to have coffee but were told they couldn't open the doors as someone might complain but we could sit outside at the front but the chairs were wet and the area dirty, a shame as we then let to go elsewhere.

1st time visiting since it changed from Ariete and it wasn't great. Ribs as a starter for £9 was 1 rib whilst the other 2 were mostly fatty lumps with hardly any meat on and a really watery sauce that was more like soup. This was removed from the bill however. No issues with Main courses though. Took ages to get a drink order after being seated (restaurant less than half full) and has to flag down staff to get any other drinks orders. Bill was nearly £90 for two of us but honestly wouldn't say it's worth the price.

Visited this afternoon on 29th of June, absolutely love it, we went there around 4pm just before busy time - staff was super friendly, (was no issues with napkins - got many as we need, I seen reviews, people was complaining about the shortage, but wasn't the case this time 😉) food was really delicious, been waiting for 25 min at max, drinks been served straight away, waiters keep coming and checking on us, one member on staff keep entertained our 3 years old daughter - she was happy indeed ☺️ atmosphere is lovely, place was half full before we left, but wasn't too loud. We are definitely coming back👌 highly recommended👍 P. S. pistachios ice cream with cake was superb ⭐

Used to LOVE Ariete… so we came to Cancello for a family meal yesterday. There was 6 of us. The service wasn't the best. I kept having to ask for another round of drinks as no staff member approached us to check if we were ok which was a little frustrating. A few little things - napkins. 4 on the table for a party of 6. Then after starters they should really change your cutlery and provide more napkins, but we had to take them from another empty table. The dishes aren’t the biggest, but that’s okay if the food is exceptional. It wasn’t. 3 of the mains were not hot when they came out, and small plates. Not a lot of choice on the menu. Not even a basic Arrabbiata… The whole occasion was a great day as we as a family made it fun and enjoyable, but I won’t be rushing back. Which I am actually gutted about. The service wasn’t amazing and the restaurant wasn’t full. Not sure how they cope when it is. The final thing that annoyed me more than anything is we happily paid a service charge of £20 on a £200+ bill. When we came to pay my sister was due some change from her £60 (yes it was only £4.50) but it wasn’t the point. I asked where the change was, as we had already left a tip…and little to them knowing my other family member walked back from the toilet and over heard the staff complaining that I had asked for “just £4”… little rude and unprofessional to be honest. Maybe lower the conversations next time as you just don’t know who’s listening

Impromptu visit for late lunch. Wonderful welcome by helpful smiley barman. Took lunch outside in rear garden Food was good particularly the seabass main. Sardinian vermentino, hardly ever available in restaurants, delicious Service from barman & waiter superb. Our first visit, we loved it & will return.

Food great, great service and allow a nice break between courses highly recommend

Beautiful food and deserts. Fantastic place to wine and dine with reasonable prices.

Been a while, thought we’d give them another go. I’m afraid it’s a Cancello from us. Chefs need to go back to Chef school, probably the worst Carbonara I’ve ever had.

First time I've been since the name change. But not only has the name changed so has the service and quality of the food! Really good meal and will definitely be going back. Thanks for the experience 😊

Great food, busy and noisy. Staff great, service can be slow

We were a party of nine. Everything went like clockwork. The ambience, food, and service were top notch. Highly recommended.

Paying customers forced to be quiet halfway through their meal!! 🤣🤣 Terrible experience, restaurant is a school dining hall layout and the noise is v loud which wasn't a problem until out of nowhere the staff (and some drunk customers) shushed the entire restaurant, to silence, so that some random fella in the corner could make a speech to his table. Honestly couldn't believe it, never ever seen it happen before in a restaurant. Already reached out to the restaurant and got no reply.

Excellent italian Food and Wine

We had a lovely meal. Unfortunately it was all let down when we paid. We paid in cash and waited for our change & receipt to come. On checking with a young waitress a very rude older waiter interrupted and said we are very busy, we dont always give a receipt, then loudly took us to reception and told the young receptionist to give us our change back. He wouldn't listen that the point was we expected to get a receipt at the table and then we would choose how much to tip like in any other restaurant. The receptionist new exactly what we were saying and apologies were given. The senior waiter needs to learn some manners and customer service skills. It has put us off going again. Its there loss. We can go to the lovely Verona Italian a few yards away!

Using a old building once a gateway to Haydock Park Estate

Looks extremely imposing on entry. Attended to relatively quickly. Tables/chairs arranged well for access. The atmosphere is upbeat. Drinks took 25 minutes and arrived after the starter. Manager was genuinely very apologetic. The food (all of our 5 meals) can only be described as excellent - prepared and cooked perfectly and generous servings all around. It was very busy and consequently the sound level in the main area was cacophenous. This REALLY needs to be addressed.

Too many silly negative reviews about Ariete (now Cancello). It’s like a big family there, full of smiley staff and great service. Very good food and very reasonable with dietary requirements. Carolyn and Kyle always are ready to greet with the upmost professionalism and friendliness. The bar looks amazing and Owen has done a really great job at crafting the cocktails. Have loved this place for quite a while now and will continue to visit regularly!

Our first visit last night, the place was rammed which was good and bad. The place was very loud my watch kept giving me loud alerts it was that loud too loud to hold any conversation between a couple without shouting at each other. This isn’t too much of an issue to us it was lively but if you’re after a quiet meal then this may not be the best place when it’s busy. Anyway in total 2 hours for a 3 course meal we had one drink and never asked if we wanted another, I know I could of asked when the food came but i was driving however I thought it was bizarre that customers sitting there and your not asking if they wanted another drink. Very small easy fixable things let the evening down, we had one napkin between the 2 off us, no steak knives where available (probably because it was so busy) and the non attentive service. We waited long times between staff seeing us which isn’t an issue if we have food or drinks to go at however the staff attention was more on the larger parties. The food was very good and overall it was a good meal. We will try again mid week to see if the service is better whilst quieter. I would certainly recommend this place just the service wasn’t great which I’m sure it was because of the parties. If the service was that little bit better then this would have been 5 stars.

Ariete is definitely the best Italian restaurant I’ve been to in the last five years. It all started with a simple and efficient website, where I was able to make my booking and have a good look at the menu. They even have a space where you can make personal requests. On arrival, a well trained team, extremely polite and friendly took care of me and my family. Everyone very professional but caring. Each one of us (we were 3) ordered a different entry and main course. I am not going to describe each course, but let me tell you that everything was perfect. The sauces, the pasta it self, the seafood, all perfectly prepared. I strongly recommend Ariete to everyone who enjoys an excellent Italian experience in a happy ambiance with a friendly and professional team. It is a must. You must be asking what about the price. Not too expensive, I can tell you it was worth every cent. The type of restaurant that you leave thinking when will you be back. Now under new direction, I need to return to see if still so good.

The cheese on the pizza tasted very chewy. We waited over 1 hour for the plastic pizza to arrive too. We parked in the car park around the side, when we left the resturant, the back of the resturant smells like sewage. Go round the back gate and have a smell before you go in and see for yourself. If the garden smells like this, God forbid how maintained the kitchen is!

Had made request for a for my partners birthday meal. I came to the restaurant a couple of weeks ago with friends and really enjoyed our food & time at the restaurant, so I decided to book for my partners birthday. I made a request for the booking 3 days prior, to not hear anything & then only be told 1hr before our reservation that it had been cancelled/ declined. I understand the booking was request at wasn’t confirmed & that it got cancelled/ declined, but when we rang to speak to someone to see if there is anything we can do to still come as we was outside, we only got told to F*uck Off by a member of staff on the phone. Absolutely inappropriate & unprofessional. Not bothered about the reservation, but don’t tell someone to F*uck off over the phone, whilst we was willing to spend money at your restaurant. You have lost a customer.

My favourite restaurant, food, service, atmosphere is always 100% xx

Never had a bad meal here, reasonable pricing, good menu.

Cant stand service charges they belong in the bin how dare they how dare they stick another £30 on my bill when I spend over £300 on a meal with a party of friends will not be going back I hate this scam it’s the owners ripping off there waitresses if I want to leave a tip I will but the scam owners put it on your bill keep away

We went with 6 for a birthday cum Mother's day celebration.I'm very detailed,observant+inquisitive when it comes to 'dine'n'wine' experiences. My overall experience was positive+yes,I'd go again.Well timed to bring out all starters+main courses at the same time,esp. during a busy period when the restaurant was full with customers.I do agree though with a negative review about the hidden charges,i.e. service charge.I'd have tipped anyway,but on my terms,t's+c's and not on theirs! Nevertheless the total bill was competitively prices due to close proximity of other restaurant competitions.

Called in as a walk in tonight, very happy to accommodate, lovely atmosphere, very polite and friendly staff, food was delicious and reasonably priced. Will definitely be calling again.

Exemplary food and service as always, was a busy night with a couple of large groups of people in.

Amazing as always staff friendly welcoming nothing too much effort

When we first arrived we could see how busy and stressful the restaurant was due to it being full. This was because they had big parties and a bottomless brunch offer on. We had to wait for around 15-20 minutes for the table to be ready which was not an issue as we just got a drink at the bar. We were shown to our table and after 5-10 minutes the waiter arrived to take our order, we cannot fault the waiter he was amazing and interacted with the little one we had at the table. The starters arrived and one of our party had ordered mussels in the tomato sauce and he wasn't keen as they tasted sandy/gritty. We told the waiter and the reply we got was do you want some bread to mop the tomato sauce that was left. Then the mains came out and all looked good, we ordered penne arribatta, the salmon pasta, spaghetti Bolognese and 2 pizzas. Not the best flavours to be honest but it's an ok Italian not really traditional. Whilst eating the penne as I got the the bottom of the dish I noticed a strand of spaghetti pasta in my penne pasta! At the same time one of our party noticed there was a few chunks of mince meat in her salmon pasta!! We brought this to the attention of the staff immediately and the waitress took it to the kitchen and came back out with the dish and told us the chef had told her that this was a grey piece of salmon, the most pathetic thing I have ever heard. We know the difference between salmon and MINCE MEAT. I then pointed out the fact that in the penne we had found the spaghetti to be told "well we are busy tonight"!! Not good enough. I don't want to make assumptions but its like the chef or whoever plated our food was using the same utensils as the spaghetti Bolognese seemed to be part of both the additional pasta dishes. Luckily the person eating the salmon was not a vegetarian or the situation would have been a whole lot worse for this establishment. The cross contamination was obvious to even the wait staff that saw our dishes. It was even pointed out to us that the spag bol had linguine pasta as well as spaghetti pasta which wasn't noticed by us so I think this speaks volumes to the cross contamination. I understand it was busy and we were very patient about this but when it comes to the food it's a big issue as one of our party had literally 2 mouthfuls of pasta before finding the mincemeat so left the restaurant having not eaten anything but olives. Again I want to make a point and say the staff were extremely busy when we arrived and this is if no fault of the front of house staff. I think this restaurant needs to rethink the booking system and the bottomless brunch or maybe even warn customers because had we know it was bottomless brunch we would have chose a different restaurant.

First time visitors and intend to return soon!

Has never failed to provide good service and food.

Lovely place. Well decorated, nice food, reasonable price, good staff

Fabulous Sunday roast for daughter’s birthday today . Amazing food , exceptional service from brilliant , professional staff. Would definitely revisit.

Friendly and efficient staff and fabulous food. 👌

Another excellent meal and service from the wonderful staff at Arietes. Consistently good food.

Really nice Italian, calzonie was fabulous

What a lovely night out and what an beautiful establishment. Can't fault it 🤩

Last night was our third visit to this classy little restaurant and it once again delivered a fantastic evening. We brought some friends who were dining here for the second time. Great atmosphere, full of excited chatter from the tables, but still able to talk at your table comfortably. Food again was delicious, well presented and hot. The Branzino de Mare (seafood risotto) was amazing, as was the lamb. Good wine selection, really recommend the Barolo and Barbera. Kyle and the team are outgoing and attentive. Special shout out to Salvatore. We will be back soon, maybe for Sunday lunch which is reputed to be top notch too.

First time dining at Ariete, fantastic food and atmosphere. Staff are extremely pleasant and make an effort to make you feel welcome from stepping through the door. Very reasonable price for the service provided. Highly recommend and can’t wait to come back.

Love this place ,staff are lovely,food is great never had a bad meal love sitting out back in summertime chilling with food and drink such lovely atmosphere

Dreadful Christmas day. Waited an hour for our starters and not particularly good. Waited another hour for our main meal and by the time the vegetables arrived we'd more or less eaten the turkey and roast potatoes. Never again

We had a great meal , we had a very experienced waiter who was very knowledgeable and entertaining with everyone in the group (from 3 yo to 70yo) were very accommodating with special requests , we travelled from Manchester was so much less stressful and would definitely revisit!

Good food great for venues service 👌

Food was very greasy , not a creamy sauce as on menu, and did receive change when paid bill

Excellent service and food there with a party all of us were served quickly and food portion was good.

Worst service I've received. Firstly one main meal was forgotten for about 10-15 minutes. We had to ask for drinks and dessert. After ordering dessert 20 minutes later were informed they had sold out of two. Swapped one of the desserts, then an original dessert was forgotten. One melt in the middle dessert was over cooked. 6 desserts served over a 20 minute period. Lots of staff setting tables up for the next day rather than bringing all desserts together.

Very smart, busy, and classy restaurant. Service was excellent without being overly attentive Menu choices are enough to cater for any taste. Pasta dishes were plentiful and well presented. Overall highly recommended restaurant for those who like an Italian restaurant experience Will be back for sure

Really enjoyed it, food and drink very nice

Decided to call in here as we were driving past. Very glad that we did. Lovely decor and ambiance, fantastic food and great service. Will definitely return to eat here again.

Great food but everything was to quick...to much like a fast food resteraunt

Nice place, not too noisy, service okay, but not perfect, 6 of us at the table but only 5 water glasses. Ordered drinks, but they forgot to bring our bottle of wine, until we reminded them. Main courses arrived, but mine was only just warm verging on cold. Didn't complain as everyone was waiting to eat. Ordered sweets, 5 arrived, but again they forgot to bring one of the sweets. Wint put me off going again, but will complain next time.

Staff friendly and service was good restaurant was clean and food priced reasonably. Out of our four dishes, the penna Arrabbiata and a salmon pasta could have been better and more flavoured. The Pizza and Linguine King Prawns was nice. There is also a vegan and vegetarian menu.

We found the restaurant by chance after being disappointed by our hotel offering. We were welcomed without a reservation and only waited 5 or so minutes for a table. Food was excellent, served quickly and piping hot. Service was superb. We live about and hour away, but would gladly travel that distance to eat here every one or two months

Fabulous. Food drink atmosphere and Alessandro so friendly and caring 💗👍

Great menu lovely food, definitely worth a visit

Be very careful of the floor. Its very slippery if you have the wrong footwear. The atmosphere was a bit flat but it was empty as we went early so later evening probably better. Service couldn't be faulted though. Attention to detail and with a smile. Good selection for Vegetarians too which you dont see in many places.

Lovely food, service, and decor. Can get a little noisy when busy but does not spoil the experience.

Great place & food ! Reasonable prices

The food, cocktails and service was great and I will certainly visit again :)

Beautiful venue. Cocktails were lovely. The main course, however, was a very small chicken cutlet (1/3 of a breast and the wing.) It was served with crushed garlic potatoes. The first plate I had the potatoes were very cold bordering on frozen in the middle. The second wasn't hot. No apology. For the price it was very disappointing

Lovely meal out with friends, the food was amazing, well presented, and really flavourful, the best pasta I have had all year. Service was lovely, I only marked the atmosphere down a little because it was Tuesday and there were few diners, please visit and let's make sure such a gem stays open and profitable. I will most definitely be back.

Nice food .but if you want a quite meal then maybe not for you .

Awful service! Has to ask twice to order food. After 45 mins of being there the starter arrived! Awful. Waited 20 minutes for a round of drinks! Would never return!

Been there a few times now this was by far the worst food was poor quality staff didnt know what they were doing wont be going back ever its a shame used to be the best in area but gone downhill fast

Very nice place to eat, plenty of staff to make sure you have everything you want and not a long wait for food considering how busy it was.

Lovely food and great atmosphere. It's very elegant and a very nice setting. Parking just across the road.

Best meal I had in the last 2 years, really nice place. Very good experience

My family and I ate here on friday as a celebration of my sons GCSE results, I am quite surprised to see a negative review from someone dinning on the same night, as we could not fault the service at all. It's a friday evening and the start of a bank hol weekend and of course it was busy, it's a large restaurant also and yet none of that affected the service at all. The food was outstanding and the atmosphere was lovely, If you haven't been here I highly recommend you try it, aswell as the gorgeous food, the restaurant is beautiful with a view into the lovely garden also. 5 star from me!!

When I walked into Ariete this evening the last thing I expected was to fall in love! As delightful as all the staff were, it was the rib sauce and risotto that won me over. Didn’t book, but the lady on the front desk simply checked her book and told my daughter and me it’ll be 5 mins and politely offered us a seat to wait - no elaborate display to draw attention, just perfect manners. All staff were beautifully presented and professionally attentive, including the school leavers, who have clearly been thoroughly well trained as their service was flawless (full credit to the management for investing in them). Food was top class, decent portions (couldn’t finish mine so they boxed it to take away) and not over priced (<£70 for two starters, two mains, two drinks , 1 x dessert). I don’t normally give 5 stars for anywhere, but I honestly couldn’t think of ANYTHING that was wrong! Thoroughly impressed, well done.

Came here yesterday for a 60th birthday meal we waited a long time for our drinks to come over, and the room is so loud you cant hear anyone from across the table which wasnt what we wanted when we went for a family meal.The food was just ok which you dont expect for an Italian restaurant, one memeber of the partys food was cold so we sent it back. No fresh meal was prepared the same plate came back which quite embrassing. The water provided on the table was warm and the overall service was poor we had more apologies than dealing with the issues which made us feel embarrassed as we planned this meal for a family members birthday. The bill came and they added an extra £25 worth of drinks which we didnt have so make sure you check your bills! The manager eventually came over to sort this and his attitude was poor, we wasnt offered anything for the whole inconvenience of the whole night and was told "they didnt do it on purpose". Overall the family member whos birthday it was went home very upset which you dont expect to have to happen on their birthday. Never again will we come here and recommend this place to anyone else.

Great food, really friendly staff, overall fantastic place to eat.

Great food and service, a little bit loud

It would have scored more as the staff were impecable. However, one of the meals was only luce warm when it arrived, and they didn't change it for a correct meal or offer money back because of it. Sorry, staff, but we all learn by thing being explained in a polite way. Number provided if you want to contact me. Tony.

The atmosphere and decoration of the restaurant are really nice (although the room is a little noisy when it is full). The service was generally good. The food itself was really not to our taste: really questionable combinations of flavors in certain dishes (for the burata for example which is served with a spicy sauce with Mexican tones), an overall greasy cuisine (pasta which bathes in the oil on the plate). In short, the value for money was not very satisfactory. We do not recommend this restaurant (at least, we do not recommend this restaurant for our French palates).

Food was amazing and the service was great, only thing was the tables were kind of close together and I would like a bit more space.

Had a lovely meal here with my husband as it had been recommended by family. The service was great, only reason not 5* is because we had to remind them about not receiving our dessert, but generally the time in-between courses was perfect. The place is lovely and the atmosphere was nice. Looking forward to going again.

What a fabulous Italian! Had an amazing meal last night with my husband and two daughters. The staff are very friendly and attentive, especially Salvatore! Will most definately be returning 👍🏻

We have been coming to the restaurant a number of years now and not been for a couple of months however our latest experience was extremely poor and is really disappointing as it was such a good place but something isn’t just working currently so not sure what’s changed. 30 minutes had to wait for table reservation though booked at least a month in advance, service poor - had to ask twice for water at the table, twice asked for toilet roll in the ladies as non present and the meals were dry and tasteless unusually. Where normally food and service is really on point

Much to noisy couldn't have a normal conversation waiters we're excellent nice place

Was driving back from Scotland and pulled off the M6 looking for some food and found this.... A fantastic family run Italian... Unique atmosphere and amazing service with great food

Absolutely brilliant place had my 60th birthday celebrations here, cannot fault them everybody commented how good the night was, definitely will back again.