Ask Italian in County Durham

We love coming here when we go to the theatre in Durham. It's our 'safe' place for our children. They are brilliant with dealing with allergies and have been so accommodating with our son's sensory food challenges too. The service is fabulous and we really enjoy coming here. Lee has been our service almost every time we've been and its always been spot on Thank you ☺️

A very good take away dining experience. Firstly the food, packaged very well and the portions were generous, the snacks and pastas ordered were delicious. My favourite is the tiramisu!The wine was packed separately and drizzled on when you ate it. very tasty, moist texture with a rich and creamy flavour of wine and milk, so yum! Secondly, the service, not only the packaging is very good, the staff is also very attentive, warm and meticulous.The meal was kept in an insulated box until I came to pick it up.It was windy and rainy outside and my meal was very carefully wrapped in extra plastic bag to prevent the packaging from getting wet. A really great dining experience!

I told the restaurant online in advance that it was my birthday and they really spoiled me, it was so lovely, I got a free cocktail with a happy birthday message on it. There was a lit candle in my dessert. Then I got a complimentary shot of lemencello. The waitress was just super lovely to me and my partner too.

Lovely food, great choice for coeliacs, excellent service from Lee. A lovely way to spend a rainy bank holiday Monday . 👍

Went with my step daughter for an Easter treat. It was lovely, service was excellent and we were particularly looked after by Lee

Lee was brilliant - so professional and attentive. Delicious food and lovely ambience! Thank you Ask😋

Great food and atmosphere- we were served by Lee, who was very friendly and offered us great customer service. He recommended delivious options and made us feel welcome.

Lee was fantastic, very helpful and funny.

Love this place, in the middle of Durham and always immaculate. The pizza was amazing (as always!) shout out to chef Jordan, never fails. Also Lee who looked after us was great! Very attentive - service was perfect. Thank you!

Came here for a little self love day, food was amazing and my server Lee was absolutely fantastic. So caring and really looked after me while I was here. Will be coming back very soon. Also if they don’t give Lee a pay rise I will

Fantastic food, amazing service from Becky...thank you so much. Would highly recommend it

Alex is fantastic waitress, very helpful and such a beautiful young lady x The food as always was excellent and piping hot x Ask is a clean and friendly place to go to x

Friendly helpful staff great service from all

The staff was lovely - Becky and Lee❤️, very welcoming and attentive. Both look amazing and a great humour. The food was delicious and served hot. The atmosphere was calm and it had a nice ambiance. Will definitely be back.

Service was slow, and because I was on my own I was often forgotten about. Food wasn't brilliant, this shows a huge skills gap the UK food service industry at present. Not a great choice on the menu either.

We had a great night service from Olivia was very customer focused She checked in on us just the right amount of times - and there was never any ‘issues’ food delicious, choice, value. Overall spot on service from a local young girl. Appreciated

Becky was amazing..would employ her

An absolutely amazing experience, Kaci our server was lovely and made sure we had everything we needed. The toilets were so clean, until I used them (lol🤣🤣). Pasta and pizza were delicious. We will be back!!

Becky was amazing !! We were served straight away. such a beautiful place to eat great food and served straight away . Best time to come for me is a Friday at 7:30ish . Becky was a great server tho very funny xx loved it would come again

Becky was amazing, I trust her with my life

Rachel was amazing. Food great as always

A really busy day in Durham so the restaurant was packed. Olivia did a great job serving and helping keep my 4 year old happy!

Amazing evening with my friend, Olivia was brilliant Friday night and she’s a credit to the company.

Food was really good and our waiter Lee was extremely helpful

We were served by Lee, who did an amazing job keeping our table stocked with what we needed and was very kind and knowledgeable about the menu. Looking forward to going again!

Excellent service in Durham, particularly from Olivia our waitress.

Had a bit of a tough week and due to weather conditions, decided to stay at a hotel local to work after get wet, and discovering the bar and restaurant at my hotel were out if action due to a refurb, I headed back out.... in the rain and found Ask Italian, warn welcome, friendly team and enjoyed the food. The waitress was friendly, kind and efficient. Lovely evening and they cheered my day up. Highly recommend stickly toffee coffee cake

The staff was OK but the food was really bad. I had a milanese for 16 pounda and it tasted like a frozen one that you would get from Aldi. In other cities I had better pasta so petgaps the menu change made a difference. It just dorsnt taste good at all.

Gluten free pizza was very nice. Service was excellent. It was a bit quiet in the restaurant but that was fine as with friends and good to chat.

Really good food and service was great :) Lee was really kind and helpful.

Really good service and food, would highly recommend!!! Lee was really kind and helpful.

Lovely meal and great service from Grace! Will return.

Amazing restaurant with amazing staff! Great food and caters amazingly for gluten free too! A must try in Durham! Top quality food, service and staff!

Called in for lunch with my friend. Stunning food & service from Rachel & Alex! Crayfish pasta was unreal!

Would of gave 5 stars for everything if going of the first night we went one of the nicest meals iv ever had at ask went back 2 days later and was the total opposite one of the worst meals iv had there so I think it all depends on which chefs are on on the day

Amazing place, amazing service! My wife and her friend can’t normally eat anywhere with the allergens they have but Ask have amazing options for them both! Our server Becky, round of applause for her service, she is such a character and would even go back just to see her Carry on the debate about pineapple on pizza such a laugh

It’s no where near being Italian food.I had spaghetti and it tasted like roast beef gravy . My partner had a pasta and chicken ,that was actually tasteless .I won’t be going there again for overpriced bland food . The place was cold and music was far too loud.

Wasn't many people in as it was was a random Wednesday after new year hence the atmosphere but the prawn risotto was the best I've tasted 😋 could your chef send recipe 🙏

Just left after waiting 25 mins for some service and it wasn't busy ...I will not be back ...sorry but Ask Italian poor show

Amazing bubbly friendly staff Amazing food Just amazing

Returned again from a great experience last time and was not disappointed! Great friendly staff as always - Alex is always smiling and friendly! Amazing food yet again with the Fiery Calabria being my favourite! Will be back again and again

Love ask . Relaxed friendly meal with staff that look like they actually want to be there . We will return soon !

I don't normally write negative reviews but the food here was extremely poor. Daughters bolognese had no meat in it and tasted disgusting, a liking to dish water with a tinge of red. My pizza calzone was 80% bread, hardly anything inside, at the most 3 pices of meat and a scraping of tomato puree. Wifes carbonara had 4 cm cubes of meat, sons carbonara had none. Waited approximately 30 mins for food and the place was barely 1/3 occupied. Will not be going back here, many other places in Durham far superior at similar if not cheaper prices. Very dissapounted.

Service was slow. 30 min wait for each course even though restaurant wasn't very busy. Starters were decent. Mains were very disappointing. Bland and overpriced. Could have made nicer at home.

Served by Olivia today at Ask in Durham - great food and service.

such a lovely place, welcoming atmosphere and delicious food!!

lovely atmosphere and kind waiters

All the staff were so kind. Lee is amazing, and so welcoming!!!

All the staff are amazing Lee is amazing and kind I had a great time thank you

absolute fab experience, such a great place!!

Great evening with fantastic food. Brilliant host in Olivia

Great service & very quick. Fantastic food & fab atmosphere!

Lee at Durham was fantastic, always happy and smiling, he couldn’t have looked after us any better, he is a credit to the Ask Italian team! Food was delicious too.

Lee was a lovely host; he was so friendly, laid back and made us laugh. Lee couldn’t have been more helpful. Our food came out so fast, it was piping hot and delicious. Definitely will be back, thankyou Lee!!!

Thank you to the amazing servers

Great service from Lee. Visited on the 16th November after walking around for the Lumiere and it was just what we needed. Tasty food and excellent service. Thank you! :)

Olivia was a wonderful server and very attentive. Thank you.

Olivia was lovely. Really great meal!

Heard great things about this place so thought Try it ..devastated is not the qord to describe the poor offering I got . I opted for the pollo milanese big mistake if I wanted chicken nuggets I would go.e to McDonald's that was not freshly breaded chicken. Mentioned to the server after she replied with its a chain what do u expect

We hadn’t booked but you found us a table.. and a high chair on a very busy Saturday afternoon and made us feel very welcome. Thank you very much, a lovely family meal

Such a great meal, the starter dough balls were delicious. Lee was our waiter and he was brilliant, even gave us a free piece of cheesecake for our son's birthday, thank you!

Excellent customer service from all staff. Food was tasty, fast and plentiful.

Had a great work christmas meal the other night. Our server Andrew was friendly and professional, drinks arrived quickly after ordering and Andrew seemed to remember who ordered which drinks without asking. Great service thoughout the meal, lovely food and tiramisu in particular was really nice. Very accommodating staff and a nice clean, comfortable restaurant.

Lee and the team helped me out massively today for my sisters baby shower. Their kindness was appreciated after I made an error with the order, without hesitation they solved the problem and made the day go so smoothly. We also got so many compliments on how lovely the food was. Thank you again 5⭐️ from us x

We ate here tonight after the theatre and despite arriving 40 minutes early and clearly to a packed restaurant, Lee our server accommodated our party of 7 without hesitation. The food was really good, the atmosphere is cosy and relaxed, we had children with us who were so well catered for. I would definitely recommend it.

Rachael and Lee made our visit really fabulous. The food was great and cooked freshly for the table of 16. I couldn't recommend the staff highly enough for the service and quality of the food and drink! Thank you for an unforgettable evening in Durham!

Lee and Rachael were great hosts looking after 16 of us for a birthday party. Thanks for such great quality food freshly cooked, but above all fabulous service and great atmosphere!!!

On Thursday night my partner and I wanted a bite to eat but did not want to sit in as we could see the restaurant was very busy, with it being the first night of the Lumiere event in Durham. Employee Lee was manning the front of house ensuring everyone got a table and explained wait times to us but said there was no chance we were sitting outside to wait for our takeaway pizza, and sat us down and ensured our order got sent to the kitchen in a timely manner. We watched Lee serving other customers and he is like a customer service whirlwind, so efficient and kind to everybody. He made our experience at Ask Italian so much better! Thank you Lee

Called in on spec just as they were closing yesterday. We were in need of a hot drink as it was so freezing walking home. Lee and team made us very welcome, even came to the table with heaters! And the hot chocolate was a revelation, really very good!

Wonderful service from Lee. We arrived frozen and ordered hot chocolates to warm up. We were seated next to a heater then Lee turned the temperature up and placed a second heater next to us. Hot chocolate was absolutely delicious and we left thoroughly warmed through. Thank you so much !!!

As an Italian family, we were thoroughly disappointed by the quality of pizza at this particular ASK. The flavours just do not come together. We appreciated the kids menu though and would probably only come for that.

Poor service, waited ages in-between starter and main , 50 minutes!! . The resurant itself was quiet however it was clear meals ordered on just eat ( several seen going out the door) were prioitised over customers orders . Then we didn't get the side we ordered. Totally disappointed with the service. Staff apologised, but made the excuse of " we get timed for Just Eat"and "we're short staffed tonight" Not the customers concern !! Could of been so much better tonight. The food we did have was lovely and to compensate we were given free drinks, which were appreciated . surely customers in restaurants must come first. Will think twice before dining at ask again .

We had a lovely meal at ask Italian. food and service was top notch. We had a great laugh with Lee who was brilliant 🤩 made our night xxxx

Lee was amazing, was great chatting to him! Food was amazing, wonderful evening!!!! Thank you 😊

Lee, Josh, Matthew and Gavin!! Unreal service for our first time coming here, greeted so nice from the start, the chit chat was so funny and made us feel so at ease! Incredible food and even better service!! Adjusted the menu to exactly the meal that I wanted, checking everything was okay, very helpful and friendly staff and nothing was too much of a bother! Wholesome evening and the food was delicious will be back! jess and Kerys xx

Came with my grandson who is ASD, and the staff couldn’t do enough to cater to his sensory needs! Rachel in particular went above and beyond for him! Thanks again! We will definitely be back.

A wonderful meal out, great service from Rachel!

Very friendly staff and delicious food. The restaurant is very stylish as well. I love pizzas and I love ASK more than any other pizza restaurant. I visit the one in Durham all the time and it is always a wonderful experience. If you are visiting Durham - this is the place to get pizza!

Very accommodating and super lovely :)

I’m a regular customer here, it is a lovely place to eat. The staff are super friendly and welcoming. They are great with my kids and very attentive. The manger always makes an effort to come and talk to us and he always recognises us as regulars.

Visited to last minute did not realise there was a gala kid show on but the manger fitted us in thankfully as it's one of the only places my aurtistic daughter will eat the food was amazing as always and we had an amazing afternoon. Thanks again to the manger who dispute being ran off his feet went above and beyond again for myself and family.

We had to order (and pay for) the kids meal twice as our daughter was still hungry. Carbonara was like a tasteless Iceland microwave meal. Service was very slow despite the restaurant being empty. It's quicker to order via the qr code than wait indefinitely. Definitely won't be back to Ask.

It is a standard place. The food is average one notch better than what you could get in some decent take aways. Atmosphere is also average. The reason for one star is service. They had only one person on a Saturday afternoon (29th October 2023 12:30ish) We came as a two family without reservation. The place was half empty. We were told to wait which is perfectly fine if you show up without reservation. We had two toddlers and one baby with us so asked if possible to wait while sitting. The host said no and his justification was he was alone. While we did what he told us but asked a couple of times if it was possible to just sit. The answer was same. I still do not understand his explanation as we said we would wait for the food order as long as it takes. If you have kids I would avoid the place

Came into after gala show . The guy working by himself I’m presuming is the manager was alone and was rushing around keeping us all happy with a little help from the chef! Amazing service and food under the circumstances . We will defo return next time we are in the area !

We popped into Ask Italian Durham for lunch after a Durham Book festival event. The staff were lovely, immediately attentive, taking us straight to a table and explaining the menu. Becky was our waitress and she was friendly, personable and professional. The starters; chicken lecca lecca and king prawns were delicious. I had the beef brisket pappardelle and my partner had the sausage pasta. Both excellent. We treated ourselves to a sticky toffee coffee pudding to finish. This is a lovely restaurant in the heart of Durham; great ambience and best of all, super staff.

Fantastic service from Rachael and Andrew, both so friendly and attentive and happy to chat and have a laugh with us. The food was delicious and their house made lemonade is the best of any ASK Italian!

Amazing food, restaurant, service and staff. By far the best ASK Italian in the country! The staff here are first class as well as the food! Perfect for gluten free too!

4 of us dined at 1pm. Starters, mushrooms and chicken strips ok. Carbonara and seafood pasta were nice. Pizza was ok. Bolognese was bland, sadly no taste at all. Dessert was the best part although only 2 of us had these and they were free due to a birthday and a new registration promo. The young lass who served us was lovely, despite this I doubt I'll go again as I've had loads better and certainly much less expensive than this.

Food is always lovely, every dish was so nice. Service was really quick and staff are so friendly too. We visited with Tastecard 241.

Food was lovely and Lee was great so friendly and accommodating. He made me and my daughter feel very welcome

OMG I love this place. First of all the food was diiiiivvvviiiinnnneeee, it was served quickly and hot, so hot in fact that our waiter had to use a second plate just to carry it over to us, we came as a family of 4 so normally we don’t expect such quick service. Second of all, we were served by Andrew and he is one of the most lovely and funny waiters I have ever had the pleasure of being served by, my son is autist and during taking our order and other table duties, Andrew showed the upmost patience which I greatly appreciate. Thirdly I was very pleased with the cleanliness of this restaurant, our table, surrounding area and the toilets were all nip clean. Another note about the toilets is that they are in individual cubicles which is perfect for those that feel uncomfortable in public restrooms. I am especially pleased because our table wasn’t ready for us but was quickly turned over after the guests before us. I am so shocked that we didn’t come here sooner as a family of foodies but this is going right to the top of the list of restaurants we would like to revisit in the future.

Always a treat coming here the staff are amazing and the manger Lee is a delight always says hello to us and nothing is ever to much for them we have an child with autism never feel like we're judged.

Amazing food and even better service! The lady serving us, possibly manager, long blonde ponytail she is an Asset to Ask Italian! Such a character and made us feel so welcome. Food was great we had the risotto and seafood linguine. Would definitely recommend and would go back!

Enjoyed a delicious pizza with perfect crispy base and garlic and cheese bread served by Lee who was very friendly and efficient despite the restaurant being busy and we hadn't booked...will definitely return

7 of us attended for a meal. Firstly the girl waiting on was lovely and attentive and the toilets were good but… the food is very overpriced for the very average food served. Two dishes were returned to the kitchen as they were cold. The waiter (guy) assured us it would be remade. The food returned in two minutes clearly microwaved. The frustration was more due to the lies. Luckily the two dishes were deducted from the bill. We would not return again sadly.

We had a most lovely meal here in Durham and everyone was charming. They went out of their way to accommodate all our wishes. A really nice experience.

We ordered starters, mains and deserts, and the service was as quick as the food was delicious. Also the service was nothing short of first class, the boy that served us was polite and kind. The restaurant itself had a lovely atmosphere and was very clean, despite being relatively busy. We will definitely be coming back in the future.

We didn't have vouchers so paid full price - Pollo prosciutto (£15.95)..... Very poor never seen chicken, it was formed chicken at best, rubbery and no 'real chicken' texture. Poor, poor quality.. I wouldn't have been happy paying half price..... we'll avoid in future and go to a real Italian.

Food was acceptable but oh my-they have a lot to learn about customer service . The restaurant was practically empty so I enquired if they were closed -young lady said no and sat us down She then came back and said our order had to be in asap and we would need to leave by 10pm This was 9:30pm ! If they were closed why didn’t she say so Then her colleague let another family of 4?sit down …. So food was served very quickly and to be fair ok But the staff got their bags out in the tables not far from us , loudspeaker hoover going on…a lone female cane in and sat down and the chef was heard to say ..”someone’s just walked and can fack off -there table 3” Dishes were whisked away -didn’t expect to be offered dessert or coffee but had to go to the till to get out bill because she was too busy chucking away perfectly good lemonade and the family of 4 had 2 children with them -waste not won’t not and all that Honestly - the festival is on and I’d this is the …not a welcome …it’s not surprising the place was empty Next time if you can’t be bothered then say so because there are plenty of other eating places in Durham So disappointed-we cant afford to go out often and out lively theatre trip was marred by what now proves to be an appalling choice of restaurants -we choose Italian because we love to finish with an Afragato-never got the chance 😔

Ask in Durham offers nothing but a first class experience with your dining experience. Food is finger licking good and the staff are outstanding,an asset to the company in more ways than one. The service is first class too. If you dine here you certainly won’t be disappointed.