Caffe Capriccio in County Durham

Served us mouldy dessert! We ordered 4 tiramasou desserts, all came different sizes so we asked for one to be changed. One of us took a bite, it was off! Another spotted green mould on the top! Took them back, said we didn't want replacement. They bought 4 fresh out, we thought ok maybe on the house. Nope, charged us, didn't even say sorry. Flat white was a latte, had to ask for an extra shot. Deep fried fat smell as you go in, we should have taken that as a sign.

Love this place. Great menu and service.

When we entered seemed a cute quirky place. We ordered 3 full English breakfast black coffee and 2 teas. It took 20mins for drinks to come then took 40mins for breakfast. When the breakfast came we had one sausage cut in half one rasher of bacon 2 came with small amount of mushrooms one with none on. A hash brown an egg some beans and the cheapest bread which must of been hovered over toaster which was dry no butter. Which the whole breakfast was cold and for almost 12 pound per breakfast we were disgusted. Spent 45 pounds on poor food wouldn't recommend based on our experience.

Ate here Friday 23rd Feb. Food was fine. Karen the server was the one who made this place great. She was fab and on her first day with the business of the fire and ice festival was a total pro.

Very beautiful little shop. The coffee is good, but I want a black American without milk. The tomatoes in the Full English breakfast are delicious, but the hash browns are cold and the bread and mushrooms are average. I don’t recommend them.

Having breakfast here at the moment. It charges full English breakfast £18+, but serves small ones. The mushrooms are not fresh, bacon is hard and coffee is tasteless. Never come again.

I was somehow charged £4.50 (though last time I was charged £3 for the same thing!) for a very disgusting iced latte that I couldn’t even get halfway through. It somehow tasted like it had barely any coffee in it, too much syrup, barely any ice, and chocolate powder and cream on top? They also didn’t seem happy when I asked to pay with card. I found my visits before this to be quite nice, but I won’t be back after this time and I’m extremely disappointed about the price

Cosy, snug, lovely atmosphere, very relaxed!

We both ordered the breaded chicken paninis with one side of salad and one side of chips (£8.90 each). However, the chicken was just grilled and diced into small pieces, not breaded. The amount of chicken in each panini was extremely small and, with no other fillings, was definitely not worth the price. The portion of chips that came with one of them was also very small. The service was friendly, but the portions were not worth the price.

Great food and atmosphere, staff are very friendly. Would recommend if you’re in Durham!!

Lovely coffee shop, great staff, service

best coffee shop in durham , recommend highly , staff are great too

£4 for a glass of orange juice from concentrate... No more need be said

Proper lush traditional coffee shop, actual Italian coffee. Canny atmosphere, really friendly chilled vibe. Coffee delightful 😊

Staff is incredibly kind and accommodating! The food and drinks are excellent! The cafe is a warm and welcoming environment!

Lovely cafe, nice environment, great food and kind people

Disgusting horrible place to buy anything eggs wasn't cooked properly sausage with freezing and for what you get for the price overpriced pls people stay away from this cafe

Have stopped outside many a time for a coffee and cannoli but due to the rain and feeling peckish headed inside for something more substantial. My partner and I both had paninis his with chips mine with salad. His tuna and aubergine was lacking in tuna and he was disappointed with the lack of chips. I enjoyed my goats cheese and peppers and side salad but the 2 meals were not worth a higher rating. I think we’ll stick with just coffee in the future as that was as good as always.

First visit to this lovely Italian cafe, lovely friendly staff. We will be back soon

came here with my family and it was brilliant. we came at lunch time and the only issue we had was that the food took a little bit longer then expected but we were told this upon ordering so all was good. the food was delicious and the staff were very friendly. will definitely return.

Very comfortable seating and very good atmosphere. Very friendly staff with fast service and amazing food for good prices. The staff are also very helpful and understanding when handling food for vegetarians and make sure no meat contact is made. 10/10 highly recommended

We visited this cosy Italian cafe today. My 11 year old daughter wanted to busk with her saxophone to raise money for Ukraine. We asked permission from the owner to busk outside and he was really supportive and helpful. The staff were friendly and the tea and traditional Italian cakes were fabulous too.

Stopped here for a panini as we could sit outside. Ordered one that should have had mozzarella, tomato and pesto. Came nice and hot, but with enough mozzerella to cover less than a quarter of the bread along with 2 small slices of tomato. Complained to the manager (who had already received complaints from several other tables regarding the quality of the food) who did take mine away and replace with a fuller version, but completely ignored me as I called after him that my husbands was the same. Asked another waiter to replace the other one and our request was ignored, so we decided we'd wasted enough of our day here and cut our losses and left. After seeing the problems we were having, several other people that had sat down decided it wasn't for them.Cash only payment as apparently the establishment is changing hands - the new management needs to take note of these terrible reviews and up their game!

Avoid this place. Poor service, rude staff , no manners , food is disgusting.it will not last for long this place for sure.

This place is terrible, The staff are rude and offer an extremely poor service no one seems to want to serve you and your definitely made to feel like your an inconvenience rather than a valued customer The food is poor and just seems like its thrown together rather than cooked . I would not go back to this place and highly recommend you spend your money at any of the other cafes / resteraunts in the area that all seem to be superior.

Coffee not very nice, dark and dingy inside. I assume it was one of the owners who served me, unfortunately he had a bit of a surly attitude. The young waitress was very pleasant but I would not recommend it and will not go back.

Delicious but expensive - has to be five stars but not necessarily within a student budget. I guess they all are to be honest though apart from greggs. For the price of this espresso I could pay 5 vertically challenged individuals to announce my arrival to lectures with a trumpet fanfare for several days. The coffee was of course lovely and the venue was is a lovely little Italian one and felt really homely. I’m sad that I couldn’t try the food as I imagine it is equally tasty and well presented. Trophy II

The coffee was “not too big, not too small”. It was perfect. The environment was blissfully peaceful and allowed me to start deciding what underwear I was going to wear this evening. - Haywire

Clean tables, waiter who was hilariously crazy, authentically dodgy Italian music from the 1980s. The coffee was delicious, even nicer with a splash of Jamesons added. Schofield

*AVOID THIS PLACE*Popped in for a quick flat white in the hope of a morning treat. The welcome was unfriendly if not downright dismissive, and the rather expensive flat white tasted like diluted instant coffee at best. I took it back to request a refund, which was denied and met with hostility. In addition, the man serving us did not wear a mask, which made us feel uncomfortable, and the bathroom was dirty. Disgraceful customer service, a complete waste of money, and an awful experience overall. Would never go back and would not recommend to anyone else.

Flat white not good at all! For being an Italian coffee shop the flat white was like dishwater. Watery and not milky at all. Also served red hot 🤔🤷🏽‍♂️

Stopped here for our first meal out for 3 months...no booking necessary...service was good - my diavolo pizza was very tasty and my partner enjoyed her quattro stagione...good value and nice place for people watching!

We arrived for a late lunch and were just ignored. Another couple arrived after us and were served. We had to ask to order. When the food came it wasn’t worth it. The melanzane parmigiana was swimming in oil. They had clearly fried the aubergines in oil, poured over the pizza topping tomato sauce, added some cheese then grilled it. All I could taste was oil. Served with 3 tiny pieces of dry white bread. My partner had a pizza which he said was ok. I really wouldn’t recommend.

The breakfast was made from scratch and we had beautiful Italian coffee! Would definitely recommend. 🍽 ☕️

We should have refused to sit down - gaps between tables virtually non existent. I even asked our neighbour if he minded as we were clearly sitting TOO close. The waitress had no concept of the process for wearing a mask which she wore around her neck and repeatedly touched. Drinks came quickly the meal was very delayed which gave time to actually see what was happening. The owner? behind the counter walked to and from tables with no mask. He wiped his hands over nose and mouth then touched the sound system - then plates of food and drink. No one washed or disinfected hands. Tables x 3 cleaned with same grubby J cloth - NO disinfectant. Owner put tea towel over shoulder and walked down street - then used on food plates. We paid for food even though not arrived and complained - no apology, no obvious understanding of our issues. The place was over crowded, service slow (thank goodness in our case) and no one seemed to care either about their own or more importantly their customers health. No hand sanitising stations for customers or staff. Dangerous place! Avoid it. Will be reporting to environmental Health Durham.

The food was very good, very tasty and seemed to be made fresh! Nice selection for vegetarians too. Very friendly staff. Drinks took a little while as well as food, but was worth the wait, it was possibly down to the fact there were only 2 staff on a busWould recommend.

We waited 30 ministers for our coffees and one was the wrong order. The pain is took over 40 minutes to arrive and had virtually no filling. I ate less than half of mine, despite being very hungry.

Come on guys you're Italian. The best coffee I've ever had was in Italy. But what you are serving is not up to the standards of your countrymen it's just the disappointing average stuff that's for sale everywhere in the UK

the pizza was to die for. It only took 5 minutes to come freshly made and the quality was amazing. The staff are really friendly. I would recommend it to anyone any age.

I love the carbonara here. It is very different from the one you make at your home and even though it is rich, it was very very delicious indeed. I was kind of forcing myself to finish it at the end as it was too good. The service was nice as well and I recommend anyone of you to visit a little bit more early (6.30 or 7 pm) as it might get a bit busy later.

We went for a coffee before we went to catch our coach home. The cafe was due to move to restaurant service in about half an hour. The Italian waiter on the counter pointed to the door and rudely told us ' you in here for 20 minutes and then you OUT.'Unsurprisingly we declined to stay....

A delightful cafe with a very good menu of meals, snacks and drinks. Staff were very friendly and helpful and service was excellent. We enjoyed a freshly cooked breakfast there on two mornings and at £4.95 was outstanding value for money. We would have no hesitation in recommending this cafe and will return whenever possible.

I had the best coffee I have tasted since being in Durham ... we only stopped for drinks but true Italian food looked good .. will go back to try the some next time. Friendly happy service !

We had lunch here on a recent visit to Durham and enjoyed it so much we went back for dinner! Good range of meals available at reasonable prices. Ice cream was delicious and the staff were very welcoming. Would definitely recommend.

We had an all-day breakfast each - I ordered a meat one and a veggie one, was charged the same for each, but when the plates came mine was identical only minus the bacon and sausage! Nothing additional at all. I can only think this was a mistake but didn't bother to pursue it. Apparently the meaty bits were good, but I found mine a bit lacklustre and small quantity (as it had two main elements missing). It does seem authentically Italian-run though and I know from a previous visit does good coffee - perhaps not the right cuisine to pick given the context.

A Sunday night visit..A slightly depressing entrance hall and stairway gave way to a small but pleasant restaurant...We ordered pizzas which were so tasty....Thin bases and excellent toppings...one with tuna and one with anchovies and black olives..all reasonable price for being in such a city...Well recommended..

We come here a lot and the service is always great, the owner is so genuine and kind. Great food, we can also never leave without a scoop of gelato!

We all came here to have breakfast because we woke up 7 o'clock in the morning to go out to Durham today. We were starving hungry. I'm 12 and a came with my Mum and Dad from York because we wanted to go somewhere different. We got there, we were hungry and I saw a sign on the wall and I saw the word Chips... I love chips. I asked my Mum and Dad if we could eat there because the were chips. We got in and the was an italian waiter. He was talking rubbish at first and we thought he was funny but then he started to be annoying and he went too far. We got the breakfast, Mum and Dad didn't like theirs but they still had it. I got my chips and I didn't like them (they tasted like cardboard) and then he came out and when we started eating and he would not leave us alone. The was no "Are you enjoying your meal" or anything. He kept tapping on the table when we were eating and being loud and he kept crowding us and I'm autistic and I don't like being crowded. I like having lively people about but I don't like it when they are crowding me! Well apart from that, we had a lovely day exept for the rain! If the annoying waiter reads this, please can you not crowd people when they don't want it. I don't recommend this.

Have visited this place for many years now.thin and crispy pizza with four toppings is fab.the paninis are great .the canolo is really tasty for dessert.good coffee.not fancy surrounding but good food and service.

We called in for coffee when visiting Durham and it was excellent - friendly service and perfect coffee. As we were so impressed decided to stop there for lunch the next day and had the best pizza we have had in years. A lovely friendly cafe that serves delicious coffee and food. Will definitely go back when next in Durham.

Very nice place, we stopped for a coffee, this place has an authentic italian feel, recommended! 👌😊

It's with a heavy heart that I write this, but I hope the owners read it and possibly do something about it. We used to love going here for a coffee as it was by far the best in Durham but recently it has gone significantly downhill. The last 3 times we've been in, we've had to go back and request they change it for what we actually ordered. Also, we nearly always got a cake to takeaway from the glass cabinet but this is always empty. I'm not sure if they're short of staff as there seems to be a few faces not there anymore, and the place is suffering for it. I really hope they get their act together as I love this place but can't justify going in anymore

We were on a trip to see our son and were out looking for somewhere to have breakfast. Walked past Capriccios and decided to give it a go. We weren’t disappointed excellent coffee, fresh croissants and a cracking full English for £4.95.

Went to order five ice creams. Asked the price per scoop - the server pointed to each cone / tub in turn and stated the price. It should have cost us about six pounds for five as the single simple cones were £1. Imagine our hocok to be charged £11 and told that the price quoted was for the CONE ONLY and that ice cream was extra.

Just called in for quick coffee stop. First arrived cold but was quickly replaced with hot ones. They were very apologetic.

Frantically trying to find somewhere for a quick bite before our son’s show. Stumbled across capriccio. Effusive welcome for our dog and really good pizza and chicken, asparagus and mushroom ravioli. Will be back.

Lovely authentic café run by Italians. Gorgeous genuine Italian pizza, real coffee, lovely typical Italian desserts. Ice cream in the summer.

Today, I went to Capriccio Caffè in the hope of finding a real Italian Coffee Shop. Emma kindly offered me Mozzarella instead or ham or tuna for my £4.95 salad. It came with wonderful warm bread & my favourite dressing of balsamic glaze - quality at a reasonable price produced with love. I was not charged for accepting the bread. I was able to use my Italian too although they speak perfect English.

After a busy morning shopping we were in need of refreshment & wanted to try somewhere new, this cafe is on the way to Elvet Bridge, it’s a small place & we didn’t think latte was available as rubbed off on the board but it was, looked like a small & charged for the large based on what other customers were having, breakfast barm was ok, wouldn’t rush back, far better places in Durham!

Lovely lunch, great value. small and cosy with great atmosphere. Friendly, helpful staff. Large selection of wine.

Cafe Capriccio is an incredibly well run family business. The staff are all Italian-speaking and thus making for a unique experience. The service was very warm and friendly and we felt genuinely looked after! The food is ridiculously well-priced and of an excellent quality and quantity. We ordered pizzas which were authentic Italian style being thin, flavoursome to say the least, and light. The atmosphere was very welcoming and relaxing and the tier above offers seclusion and quiet if you desire such ambiance.

Lovely food, and importantly very friendly service. Thanks to Emma and Franco! Highly recommended and for sure we will be back.

Had a lovely lunch here, very reasonably priced. Quite small inside, all food is made fresh to order. Would definitely visit here again. Also would would recommend anyone to try here as well.

My daughter & I had visited this cafe a couple of times in the past but I think it must have changed hands since then. We ordered potato skins, a panini & tea. I ordered a chicken salad sandwich which you wouldn't think would be too tricky to prepare.

We were hunting a coffee after the 08.00 eucharist at the cathedral - neither of the cathedral cafes were open nor were the obvious places on our walk down into the Bailey area nearer 'sea level'. Caffe Capricio came to our rescue. The loo was out of action and it had a sign up 'cash only' but we had enough cash and could take on board a coffee each without needing to get rid of fluids. The coffee was excellent as were good value little breakfast snacks we purchased.

We stopped in for ice cream after touring the Durham Cathedral and it did take a few minutes to be waited on at the front of the store...but once we got served, we enjoyed our selections. One in our party ordered tiramisu and he loved it. Not sure the folks working there were Italian, they seemed to be speaking some other language - Eastern European, perhaps.

This is a little gem and is a truly authentic taste of Italy!

On Wednesday 27th December I caught the train from York to Durham. It was so cold! I was meeting my son and daughter-in-law and I was frozen by the time we met up. They took me to CAFFE CAPRICCIO for lunch. What a lovely little cafe, it was welcoming, warm and cosy. It was busy but we were fortunate enough to get a table. Service was prompt and the lasagne dish I chose was gorgeous - and you MUST try the chips! All the food being served around us looked very good, especially the pizzas. I would heartily recommend this pleasant little cafe and I look,forward to a return visit.

Last time we were here we had a lovely meal but felt it has gone way back on this trip.

Had a really good English breakfast one morning followed by 2 cups of Good Italian type coffee. Very good value and service.

As a lifelong Italophile I have visited probably hundreds of Italian restaurants. This is one of the very few in the UK that actually felt like a comparable cafe would in Italy.

Pre-booked our table on the strength of previous reviews and were pleased we did. Restaurant was extremely busy and with the quality of the meals we had you can see why.

We visited Durham for the day and stumbled upon this place by accident and so glad we did. Nestled amongst pricier, chain eating places, this is a gem. Lovely food and great service.

What a delight this place is - we only had coffee, but it was delicious. The best coffee I had in years: authentic Italian coffee, made and served by a true Italian. The sweets in the cafe are delicious, as well as the authentic Italian ice cream. Recommended!

We stopped here for lunch and enjoyed Cannelloni and Lasagne followed by a gelato similar to Tiramisu

We decided to pop to Durham for lunch and stumbled upon this cafe and we were so glad we did. We both had inexpensive pizzas and they are probably the best we have ever had in the UK. The coffee was delicious too. Great to see a proper Italian cafe run by Italians. What a find!

We ate at the upstairs restaurant. What a pleasure to find real Italians cooking and serving. House red a good sangiovese. Risotto excellent as was the pasta with salmon. Lovely atmosphere. Well worth a visit.

We needed somewhere for a quick breakfast snack. The coffee was exceptional and I do drink far too much of the stuff. The staff were friendly and thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

Staff very welcoming,coffee very good, likewise snacks though a wider range would be even betterLook forward to trying restaurant

A great little cafe in the centre of Durham, 150m from Market Square.

A group of us had lunch at this cafe because we stumbled across it as we walked through the town centre. And decided to eat here because it looked quaint.

Great food and great service. Really good local Italian, would recommend over the classic franchises which you see in every single UK city. Capriccios is authentic and I would recommend Capriccios Pizza.

It is dissapointing that such a lot of places in Durham's historic centre are national chains. We were therefore pleased to find this great, independent, family run, Italian eatery. We were here for coffee and cake (a lovely cannoli) but they also do ice cream to take away and meals to eat in (I heard people ordering full meals). I always like to support places that are not generic chains and this is really good independent place - not expensive, either - 2 lattes and 2 cannolis were just over a tenner.