Diego The Great Italian in Sunderland

Ordered for a family takeaway on Bank holiday Monday. Ordered arabiata, pollo Ricco, Bolognese and risotto. Everything was absolutely beautiful apart from the pizza, it was burnt and hard like cardboard. amazing apart from that

1st time at this restaurant which was a birthday gift groupon voucher it certainly won't be a one off and will def be back. Already told a few family how nice it was. Food was very fresh, delicious and piping hot ( I hate lukewarm food ) . My husband was eyeing up other people's meals that he wants to try as everything looked lovely. The room itself is very nice with views over cricket ground. Staff - well we were served by a lovely young man who was very attentive and friendly . A very enjoyable meal out and like I say we will be back , hopefully sooner rather than later once this virus does one.

Small and cosy little hidden gem with beautiful food. Gamberoni inferno is a must. We will defiantly be returning.

I've got to say the food is always first class in Diego's. We've only been 5 or 6 times and it's been beautiful each time. We visited as a family of 4 on Saturday night and we all throughly enjoyed it. Staff are friendly and attentive. Food is freshly prepared and offers some different things compared to your average Italian restaurant. I had the cannelli bean and chorizo starter and Parma ham and and goats cheese pizza. Food 10/10.

I don't normally fancy pizza since most places here don't seem to know how to make a thin crispy base even when you order it. Here the pizza base was just right and toppings were good as well. Lovely chips and happy hour the whole lot cost slightly over £30. Thats 2 pizzas, chips and a bottle of wine. Excellent! We'll be back.

Went here on a groupon deal and was blown away! Service is second to none, food was the nicest I have ever tasted. Wonderful night, I have told all my friends about this place, well worth a visit

Having enjoyed a previous visit we ventured back again..........BIG MISTAKE! The whole experience was.........TERRIBLE and NOT ACCEPTABLE. I had to ring 6 times to actually make a booking, recorded message and no return call being the way they treat customers. The booking eventually made the family party turned up 10 minutes early for our booked table, shown the table and a 20 minute wait for the drinks order to be taken. Drinks turn up and 40 minute wait to order our meal.............for GHC sake! The starter was served and 2 out of 3 correct, a further 10 minutes to rectify the incorrect starter order, The starters were terrible ! absolutely garbage............No taste and obviously rushed out of the kitchen. We never had the main course; At 22.00 we left having waited almost 2 hours for a main course...................we paid for the drinks and the absolutely useless waiters took the money. We like Diego, but the terrible service is killing your business, We will never return. On a side note the Ashbrooke Club is a dive, completely filthy and run down, the toilets need the council to shut them down...........FILTHY.

We had the pleasure of dining here with family and thoroughly enjoyed the food, ambiance and service. The meal was very tasty, beautifully presented, hot and reasonably priced, the service from the waiter was 1st class and Diego the owner is a great host. Will return soon.

Live close to here but this was my first time in (Sunderland has so many restaurants it's hard to get to them all!) My wife and I arrived during happy hour which was very good value. I had the sicilian pasta dish to start with and it was excellent, pasta perfectly al dente :) My wife's goat's cheese bruschetta starter and seafood risotto was very tasty too .. I also had a pizza also which was good (pasta was more of a highlight, but I've lived in the south of Italy though and I'm very fussy about Pizza!) The staff were very friendly and were all Italian including the owner Diego. Definitely better than most Italians in Sunderland, and in a very nice setting.

Joined friends for lunch, the restaurant is small but cosy lots of light from the large windows. The food was very tasty hot and freshly prepared. I really enjoyed the creamy garlic mushroom starter, and my pizza was lovely. Friends had bruschetta and Sunday lunch that they thoroughly enjoyed. Service was ok a little on the slow side and there was only 3 tables taken? not sure how slow it would be when full? Good value lunch with tasty food 👍🏼

Food as always second to none and staff friendly! We visit here regularly and have no faults. It’s small and intimate but that’s what I love about it. Diego works very hard and ALWAYS has a smile on his face. Great work, keep it up

We live close but have never visited !! Big mistake . Food absolutely fabulous Sunday lunch to die for mussels for starters, I had lamb my husband had beef delicious!! We will return for sure . Service amazing value for money first class . Fantastic restaurant and staff !! You must try !

Walked into this restaurant as no one answered the phone. Allocated a table waited 10 minutes for the menu. Ordered from the menu from a man who did not seem to be very fluent in english. Wine arrived then a starter. When the main meal arrived my partners meal was o k and my meal was not what was ordered. I informed the waitress i had not ordered what she brought out. My partner finished his meal and my meal still had not arrived. I informed the waitress we would not be waiting any more. Two drinks were offered which were declined. The chef was abouted to give me my meal in a take away carton which was declined. The chef waivered the charge for the meal. It was a disater. The restaurant seemed more interested in take a way meals than the clents in the restaurant. DO NOT VISIT HERE!!

We’ve eaten here several times now, the food is generally good, but mainly for the location. Last night we had a rare night out and walked to the cricket club for a drink and then for a meal next door. The garlic bread was bitter and overpowering, main courses were ok and the service was good, but the whole place is starting to get tired and dirty. I appreciate the restaurant is well maintained, but the toilets (not theirs to look after) look like they’ve not been cleaned for months. So bad it’s going to prevent me going back for some time...

Had a good dining experience last night at Diego's. Lovely open aspect, very pleasant and cheerful staff - and the best penne amatriciana I''ve ever had. Such delicious flavours in the sauce! Thank you all.

Ordered through one delivery last night but unfortunately had some issues with the food. Contacted Diego and forwarded photos through Facebook. He was extremely apologetic and offered to re deliver the whole order for free tonight. Absolutely amazing customer service. He even delivered it himself. Never known a restaurant to go above and beyond like they have, really impressed. Tonight's food was absolutely delicious. Generous portions, fresh and full of flavour. The onion rings are amazing, I could eat a whole box full! Thank you Diego and your team!

Fantastic food, relaxed atmosphere and great service from Emma Prices are very reasonable for both Sunday lunch and evening meal Love the place !!!

Great service. Seated immediately and a drink order taken. Didn't wait too long for our starter to be served and even asked if we would prefer time before we were served our main. The waiter was polite and nothing was too much trouble. The food was delicious and all courses could no be faulted. Highly recommended and we will certainly pay another visit.

Visited for an early family meal and arrived when only one other table was seated.

Visited with a family member on A Thursday evening using a discounted voucher.

Great food, fast service and at a very generous price. Would recommend to anyone for any occasion. Views are very nice over the cricket ground as well. Anyone who loves Italian food like myself will love this place.

Visited last night for evening meal. Food, atmosphere and service was excellent Fully recommended....

Bel locale. Piccolo ma allo stesso tempo accogliente. Il personale è cortese e professionale, sempre pronto a fare festa. Ho assaggiato una loro pizza, devo dire favolosa. Ci ritornerò al più presto.

Lovely summer evening. Food great, wine very reasonable.. and views over cricket ground lush . Well worth a visit

When we arrived we were greeted and promptly seated in a table by the window, which looks out onto the cricket lawn. The server was a joy and was happy to run through the menu with us. Our starters arrived quickly and were piping hot (where relevant):

On a recent visit for a family party, which took up the whole restaurant, we were delighted to be served with excellent, quality Italian food and all served with a smile and a laugh, the staff managed the large party extremely well, always difficult when everyone needs to be served at once and in a lovely setting. Will definately visit again on our next trip up north.

I have ate here a number of times and every time the quality of food varies. Sometimes it is very good but others it has been extremely bland. There is always a long wait for food.

Great intimate Italian restaurant with it's own real Italian! Great staff! Great Food! Decent Portions and I love my Italian food, believe me! Great Fun! Love everything about this place and right on my doorstep! Somewhere where you can happily interact with the staff! I even asked for things to be added to the meal and it wasn't an issue at all! It was just and added to the bill accordingly! Go there!

Good Italian food, very friendly staff and good atmosphere.

Had a great meal here, pasta di mare with a choice of pasta and lots of seafood in a tasty, flavoursome sauce and pizza with a crispy base and tasty topping. Chocolate fudge cake and chocolate cheesecake for dessert were excellent and beautifully presented. Iced coffee was delicious. Service was friendly and quick, and we could watch the cricket whilst we were eating!

Have had a few very nice Sunday lunches here, what I would like to see is a bit of improvement in the veg that accompanies it. The parsnips the other day seemed undercooked for example. Other than that, top quality lunch.

Had happy hour menu Garlic mushrooms slightly under garlicy but nice enough mains of meat balls very spicy two of party could not eat it as too hot just right for me very tasty would recommend the seasoned steak , long delays between order and service and loads of kids running around the building was service ok not over bearing but think it would be better off in its own building.

I have visited this restaurant when it used to be Amore 2 so i knew the view is lovely! The girls and I often visit Italian restaurants and fancied a change so decided to try here. Wish we didn't bother. Initially everything seemed ok, drinks ordered, followed by food and we didn't wait too long for our starters to come. Starter was lovely, and healthy sized portions for the price. We were there for happy hour and got two courses for £8.95 so really very good value for money. However we waited a very long time between our starter and our main meal, and when the main meal arrived, we were very disappointed at the portion sizes. All three of us ordered a penne pasta dish, me a vegetarian dish, a bolognese and an arrabiata. We all had different portion sizes which was very bizarre! The sauce on my pasta really didn't taste very nice but i was very hungry so ate most of it anyway until it became so sickly i could not eat anymore. I thought i could order a dessert anyway. After finishing our main meal we waited what seemed like forever for our plates to be removed and to be asked if we wanted anything else. In the mean time the waitress had got herself a drink and sat down on one of the tables in the restaurant chatting, and the man who i assume was the manager/owner was nowhere to be seen! If we had been asked in a timely manner if we wanted anything else we would have certainly ordered a dessert but by this time we were fed up and just wanted to leave. We asked for the bill and had to prompt the waitress (who was back sitting at the table) to take our payment so we could get our change. I assume the manager/owner had said as it was quiet she could join the table however if this was the case he should have ensured he was around to be able to deal with the couple of tables that were still dining. With so much competition in the Sunderland area of some really good Italian restaurants and although the cost was very small, i still will not be returning here. I would rather pay more for better service and a better quality of food.

Are here tonight after intending to only have drinks in the cricket club, often do so as I can't resist the smell of food !

This was the first time we'd been here & whilst we were early enough for the happy hour, the meal was very nice. We both had garlic mushrooms for starter which were very tasty in a nice portion size. I had Pepe steak for main with veg which was very nice too, the sauce especially. My wife had a pizza, which was nice to see used a thin home-made dough, and she struggled to finish it, as it was so big, but said it was delicious. A very nice pint of Double Maxim from the bar completed a very nice evening, no room left for deserts though !