Don Marco Restaurant in Manchester

Fab atmosphere. Great food. Our 4th time. Love it. Highly recommend.

Our first time trying here and the food was delicious! Everything was bursting with flavour, we will definitely be back! Great food spot in Manchester, a must try❤️

I always like to visit authentic restaurants. This one was fab 👌

Brilliant Italian food, staff very nice and do not rush you. Lunch time when I went so it was a bit quite. I have been previously at night and the atmosphere was great.

You know what I have always loved this place. However after my recent visit I found out it only has a 3 star hygiene rating and it's put me off. I also witnessed chefs going out for a smoke. In a competitive market with thousands of restaurants in the centre of Manchester you really should be on top of your game. I won't be returning until I see 5 stars above its doors.

The food is ok if you are hungry, nothing special. There is a good atmosphere and the staff are friendly but we were rushed through even though it was quiet. Main course came as they were clearing the starters. Some staff were definitely better than others, which may just be new members.

Not that nice up to the standard of Italian cuisine but can be a meal when you are hungry. Anyway, they may have adapted the taste according to people in the country. Service is ok as we asked for a bottle of water and they gave us tap water instead. Rather than taking our money, they would go for free of charge instead. Good strategy provided. Thx for that. 😂 Overall is fine but an absolute improvement is in need.

Made a last minute reservation here and glad we did! Faultless service, great atmosphere and lovely food.

Food was disappointing. The ravioli sauce tasted of Heinz tomato soup, an unmistakable taste, mixed with cream, (not marscapone as on the menu) and peas. It might be acceptable as a Tik Tok 'cheat' but not what you expect in a once good restaurant asking £15. Pasta is cheap. My mum was Italian and would be turning in her grave at the lack of authenticity. The gamberoni prawn starter was also highly disappointing - 5 small tail-on king prawns like you find in the supermarket freezer section served on a small slice of bread washed in garlic butter. Yours for £14. Tiramisu had no Marsala (or even a cheap sherry equivalent), so a coffee cream sponge.. The restaurant used to be good but looks like it is cutting corners as newer, shinier places pop up all around the south end of Deansgate. The only positive was the staff who were friendly, attentive and coped well on a busy Friday night.

Pleasant venue, helpful attentive staff but it is not cheap and some of the food was too disappointing to risk returning. Steak and antipasto were super but garlic bread and chips were soaking with oil and inedible. Bit of a wait for one main, too. The others were half eaten before it arrived. Cost of garlic bread was deducted but so it should have been as it was inedible even a hungry teenager struggled with it. Manager acknowledged chips were greasy, blamed chef but no further recompense given. A pity because it looked a good restaurant.

Wish there was a sixth star!!!!!! This little tucked away Italian masterclass serves out of this world food…. Genuinely the best pasta dish I have ever had was the wild boar ragu…. Simply perfect. I don’t live in Manchester but will certainly be travelling back here to dine again and again and again!

Took my mum who used to live in Italy and finally got a thumbs up ! Even did us a take out 2 nights for a family member. Such genuine n if family run business. It’s one of the only places our hotel staff reccomended as they eat there.

Visited 26th of august ordered garlic bread and pizzas both were delicious and reasonable price, served by a lady who was very attentive and friendly! Nice atmosphere. Only surprising thing was the service charge, we were happy to tip but would have tipped more if The service wasn’t already added. All Round great experience would recommend.

Celebrated our wedding anniversary here, this was the first time we had dined at the restaurant and we was not disappointed. The food and service was excellent, having dined in nearby Italian restaurants in the city centre recently and had bad experiences this is by far the best. Will definitely be dining here again.

Tucked away, but well worth going to this restaurant. Food is good, prices are about mid-city centre. Would recommend that you try this Italian restaurant.

Lovely and delicious Italian spot

Lovely restaurant, great food and service. Would highly recommend

Booked almost 3 weeks ago for my sisters birthday meal with the family we arrived about 5/10 mins early for the booking we didn’t get spoken to once off staff when we did they asked about our reservation and walked off it was around 15 minuets I pulled another staff member who said can we sit at the bar so she can Clean our tablet then left us still sat there as we refused as we have infants with us 5 more minutes past this is now 20 minutes past our original reservation time & I asked once again the lady said she would get her manager ! ANOTHER 5 minutes went by I asked once again what’s happening she said I will to get the manager once again and then she went over to him spoke to him he looked over at us and went a different way!! Poor poor serious was mortified we ended up leaving and going to a better Italian place but the service was so poor and for the manager to be so rude and not even acknowledge us was embarrassing for him very very poor manners I will never ever book there again I am glad I didn’t spend my money in there was a very big let down Avoid this restaurant at all cost if you don’t want a bad experience as staff members are all so rude and ignore customers!

It was very vibrant on a Saturday night with a live band.

The best pasta in Manchester! The atmosphere was lovely, and I'm still thinking about the cheesy garlic bread. One of the members of our party was Coeliac, but all pasta dishes were available as gluten-free, so that was amazing.

Had a beautiful meal here. The staff were really friendly and the food was delicious. The outdoor covered seating was perfect for a summer’s evening. I would definitely return

solid gnocchi, dessert was decent but not mindblowing

One of the worst Italian restaurants I’ve been to in Manchester. The waitress was rude and ignored us a few times. Everything we ordered was vile. We order cheesy garlic bread and it had loads of raw onion in it to the point we felt we were eating cheesy onion bread. The lasagna was ok but still not that wow, the gnocchi was bland and the sauce was too watery. The ceasar salad was the worst Caesar salad I’ve ever had, it tasted nothing like what a ceasar salad would taste like and we’ve ordered a side of chips and we got a bowl of oily not fully cooked chips. Avoid at all costs.

I have been here twice 15 years apart and both times were excellent. It’s great value, with large tasty portions. The staff are lovely and it has a nice atmosphere. Would recommend booking at the weekend. I won’t leave it so long before going back again.

Fabulous 👌 👏 had a great meal last night me and hubby the young lady waitress was Fabulous 👌 kind recommend this place enough stunning place staff great kind attentive best place we've been by far we had a great time lovely staff 😀

We we stumbled on this little gem and all I can say is the food and service was 1st class

The food was delicious, especially the carpaccio, good menu choices and the staff were lovely and attentive.

Really great food and service. Garlic bread with cheese was one of the best I’ve ever had. Great pasta options and tasty deserts also. Would highly recommend. Drinks are a little pricy but overall very good.

Delicious! The food was great and service was super fast. Beautiful location to sit in the bright and airy alley. Highly recommended

What a disappointment went with friends before a show as for a drink which took considerable time to arrive the food came before my drink,asked another server for my drink still didn't come other tables had arrived and got drinks and I was still waiting .Food was so overwhelmed with only can describe as garlic teeth nothing delicate or silk like about my paster,only to say good I work in this industry and are saddened to see such poor standards.

The restaurant was brilliant and great atmosphere and food. Had a great time.

Really enjoyed the night. Staff were brilliant.

Great food. Nice setting, staff very attentive. Only negative is I got charged for my chips when should of been part of meal, put down as 2 'greens' and extra chips, which i didn't notice until after. Not much so not that bothered. Will go again.

Great food! I had the Carbonara!

Excellent risotto with chicken peas and asparagus. Delicious.

We revisited Don Marco. Excellent warm Italian traditional vibrant atmosphere. They have definitely stepped up their game. Loved the food, it was freshly made, excellent sauce, tasty and steaming hot. You don’t have to break the bank. Throughly enjoyed our food today and more so the atmosphere. Absolutely loved the outside seating area. Manchester do not miss out on a great Italian summer dinner experience. Good food and that cheesy garlic bread yummy. Loved the crayfish ravioli and the boer ragu was tasty and plenty full. Will be returning. Thank you

Awful customer service, will never ever dine in this restaurant. The blonde lady who claimed to be the assistant manager, then denied this and refused to give me her name. She was unprofessional, rude and disrespectful. With so many amazing Italian restaurants nearby-go to another restaurant!!

Fantastic food and service in a wonderful setting.

We didn't have a booking and asked if they could fit us in, luckily they managed to get us in. What a lovely place food was delicious, staff where super friendly and efficient. It's nearby to a tram station too. Would definitely recommend here and come for tea again when back in Manchester

Enjoyed food and ambience however experience sadly let down by service charge. I was presented the bill which did not include a service charge and duly paid. It wasnt untill i got home and checked my receipt that I realised I had been charged a service charge. I was annoyed as we had left a tip on the table. I wont return for that reason very sneaky.

Enjoyed the meal but am paying for it now 😞. I asked for no parmesan cheese on my meal, as i am lactose intolerant. They agreed to not put the parmesan on. The waiter then came out and said the sauce has parmesan cheese, so I said remove it and they said they would put mayo on the salad but it turns out, they used the parmesan sauce and now I am really sick 🤢.

Good food and service was great. Would happily go back.

We were there on recommendation and were very disappointed due to the poor price-performance ratio. Elsewhere in the neighbourhood, the food quality, taste, atmosphere and service are much better, and the price is also much more reasonable.

I am so disappointed with the service here tonight. We used to come to Manchester uni and Don Marco is famous in my family for being my favourite restaurant in Manchester. After leaving university I haven’t been back to Manchester for 5 years! We came for a special occasion tonight and I couldn’t be more disappointed. We reserved a table at 6pm and had to wait 5-10 minutes for it to be ready (it was busy so we didn’t mind waiting). When we got seated, we were put on a 2 seater table which they squeezed an extra chair onto to make it for 3 people. We had a starter and a main course each which we’d finished eating by about 18:55. About 5 minutes later, we were asked to leave as it was busy and they wanted the table- less than 1 hour after being seated!!! Completely unacceptable in my opinion and not a good look for Don Marco. Please do better- value the service provided to customers, rather than a high turnover of tables.

Everything was good but the "service charge" on the bill was very dissapointing

Food was beautiful, server was attentive. Would recommend the burrata.

The food was great. Excellent service and reasonable prices. They even found the name of a song that was playing for me. Thanks guys.

the penne pollo is amazing as well as the pizza margherita, it’s really delicious and lightweight!!!

Incredible food & service. The man working was super friendly and attentive. We got seated right away and the food was delicious. I had the seafood risotto it tasted really fresh and lovely.

Quite a poor experience I'm afraid. Had a reservation, when we turned up we were not greeted by anyone, instead just a pointed finger to a table that was opposite an open door and it was freezing outside with a huge draught coming in. Found the staff quite hurried and not so polite. Food was actually quite nice but will never go back.

Came here with a friend Sunday evening on 18th February And the atmosphere of the restaurant was amazing! And the Food was very filling Our server Sophie was absolutely wonderful and very talkative, amazing customer service Sophie you’re a star to the restaurant! Will definitely come back on our next visit to Manchester! Thank you!

Visited here on Saturday afternoon & had the Bruschetta Nduja as a starter, followed by a lovely Spaghetti Bolognese. The food was excellent & the interior of the restaurant is also very well done. Great spot for a classic Italian just off Deansgate.

A wonderful family celebration at Don Marco's this evening. The food was absolutely delicious and the service was excellent. Thank you 😊

Super delicious!! I'm a vegetarian and all the vegetarian food is delicious, the vegetarian pizza, the vegetarian pasta, and the fried fish that my boyfriend ordered is also delicious. Today's birthday, the restaurant also gave tiramisu and sang a birthday song to us. Surprise！

Food was okay. Service was good.

Julianna was incredible!! what a superstar she had such incredible service and made our night so amazing!!! give that girl a raise!!!!!!!!!!!

Julianna was a superb waitress, she was very attentive and made sure we had everything we needed. The food was excellent and I left highly satisfied.

The restaurant was nice, but we were so rushed and there was hardly anybody in! Annoyingly loud 90’s R&B music playing at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon, no Italian vibes whatsoever. Food was ok, literally 3 minutes in finishing our starters and the main was on the table. The mains had clearly just been warmed up in the microwave and that’s including the chicken. We didn’t bother with desert however my parter ordered a double espresso and asked if they had any Grappa, that was a firm no. Again, not every Italian. My partner used to frequent this restaurant a lot but said yesterday that it has changed so much, and was nothing like it used to be. Disappointing really for a bill of £118.

We used to be regulars and have taking many friends there in the past. This is our first visit in a couple of years as the last time we went the food was very poor. We thought, we’ve not been there for a good while, we will give it another go. We were absolutely stunned at the alcohol prices! A pint of Peroni was £7.35 which has to be the dearest pint in Manchester surely? The cheapest wine was £25.95. Oh and service charge is automatically added to the bill now, it does say optional, but as you can imagine, if you didn’t want to pay it, it creates an awkward situation. The food ….mine was average at best. my friend said he did enjoy his though. We used to absolutely love this restaurant but will be skipping it in the future. Shame, it used to be our favourite restaurant in Manchester.

Only 4 on the atmosphere as it was early on a Monday night so very quiet , however started to fill up as we left. Feels nice inside, The food was good , service was good too. I will go back.

Good service and good food ! It was lovely to dine in the outside heated area !

This was some of the best restaurant food I've had. I really enjoyed the pasta and pizza. Mains are very reasonably priced, but drinks, starters and desserts are a little on the high side. The only downside was that the servers seemed rushed off their feet and weren't able to be as attentive as I'd have liked. Possibly short staffed for how busy it was on a Saturday evening. We'd booked a table but we're kept waiting for about 20 minutes until our table was ready. However the food was so good I'll definitely be going back hopefully when it's a little quieter.

Lovely location, great food and fantastic service

Great food, fair price, awesome service

Excellent, authentic Italian food, great atmosphere and friendly, helpful staff. Highly recommended.

A really poor experience. We arrived for a 7.30 booking and waited for an hour plus in an outside queue with many others. The manager checked who had bookings shortly before 8 and then largely ignored everybody. Annoyingly, a group of 5 at back of queue, possibly with local knowledge, appeared inside at bar for drinks and, by the time we got seated at 8.35, were well advanced on their meal on nearby table! We had booked this restaurant specifically for a Christmas set menu advertised on web site but were told this had to be pre-booked (no mention on web site!). I noted this to the manager who said he would sort it in kitchen but a few movements later a server was sent to table to advise we could not have this menu. While the manager did offer some garlic bread and a round of drinks, and the staff were pleasant, ultimately we could not eat what we wished to and the hour plus waiting outside, for a table we had booked well in advance, is simply not good enough.

A really poor experience for us, not necessarily the food, but our expectations. We were visiting Manchester for the weekend, and didn’t really know where to book for dinner for a family night out for christmas. We came across this restaurant with a lovely festive menu for £40 and thought it looked lovely so made a booking, which was confirmed for 7.30 on a Saturday evening for 5 people. We had to travel across the city on a 30 minute journey to get to the restaurant. We were seated at 8.35, after waiting at the door in the cold and rain. Annoyingly some people arriving after us were seated before us, so we did not understand how the booking system was working. Others in the queue with us also had bookings. When we were eventually seated, we went to order and were advised the christmas menu had to be prebooked. It did not mention this on the website, and the festive menus is the first one you come across. The manager did say we could have it, but then the waitress said the chef had said he did not have all the ingredients to serve this menu. We were given complimentary garlic bread while we ordered and this was welcome, as by this stage we were starving. We had some main dishes and they were tasty, but wasn’t really what we were after. We also had a complimentary round of drinks. The manager and waiter were pleasant to us. Ultimately, despite the complimentary food and drinks, the delayed sitting and no advance communication that festive menu had to be prebooked, left us miserable on what should have been an enjoyable night out. There were plenty of places nearer where we were staying, but we thought a trek across the city would be worth it. How wrong we were.

Great, cozy and warm place even on a rainy winter day

Have passed this restaurant a few times and it always looks very cosy, it has a heated semi outdoor area as well as the indoor section. We looked at the menu online and there were so many options that we'd love to try, We booked and it was busy as so that was a good idea and a sign of its popularity. We shared a pizza style garlic bread 50/50 cheese / tomato .. Delicious and thin dough .. I chose the Wild boar ragu tagliatelle which is also offered with a gnocchi option .. My husband chose Penne with Salmon. Both were plentiful and with generous amounts of meat/ fish in very tasty sauces .. we had a bottle of wine too and were given a shot of Limoncello at the end of our meal after asking the waiter about a particular digestif drink that is popular in Italy but not over here. Highly recommended, great staff, cosy atmosphere, very enjoyable and very reasonably priced.. Definitely our new favourite. I can't wait to return to try the other items on the menu

I had risotto salad scallops and fried squid, and the one that disappointed me the most was the fried squid.The rest of the food was delicious

Finding parking place is so difficult,The food isn't great, but for the price it's not worth it , quite busy restaurant so don't expect have good service

Great atmosphere and good service from very attentive staff. Unfortunately the food was very average, if that. I got the lobster ravioli which tasted tasted great, however the portion was tiny so I left feeling hungry. A member of our party got the salmon penne and it was exactly that; a bit of salmon with penne and peas, with no discernible sauce or flavour. For the prices of the courses I expected much better. The pints of draught peroni were £7+ which is outrageous even at today's prices.

Been here a few times. Food is very good, as is the service. Highly recommend.

My friend from Italy recommended this place to me Food was great Service was excellent, very friendly people Great atmosphere

Fantastic experience. Authentic Italian atmosphere. Friendly staff, attentive and happy. Great pizza. Would recommend it as a must if in Manchester.

Great little Italian restaurant in the heart of Manchester. Good friendly service, food arrived quickly and was really good, wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

We visited here on Saturday evening with friends. Really enjoyed ourselves, staff were very friendly and accommodating, food was lovely with a wide variety on the menu. Would definitely return. Highly recommend.

Beautiful restaurant with super yummy food , not too expensive seems reasonable for the area, only one downside was the staff started clearing the table before everyone was finished

Stunning food awesome staff and a beautiful place ! The best Italian I've ever had.

Worst racist manager/server I have ever encountered in the UK. Completely utterly shocked. 0/10 We waited to be served for so long, completely ignored us. When we left because we (group of4) were being ignored, he said “yes leave there are many other restaurants around” Also I asked to sit outside, he said “i dont want to switch on the lights outside sit inside” 0/10 .. cannot emphasise it enough.

Great food great wine great service great atmosphere

Proper Italian food. Yummy risotto.

Nice place, great atmosphere, but food was way too salty to my liking.

We chose this restaurant as we wanted to eat at an independent restaurant late afternoon. It was quiet when we arrived but filling up nicely by the time we left. Service was very good as was the food. The burrata starter in particular was excellent. Pizzas were good - great bases. Glad to have found this restaurant - would definitely visit again.

Authentic Italian restaurant in the awfulness that is Manchester City centre. Great welcome and good food.

Really good food, nice atmosphere and amazing service

We lunched here as a family of 14 ranging from toddler to 86 year old . We all had delicious food and the service was outstanding . Been here a few times and it never disappoints . Highly recommend .

The food was lovely and very hearty. It's very busy at Don Marco's but not so much so that you can't still get lost in conversation with your table. The servers are very afficent and take any finished dishes away as the table we had was rather petite- in a cute way 😁 Don Marco's is perfect to go to for a first date, a catch up with your girls or friends and bigger parties (we saw a few older family celebrations 🍾)

Super busy! But great atmosphere and amazing food, so fresh and quick and great portion sizes. Amazing

God mat i hyggelige omgivelser. Er innom denne hver gang jeg er i Manchester. Maten er av god kvalitet og godt utvalg av viner.

兩個女生一個前菜兩個主菜超級飽 披薩🍕中規中矩 料普普 燉飯超級好吃 前菜也不錯吃

The service was good. Waiter/ waitresses were all helpful and friendly. I am really grateful. The ambience was OK. Like a normal restaurant. Nothing bad but nothing special either. The food was basic. It was nowhere near authentic nor good enough. Certainly difficult for me to call it the best Italian restaurant in town. I was quite disappointed. Overall, the value was not worth it. Too pricey for the quality of food they served.

Not on the same level to call this restaurant an italian

The waitress was like a hyina literally 10 times looking at us like we wouldn’t pay. Me being bartender in a respectful pub would never do it. Disgusting service but good food. Won’t be coming back. Get some decent staff. Pink hair or long hair on my partner doesn’t mean we’re tramps. DISGUSTING!!!!

It’s alright, not amazing. Portions are quite large - too large. For a pasta and sharing a garlic bread, I was stuffed by the time I ate 2/3 of it. The carbonara was incredibly salty but the service was good.

A little gem in the midst of the city!

Tonight, my friends and I wanted to have dinner at Don Marco, but the waiter was very rude to us. We said we wanted to eat outside, but after he took us outside, our table was shaking, so we wanted to change the table. After changing the table, it was very dirty. After a while, he said that it was normal for the outdoor table to be dirty, and I asked if I could get a paper towel for me, I didn't even ask him to wipe it for me, but he told me that I could wipe the table with the paper towel under the knife and fork. Are you kidding me? Grab a tissue I don't need for dinner later? We felt insulted and got up to go. He said "no worries". I don't know what that worries means. Does it mean that we don't have to feel guilty about sitting down and then leaving?

Had a table booked for 8 and we finished eating by 8:20, we ordered and 5 mins later it had arrived. The mushroom pasta had a tasty sauce but the chicken risotto had a very overwhelming taste of veg stock so not creamy/ cheesy enough. When I eat at a restaurant I want to feel like I am having a relaxed evening out - when our whole outing was over within 20 mins it left me feeling unimpressed.

It was our first time staying and dining in Manchester City. It was a heavy rain and we didn't have much time to look for something because of our busy agenda. We went to one place where I got rejected even though we really asked for it. Then we decided to check on Don Marco, located just across the road. We were welcomed immediately. Service was speedy and after us looked 6 waiters! Never had such an experience before. Everyone was so kind and helpful especially waiter Alex did the extra mile and made our night by taking care of hospitality after our first unpleasant experience. I would recommend this place for its great service and pleasant environment even though we didn't spend much time here. I liked my fresh Italian bread and coffee. Grazie mille!

Me and my girlfriend went to dinner at Don Marco. Everything was so nice, from service to food. Place itself is very cosy, both outside with over head infrared lamps, and inside with a really comfortable chairs and elegant decor. Servers were really nice and smiling- very italian. Garlic bread was the best I’ve had in Manchester so far at an italian resturant, really tasty dough. I ordered rigatoni with pancetta and tuscan sausage with mushrooms and cream base and it was cooked to perfection, every flavour came together and it was not heavy on stomach even after having a decent portion, also ordered penne arabiata- again really flavourful. My girlfriend is a vegan and she ordered Gnocci with tomato base and I must say, it was one of the best tomato pasta sauces I have tasted in Manchester. And they had vegan cheese available too. Very rightfully prices. I believe, its the closest taste to classic italian resturants, as I could get in Manchester so far. Overall- highly recommended for a nice italian dinner. Perfect for dates.