Il Cancello Italian Restaurant in County Durham

Celebrating my birthday at Il Cancello was unforgettable! The atmosphere was warm and inviting, creating the perfect setting for a special evening. Every dish was a delight—each bite packed with flavor, made from fresh, quality ingredients, and plated beautifully. The menu had something for every taste, and each course outdid the last. The staff was outstanding, adding an extra layer of warmth to the experience. They were attentive, friendly, and truly went above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect. The whole experience left me feeling both relaxed and celebrated. It was a fantastic birthday dinner that truly exceeded my expectations, and Il Cancello is now firmly on my list of favorite spots.

My husband, grandson & I visited " IL Cancello" for the 1st time after a day at Beamish Museum. The staff are so friendly and accommodating to your needs. The food was delicious, and the service was perfect, I would definitely recommend it, and we will definitely return.

Excellent service at this restaurant. Everyone is so friendly. Menu is fantastic with great specials to at a very reasonable price. It’s a great place to celebrate birthdays ,etc as the staff go out of their way to celebrate with you

Amazing very friendly family run business, always so accomdating , food always Amazing, recommend this restaurant always 😋 p.s staff all lovely 😍

I think the food was great and the service was also brilliant 🤩I would definitely recommend this place to family and friends.

we have been meaning to come here for some time. It really is an old style Italian like you would have gone to in the 90s. Great menu. Between us we had the salmon, seabass and pork. Waited a little to get food but that tells us it’s freshly made. I’m sure we will return.

Popped here with family after a trip to Beamish Museum. We were all super impressed with the food, service and price. Staff were so friendly and helpful. Food piping hot, looked gorgeous and tasted even better. Lasagne is to die for if you like lots of cheese! Can't wait to go back.

Lovely Italian cuisine. Staff were a little rushed off their feet with it being so busy pre great north run, which inevitably led to it being quite noisy. But that aside the service overall was good and the food was great! Definitely recommend!

Gorgeous food as always and cater with care for coeliacs 😁

Fast , friendly service, food was so good! I'm a vegi so sometimes the options are bland but I got the mushroom pasta and is was unreal, thank you 😊

We were at Beamish museum for the day and planned to visit an Italian restaurant near the place we were staying further north. However, my wife found Il Cancello was near, so we decided to try it. If you've been at Beamish and fancy a great Italian meal, it is well worth a visit. It's only 3 minutes drive away. We visited on a Friday evening, reserved a table at about 5.30 for 6pm, not realising we would be there so fast. This wasn't a problem and we were seated early. The staff were friendly and extremely attentive. Our orders were taken promptly and we were given good advice on menu items. Our drinks arrived swiftly and the food followed soon after. It was a delight. We ordered two childrens specials, with sides of potato skins, two adult mains and a vegetable ragu side order. We then followed with two adult desserts (the kids had eaten ice cream soon before leaving Beamish - though they helped us with our desserts). Everything was delicious and very well prepared. I had the polpette di carne with penne, which was a delight. The Nduja sauce was perfect. My wife had a special of cajun salmon with tagliatelle and vegetable ragu side, which were also wonderful. The kids had great pizzas in their size and loved their potato skins. The tiramisu and affogato were just superb. No doubt about it, we will be back next time we ar ein the area.

What a lovely, welcoming atmosphere. The staff were so kind, friendly and attentive. We will definitely be back. The food was amazing too. Thank you Il Cancello for the perfect end to a lovely day. Our daughter will always remember you for making her visit so special.

The food was excellent. Lots of choice. Quick service. The staff were helpful and friendly. Will definitely go there again

We booked for this restaurant after our trip to Beamish Museum last Sunday. From start to finish there was not a thing we could fault. The Service was friendly and the manager was very attentive. We ordered a garlic bread between us and then pizza for my husband and 2 kids and I had a lamb shank roast dinner. It was one of the best I've ever had. They loved their pizzas too. Overall for what we had the prices were reasonable and the food and service was outstanding. The only disappointing thing is that we live too far away to be a regular customer. Thank you for a very pleasant evening!!

We were gifted some vouchers for this restaurant by a friend so we thought we would give it a bash for a Sunday lunch. Parked just over the street in a decent sized car park and headed in to see if our friends were right on how good this place was. It was packed. Full of families and a great atmosphere. We were seated very quickly near the door which when guests were leaving was a bit draughty but didn’t spoiled the occasion. Starters were superb, highly recommend the paprika cod chunks and the trio of meats Sunday lunch, I have to say, was the best I have had in a long time if not of all time. It was really nice to see that when people were arriving they were being greeted by the staff by name - clearly a lot of regulars returning. Service was excellent just a shame I didn’t have room for a pud! I was stuffed. Plan to return midweek and try the Italian menu.

Outstanding food quality and menu. Family owned and all of the staff are extremely friendly and helpful. Best Italian restaurant ever.

Booked a table for 10 people tonight for my sons 16th birthday. We all had a fab time from start to finish the food was gorgeous ,clean plates and all the staff were friendly and helpful quick service too …… we will deffo be back .

Great food, friendly, helpful service. Excellent wide-ranging menu, good choice of drinks, alcoholic and non alcoholic. Value for money.

Excellent food with great service for a large party of 10. All meals came out in good time with good portion size Enjoyed our evening and would return if in the area

This restaurant is absolutely beautiful, the food is amazing, the staff are friendly and very nicely priced. We were a party of 7 and everyone one of us enjoyed our meals. Highly recommend Il Cancello and urge anyone visiting Beamish to give this restaurant a try.

Excellent. We were staying in Lumley Castle hotel and wanted to try something local. Great find, excellent quality food and attentive service. We had some particular dietary requirements and they were dealt with sympathetically. The chef's special rice was particularly tasty. Recommended!

Absolutely gem off a place staff are brilliant the Sunday lunch amazing and lastnites prawns where lovely. Cocktails are amazing

Just been to this restaurant with my family for our Mothers birthday. The food was outstanding and the service was exceptional. There were ten of us for the meal. Everyone's dish looked and tasted amazing and it is brought out piping hot for all. My wife has Coeliac and the menu was extremely good and also adaptable. Absolutely a 5 star place. Ps loads of parking across the road which mate it really accessible. We will be back and can not recommend enough.

You will not find a better place to dine any day of the week. Great food and atmosphere.

Fantastic place ,staff friendly and helpful, , cannot thank staff enough they found out it was grandson 13 birthday, made him so special ,food brilliant 😀 definitely will be back

What a find this was. We came to the local area for a couple of nights and after a bit of tripadvising we decided on this Italian. We never booked as it was a last minute decision but it was not a problem. We were greeted by a very friendly waitress and were shown to a table straight away. The waitresses and the gentlemen (believe he was the manager/owner) who served us were very efficient and extremely friendly. Food was fantastic, really tasty and great portion sizes. It was nice to come somewhere where we felt we were getting our moneys worth! Strongly recommend the pizzas and the garlic bread! If we come back to the area we will mostly likely be returning. Thank you!

Food beautiful Staff lovely Good choice of food and drinks Peppercorn sauce to die for.

Went on a Sunday and had the best roast I have ever had. Restaurant was very busy and buzzing when we first arrived. Service was great, staff were friendly and food arrived promptly.

Great place. The food was fantastic and good value. Staff were attentive and adjusted an order to suit. Could not fault and would happily eat here again if I'm ever in the area again.

Cracking hot food, plenty of it. Highly recommended.

Beautiful food, wouldn't expect anything less from Ian, Christine and the boys !!

First time there but I'll will be definitely going back . starter main and dessert was lovely.

Been today for mothers day absolutely beautiful staff friendly food beautiful

Surprised and delighted to find a curry option in an Italian restaurant. It was delicious and a very generous portion. I can't speak too highly of Il Cancello. Very much recommended.

It was Valetine's night, so it was busy.

No complaints, everything was perfect, pizzas are amazing, Sunday lunch was huge staff were fantastic.

Sunday lunch visit and it was amazing, will return to try the main menu.

Lovely place. Great choice and the staff are really good and welcoming. Thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

Lovely place to eat excellent food

Collection Dinner for Two. Ordered Agnello e Cipolla Rossa (lamb, caramelised onion & tomato) pizza and Di Pesci (seafood) Linguini, as we wanted to takeaway to eat in our hotel whilst watching FA Cup. Phoned in order selected from their (clean and concise) website menu, collected to the second 15 mins later. Outstanding pasta, very generous portion and great variety of fresh seafood within. Couple of mega king prawns on top which were cooked to perfection, fried in garlic and finished on flame by the taste - lovely touch. Pizza was great too, strong enough flavours but not overpowering the pasta dish.There’s a very good chef running Il Cancello’s kitchen, evident in every deep, delicious mouthful of their excellent food. Impressive.

Visited a little while ago. Lauren and Luke both exceptional.

Really nice Italian restaurant with friendly staff who were very tentative. Food was absolutely perfect. Already looking forward to going back in the near future.

First visit to this restaurant today, and it was fab. We'll definitely put it on our good food venues.

Small Italian with a charming feel. The food is consistently good. Prices have shot up over the years... but haven't they all.

Exceptional service and delicious food all the time. Best waiter we have come across with called Paul. Very attentive , polite, quick and professional in every way. Ava&Graham Scott

My favourite Italian restaurant. Lauren is just lovely, brilliant service and great food.

Great atmosphere, food piping hot. Nice touch if it's a birthday.

Always an amazing place to eat. Food is unreal with plenty of choice and always extremely tasty, atmosphere is great, staff always make your experience fantastic with awesome service. Arguably the best place to eat around. Belisimo!

Excellent value we will be back

Excellent food, great service from the staff

We had a really nice meal, four of us visited (one veggie) and everyone had a lovely bit of food. I had the chicken and potato which was lush, the prawns to start (very nice) and a side of chips. The staff are friendly and welcoming, the drinks are nice to. Cannot fault it really. Large car park across the road (free).

Long time since id been here and i loved it..it was buzzing with chatter and atmoshere and the food was really good. Good service too.

Had a great meal here, large group with kids and adults. Everyone enjoyed the meals, food came out in good time and everyone's turned up :-) Let the waiter know we were in a bit of a rush and were very accommodating with the service. Provides takeaway boxes for our leftovers too. Would definitely recommend. Parking wasn't obvious at first, it's just over the other side of the road with plenty of spaces

Lovely food and great staff. Really nice atmosphere and lots of returning diners which speaks volumes

Starter was good. Black pudding in a peppercorn sauce, with crispy bacon and poached egg. Could have done without the egg as it made the bacon soft and wet. My main course was disappointing. Fillet of pork was okay, crushed herb potato was not nice and looked like mashed potato that hadn't been mashed and not as expected. The Creamy blue cheese sauce was excellent as were the roast garlic potatoes. That said the rest of the party had no complaints at all.

I bring my wife here for a lovely night out to give her the night off. As a treat this place always puts a smile on my face. Family ran the staff or friendly know there stuff happy to help were vegetations the menu is perfect for us. We often get a take away for a night in also Cancello also has a lovely out doors seated area for the Summer

Food was delicious, and service with a smile

Excellent restaurant.. Food was delicious and good size portions. Staff were very friendly and super efficient. Will definitely come here again.

Fantastic Italian food both regular pizza and pasta dishes as well as many others cooked with Italian influences. I had salmon with mussels and prawns my husband beef in Neapolitan sauce. Great ambience. Good number of local regulars. If this was local to me I would be too.

Love this place, family run who care.

Great food, (you will love the food) good price, friendly staff, nice atmosphere. It's true, we're regular visitors so maybe are biased, but the fact we keep going back tells you all you need to know.

Fantastic food very tasty and huge portions. Staff were attentive without being over annoying. I booked this on the TripAdvisor reviews and all i can say is 5* is not an understatement, lovely place. Will definitely be back

Great food helpful staff love it.!

We went here two nights while we were staying in the area. Fantastic food and the people there were really nice.

Splendid staff. Lovely food. Acceptable wait between ordering and serving. We booked mid-week just to be sure of a table. Weekends especially Sunday lunch is very busy. Booking essential. We visited twice. Both meals were great. Wine was pricey, that's standard in all restaurants. It seemed popular with locals and the take out was busy. Well worth a visit or two.

In December 2022 I organised an il Cancello voucher as Christmas present for my sister and her husband. Thankfully they waited until we returned to England on holiday from Australia before booking a table. The food was absolutely delicious and plentiful. Ian, the boss, gave us some good advice about the Italian wine and his suggestion was spot. Although my favourite dish, spaghetti marinara wasn't on the menu, Ian was willing to make me a plate. However, I gratefully declined and opted for an Italian meal that I'd never previously had. We were certainly impressed with the way the restaurant celebrates birthday. I had a great conversation with Ian, and I did try to persuade him to establish a restaurant in Perth Western Australia. Many thanks for your hospitality Ian and good luck for the future.

Very expensive for the quality of food received. Not sure we'll be back.

All the food was delicious and served fast. The service was exemplary. I would definitely come back.

Found it very noisy but very popular , Need to learn how to make yorkshire puddings,,,,but food delicious

Good food and excellent service. Not many people in tonight but I think that with the quality of food, service and more people it would be a very atmospheric experience.

Called here before a visit to the theatre with my friend, staff friendly, food was gorgeous Broccolini verde, my friend had one of the specials lobster ravioli. I will definitely be back

The food was excellent. Staff attentive and friendly. Cost was Exceptionally good for the amount of food served. Comfortable and enjoyable atmosphere. Fully recommend

Came here for the first time yesterday with my boyfriend to celebrate a work promotion. The staff were lovely, the atmosphere was great and the food was even better! All reasonably priced and so so delicious, we’ll definitely be back as have already booked another visit with the family in a months time after such a good experience!

Food was unreal and staff were so friendly and attentive. Portion sizes are well worth the money, ended up taking a lot home with us. Personally recommend the peppercorn sauce, nicest i’ve had.

Lovely staff, very attentive and friendly. We had a dairy allergy in our party and the waiters/waitresses took extra care to make sure the food was suitable for her to eat. Food was lovely, all the pastas were freshly made and delicious. Cocktails were all themed to the local area, and we enjoyed the Tanfield Sunrise. Lovely clean restaurant and they supplied fluffy blankets for sitting outside, which were a very nice touch and dog bowls. Thankyou for a great night! very recommend.

Excellent food and great friendly service we will certainly return The family had four different dishes and they were all brilliant.

First time here and can’t fault the place, food was incredible very good portion size wide range of choice on menu which I love, can’t wait to go back and try more dishes. Service was superb, friendly staff lovely atmosphere definitely will be back soon

The food is amazing and big portions too. The staff are friendly and efficient. We live out of the area but have been twice and would go again whenever in the area

We went for our diamond wedding anniversary, pure quality the food is outstanding, a lovely atmosphere and welcome on arrival, staff really attentive. We all had three courses everyone perfect the lobster ravioli is to die for, 3 of the 4 ordered it and we...

Brilliant. We went for Sunday lunch and it was excellent in all respects. There is a good large car park. The building is smart and the staff were lovely and efficient. The menu was extensive, we all had a Sunday lunch but with different meats,...

We visited Il Cancello for a family get together. Great atmosphere, fabulous food, friendly service! What more could you ask for. Everyone enjoyed the night, everything we ate was delicious. Definitely recommend 😊

Its great to see a successful business in action and in our opinion there is absolutely nothing which needs improving here. The food, service, staff, ambience, décor etc are all top notch. I just wanted to leave a review to spread the word that the...

Varied choice of dishes on menu and nice specials. Generous portions , tasty, well balanced meal for both vegetarian and meat eaters. Nice friendly atmosphere. Would visit again

Visited Beamish on short break to celebrate our Ruby Wedding Anniversary. Wonderful food and warm hospitality. My wife said her Quattro Stagioni Pizza was the best pizza she had ever eaten ! My Vegetarian Calzone was awesome. Visited Sunday evening and enjoyed our meal so...

A fabulous authentic Italian restaurant, incredibly popular in the village of Beamish. Lots going on, a vibrant atmosphere with fellow diners clearly enjoying themselves The food is very good, a great choice of Italian dishes as well as pasta and pizza dishes We had Black...

A lovely Italian restaurant in the small village of Beamish. Good atmosphere, lovely food and friendly staff. The owner chatted to us for some time at the end of the meal

I cannot express how perfectly ran this resturant is , the staff are impeccable, the food is outstanding, first time today we went for Sunday lunch as my daughters 20th birthday and oh my days the Sunday dinners are the best I've ever had, i...

Amazing food, very friendly staff, great find in Beamish. Granddaughters 20th birthday made extra special by attentive staff . Sunday dinner outstanding. This is where I'll be if missing thank you iL CANCELLO

i took family and friends to celebrate my birthday service was excellent as was the quality of food thsnks to all staff for making my birthday so special. ron gorman

Visited with a friend for a catch-up, food was lovely and the staff members were so friendly and attentive. Will definitely be returning.

Cosy and relaxed interior with attentive and friendly service ; food was tasty with generous portions ; this was our first time eating here, we shared the mushrooms & brushetta starter, my husband had the Lamb Shank and I had Verdure al Forno - all...

First time visiting this restaurant and we were not disappointed. Really nice traditional Italian restaurant. Food was delicious, service was excellent. Think we might try the Sunday Lunch next.........

I brought my family to celebrate Father’s Day. Everyone was happy with their food choices. I am gluten free and the waiting staff were able to advise me about the dishes I had chosen. Adaptations were made. I chose a hallumi salad with roasted vegetables...

What a gorgeous time. Went with my family for the first time. Service, hospitality and food were perfect. A big thank you to Ian and the team for a lovely dinner. From New Zealand to Beamish, Kia Ora.

This is possibly one of our favourite restaurants, old school Italian flavours and flair in a relaxed family friendly atmosphere. So we had gone for a Sunday lunch, luckily I had rang ahead as this Sunday like many others was a barn burner by which...

Excellent service, nice atmosphere and excellent food, I doubt I've ever enjoyed a meal more. Definitely worth a visit!

Me & my husband came here with another couple for Sunday dinner & really enjoyed it. It was all of our first time at this restaurant. Food was fantastic & staff were lovely.

The food was exquisite Very good service Nice kind waiters Risotto’s were lovely Starters was very nice Overall 10/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Came for years, won’t be back. Average food. Terrible service but the prices are just ridiculous, more than you’d pay in a city centre! £4.50 for a Diet Coke, £9 for a 250ml rose wine, £6.50 for a mocktail (which was awful orange juice mixed...

The lasagna was unbelievable! And the service was fantastic. Really great experience. Our server Dan I think was the name was brilliant.