Il Palazzo (Chelmsford) in Chelmsford

Worst food in a long time. We ordered several items, even though it only took 20 minutes all items were cold. Food not at all what you expect from an Italian restaurant. It was expensive and simply awful.

Absolutely fantastic service. The staff were fantastic and dragos was the best and most attentive server I've come across in years.

Food was okay, nothing special and definitely could’ve been better. The waitress made a joke out of my speech impediment when ordering the starters which put a bit of a dampener on the whole evening. Just think the whole restaurant need to make sure their staff are more socially aware and forgiving. Definitely think there’s work to be done and certainly better places to go in Chelmsford.

Absolutely amazing staff, service and food. Very welcoming manager and a very cosy restaurant with ample space for seating. Range of Italian wines and spirits. The deserts were out of this world. Impatient to visit here again. 5/5⭐

We eat here a lot. Always very good food, great service and reasonable prices. Been as a couple, with our teenage children, with a big group of friends - it's our "go to" place. Never lets you down and any day of the week there's a great atmosphere.

This is an excellent place to eat, very well priced and brilliant quality food. Will be back !

The best Italian restaurant in Chelmsford hands down. Food is on another level coupled by a marvellous atmosphere and great service. Very reasonable prices and very friendly staff. Would definitely come again and recommend everyone to give it a try 😍

Lovely restaurant, great food, service and atmosphere.

Enjoyable meal, nice atmosphere

Great restaurant. Good, fresh food. Gets very busy when the theatre has a production on, so book or prepare to be disappointed. Let the staff know when you need to leave and they will do their best to help you. Across the road from Civic Theatre, Civil Centre and just a few minutes from bus and rail stations

Those with a refined palate will be shocked after eating here, especially after savouring real Italian dishes. Absolutely NOTHING authentic about ANY of the food at Il Palazzo in Chelmsford. 6 people ordered different items and everyone said the same: WORST 'ITALIAN' MEAL EVER. The food was insipid, tasteless and overcooked. We had the 'pleasure' of greasy fried calamari, soggy skin on baked fish, pasta laden with excessive amounts of garlic, a pizza that looked and tasted like it came from a 2-for-1 deal in Iceland, fillet meat and wet bacon swimming in copious sauces made with who-knows-what. Nothing looked or tasted even close to the menu descriptions. Desserts were equally awful, with the Affogato brought to the table as a curdled soup, and a vile thing disguised as Tiramisù. And of course, not even a hint of Italian staff. None of them seemed surprised at the amount of food left untouched on our plates. Name aside, the only 'Italian' thing about this restaurant was the word 'grazie' that the inept waiters were able to iterate.

Lovely restaurant with lovely staff and great food.

amazing place great food and service cant wait to go again!

Family restaurant, Amazing food.

Lovely food and great service for reasonable prices. Its slightly away from the main part of town and offers some authentic dishes.

Second visit here and not disappointed. Great Italian with excellent friendly service. Give the larger restaurants a miss and try this place. Way better evening. Thanks for making us so welcome

Dined at Il Palazzo with friends and was thoroughly impressed. The staff were welcoming and promptly accommodated us in the busy setting. Service was swift and attentive, ensuring we never had to wait. The food was outstanding, offering great value for the price. Despite the buzz, our table felt spacious and private. Highly recommend for a top-notch dining experience in Chelmsford.

A regular place for us to celebrate family birthdays. Great food, lovely friendly staff and excellent value. Highly recommended.

I come with my friends and family and it was the first time for a friend birthday and I love it so I repeat my mum’s birthday too. The food is really tasty and friendly service and glad atmosphere

I love the wine 🍷 I could try first before go for it The food is amazing 👏 😋 😍 Keep the good work guys

This is my second time visiting this restaurant. Both times with family for special occasions. I was excited to return after our last visit and not living nearby, but I wish I did, as I’d love to visit more often! First bit of advise. Be sure to reserve a table. This restaurant is very popular. We were booked for 5:30 and the restaurant was packed by 6. People were being unfortunately turned away that didn’t have reservations on a busy Saturday night. When we arrived we were seated promptly, drinks were provided quickly and orders taken in good time. We were with two young girls, one 10 and the other 13 and they love this place too!! The staff here always give them high fives and really make it a special experience for them. All members of staff are superb. They’re friendly, work hard, efficient and try their best to give outstanding service to every table. Service charge is not included on the bill, which is rare these days, but a tip is always very much well deserved. Coming onto the food, be sure to check the specials! However, on this occasion we all ordered from the menu. 3 cheesy garlic breads for the table to share, plus me as a coeliac I had minestrone soup. Annoyingly, the minestrone was much nicer than the one at home, so the recipient would be very much appreciated ;) it was delicious. The cheesy garlic breads are essentially a pizza, they’re huge and easily fed the other 6 diners. When informing the staff I had a gluten allergy. I was confidently walked through the entire menu. There were lots of options to choose from and I felt very well looked after by all the staff. Main courses. I had a gluten free pepperoni pizza, that also has chillis and I would say it’s one of, if not the nicest gluten free pizza I have had anywhere. Others had the steak, lamb shank, bolognaise and other pizzas and everyone was very satisfied by the food. On this occasion, one of the meals was a little later reaching the table, but nothing that became unreasonable, it did mean others had started dining but with an extremely busy restaurant and an overwhelmed kitchen, these things sometimes happen and it was sorted very very quickly and professionally with apologies. Lastly, the kids had a desert, as did the birthday girl and as they knew it was her birthday, the restaurant played a birthday song and put a candle in her desert for her, the entire restaurant sang along with the happy birthday, as did the staff - a very nice touch. Overall, for 7 of us, each having starters, mains, deserts, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and coffees it came to £230. Just under £33 a head. Excellent value in my opinion and although I do not live nearby. I can’t wait for another excuse to return!

Good food, good service. Restaurant too hot though.

This place feels like a family run restaurant, decent food with attentive staff, the atmosphere whilst loud was great. It was reasonably priced and we both enjoyed our food. We will definitely be returning.

Tagliatelle was the best I've had, my husband enjoyed his pizza-nice & thin with plenty of topping. Staff are amazing. We go there before every theatre trip and I think our grandchildren may prefer it to the theatre!!

This place feels like a family run restaurant, decent food with attentive staff, the atmosphere whilst loud was great. It was reasonably priced and we both enjoyed our food. We will definitely be returning.

Great restaurant definitely worth visit if you are on S of UK spaghetti amatricana one of the best i had, great staff.

The food and service here are excellent. Everything came out in good time and was very nice. The staff were also great and even made extra effort to provide a cocktail that wasn’t on the menu. The only thing I’ll say is that the atmosphere was a little loud. Nothing anyone could do as the buildings round here are build that way. I’ll definitely return here as other diners had some amazing looking food so I’d like to explore the menu a bit more.

We were recommended this restaurant by some of our B&B guests and it was a great recommendation. Travelling from Norfolk to meet up with friends from Croydon we had a bright welcoming and had a window table. Our starters were varied but all delicious, followed by equally delicious and varied mains. We finished off with ice creams and coffees. We were never rushed, the food and service was of a very high standard and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit and would highly recommend II Palazzo. We will return on our next visit, many thanks.

The atmosphere of the evening was very relaxed. The service from the waiters was excellent. We enjoyed the quality of the food too

We always come here for special occasions - it's a favourite with all our family. Great food, lovely atmosphere, attentive and polite staff.

Tasty food, great service, buzzing atmosphere and very reasonably priced. It was the perfect location for dinner before a show at the Civic. Already planning to return with friends very soon!

Unless you’re fond of vindaloo plus type heat strength food dishes, avoid the fish pasta dishes. They include fresh chilliest that totally dominate the dish, quite unpleasant actually. Only managed to get through a small portion of the dish, quite unpleasant and not remotely Italian in character. Won’t be going back.

Awesome. Food is amazing. It was a really busy night and all the staff were brilliant. Highly recommended

Amazing food, amazing service can't wait to come back 😊. Was amazing with my little 15 month old boy 😊

We had a lovely meal and very good value for money. We will be back

Sam looked after us so well, thank you for such a lovely evening!

Can't believe we've not been here before!! Lived in Chelmsford for over 20 years and only just tried this place. Very busy at 6.30 on a Friday night is a good sign. Service, food, atmosphere and prices were fantastic. Two starters, two mains, shared desert and two bottles of house red (so good we had to get a second) for around £85!! Cheaper than the chain restaurants in town and far better in every way. Will definitely be back, and soon.

Thank you - so enjoyed our meals RISOTTO PESCATORE and my friend had monk fish - we love our fish dishes and I’m definitively having that risotto again, wow! I normally go for the juicy tender steak and so it was a hard choice tonight but I’m glad I tried something different tonight, If you’re a seafood food lover, this was awesome. Staff are real friendly and jovial what a lovely atmosphere busy and buzzing. Love this Italian and so conveniently placed in Chelmsford too. Will be back real soon guys!!

Hiding gems just a minute to Train station We have come from London and some of our aparti come from Colchester. We end up at IL PALAZZO. Lovely places to have proper service and ambiance.

We been to this lovely Italian restaurant on last Sunday for pre theatre meal. Before the theatre the restaurant was busy. Our meal come all în the time. As a desert I had a tiramisu it was very delicios. I recomand this place for everyone. We will defenitly come back thank u

We have been this Italian restaurant on Saturday the atmosphere was very good the restaurant was very busy and the food was extremely delicious 😋. The stuff was really helpful and nice . It’s always nice to see place like this nice. I really do recommend to everyone who want to have nice meal . Thank you Il Palazzo

Lovely Restaurant with plenty dishes on the menu. We really enjoy our evening with friendly staff and tasty food. Altogether we have fantastic experience. Definitely recommend who like traditional Italian food. “Looking forward to going back !!

Earlier this month, we had our post-wedding celebration here, and the front of house, Constantine and his colleague, were attentive and made sure all of us were looked after. Shoutout to Constantine for going the extra mile offering assistance with our table plan/decoration and party favours. To top it off, the food was great.

Went for lunch with my wife, had the 2 course lunch plus a glass of wine £14.95. Great value and great food. Nice to know you can still get authentic Italian food at a reasonable price. Staff were excellent. You may miss this restaurant as...

Excellent restaurant Had lunch, great food, good value, nice staff

We visited here the other night and were sadly disappointed. I had spicy Arabiatta which was tasteless, not spicy and shop bought pasta. My partner ordered seafood pizza, which was tasteless and consisted of frozen prawns, mussels and squid. The food was average, the restaurant...

Came to Il Palazzo as a party of four people.On arrival, restaurant was empty apart from two tables. Waiter put us on a rather small table in the corner by the bar, next to a family so all three parties were sitting in a line....

Great family run Italian restaurant. Menu extensive, food home made and authentically tasty! Not going to break the bank! Staff great! Gets busy and noisy, especially on theatre nights, but that makes for some atmosphere. Have been here before and will be back!

Went to celebrate my sisters birthday here and had friendly and fast service. Food was tasty and good for value. I had the ‘tagliatelle funghi e panna’ and it was lovely. Will definitely be coming back again soon!

Really delicious- had the fried mozzarella and a vegetarian lasagne thing (asked and they said they could swap one of the meat ones for some spinach and cheese- very nice of them. Staff were nice.

Carbonara was terrible! Pizza was regular.

We came for dinner, it was ok. My pasta had way too much chilli in the sauce, my wife's Salmon was only warm and our son-in-law's Carbonara was lacking in chicken and bland. Service was fine, as was the atmosphere. It was very busy when we visited, hopefully, we were just unlucky.

visited as a family of 5 midweek.. quite busy,lovely atmosphere.. great food and good value for money. recent good reviews on trip advisor are well deserved. hadnt been for a couple of years but although last visit was good..this visit was excellent. we will return...

I visited this place this afternoon the food was lovely stuff was amazing and very friendly. I definitely recommend this place for everyone. The price of the food was very good also. Definitely I will be back thank you 👋

A great restaurant. Service and food are excellent. Will go again.

Just back after a birthday meal, excellent menu, really difficult to choose which makes a change, nice atmosphere, good attentive staff, reasonable pricing, will definitely return, recommended

I arranged a table to celebrate my mum's 81st birthday and there were 14 of us. I called the restaurant a few times to change booking etc and they were always extremely helpful. Our table was ready on time and the service was excellent considering...

We went with a large family group with 3 young children under 2. Service and attention to detail was excellent and the food was delivered promptly and tasted excellent!! Certainly compares very favourably with other much more expensive Italian restaurants in the area!! Thank you!!

Excellent choice on the lunchtime menu which included a glass of house wine with a starter and a main course for less than £15. Living near Clacton on Sea it’s a bit too far to pop in but next time I’m in Chelmsford I’ll be...

The best Italian in Chelmsford by far. Love it. Great food and service every time. We will return. For sure.

So pleased to have found Il Palazzo. Great to see an independent restaurant doing great freshly cooked food in amongst the chain restaurants dishing up same old same old. I had goats cheese and beetroot to start and monkfish for main, both were absolutely delicious....

Staff was amazing!!! The staff is credit to management!! 2 being gluten free they knew all ok for what to eat!! Found portions smaller than than 1st time visiting but all produce has gone up and upderstand!!

This was a friends reunion and we were not disappointed from start to finish. We booked an early dinner as we heard it got busy later..We were very well looked after and everyone really enjoyed their food and service.👍 We will certainly come back here.

We were initially dubious about this restaurant due to the location, but we were pleasantly relieved to encounter great service, pleasant surroundings and superb food, would highly recommend

Early Friday lunchtime so not many around. Chelmsford seemed quiet on my first visit and this restaurant is 1 minute from the station. There are more restaurants nearer the river but this one was fine. Nice ambiance, although music a bit loud for me. Good...

Sehr tolles Essen, sehr guter Service. Toll eingerichtet. Gute Auswahl an Pizzen und Nudeln. Gute Position der Nudeln

Second time of visiting this restaurant, couldn’t fault it. We booked ahead to ensure a rake could be reserved for my birthday, no problem. The wait in between courses was well times, fresh and very hot food. All round impeccable service. Bathroom facilities very clean,...

I’m not sure what went wrong , but it certainly wasn’t quite right either - my prawns starter - the prawns came literally uncooked - raw , when I pointed out they offered to bring new ones but I can only assume they’ve completely forgot...

Fantastic authentic Italian restaurant, the food is amazing always served piping hot by friendly and knowledgeable staff that make you feel welcome. Nothing is too much trouble they are very happy to accommodate any special requests you have and you can take your time between...

Excellent quality food i love it. Food was amazing especially i tried Lamb shank so i love it. I extremely recommend this Italian restaurant

The food was amazing, well cooked, tasty and they know their menu. Lovely wine and engaging staff made for a wonderful evening with friends. I can highly recommend the calzone and sardine starter, although the scallops and insalata caprese were also thoroughly enjoyed as was...

Excellent quality food and enjoyed every bit of it. Starters were amazing as well as the main course. Amazing service and nice calm atmosphere. Perfect for a evening meal. Deserts were incredibly satisfying. Definitely coming here again for a great evening. Pleasantly surprised as I...

We arrived just after 5pm and was told we had to give our table back at 7.15pm, which we agreed and said no problem as we hadn't booked a table. We were then rushed through all 3 courses. My friend even had her plate taken...

I have come to Il Palazzo for years it is so lovely here. Waiters are so attentive and lovely, food is super tasty and it is also very reasonably priced. Would recommend to anyone!

Booked in 3rd Feb for my Son's Birthday, always amazing food , the staff are second to none & atmosphere is always electric. My Father-in-Law & myself had T- bone Steaks and we would both go to say having had T'bones in the past not...

Came here on a Saturday evening had not booked but they managed to fit us in. Last ate here in 2017 and its improved a lot since then. Food was great we ate mainly off the specials board every course was fantastic and the price...

I visited today and had lunch in there, lovely food. Would recommend to anyone in the area. Walked in off the street.

This was an unplanned last minute change for my daughter’s birthday. We were all pleasantly surprised how full the restaurant was for a Monday evening and lucky to get a table. From this point forwards the food drinks and service was fabulous. Friendly waiting staff...

Really good food, nice atmosphere and friendly staff. Would recommend to all, pasta was excellent and was jealous of the pizza when it arrived at next doors table! Really enjoyed the Federico II beer.

On Saturday 14 January we were invited to a meal at Il Palazzo. The food was delicious, the service was amazing. I would strongly recommend this restaurant. They know and remember their customers.

I booked a table for 24 people for lunch on Saturday 14 January. We were seated immediately and greeted in a very welcoming way. All the guests commented that the food was delicious and the service was outstanding. Considering we were a large group, at...

Been here many times with family and with my boyfriend and food and service is always great. They always remember us, food and service is always great. Great value

Perfect time! Good quality and good value! I’d definitely recommend it and we will definitely come back again

While visiting Chelmsford Cathedral for a Concert we had time for a quick pizza. We chanced on this wonderful restaurant when sheltering from the rain. Probably the nicest welcome, service and food for 10 years! A high quality authentic Italian experience!

Me and my mates came here as we chose a random place, and it was great. The staff were super friendly, the food was really nice and the prices were very reasonable. Definitely recommend as there's a nice ambience.

We went here for the first time for a get-together with extended family between Christmas and New Year. The restaurant was recommended to me by a friend and the menu had something for everyone in our group. We had SUCH a lovely evening that we...

Had the best Christmas lunch here. After a few horrible disastrous Christmas lunches in previous years decided after eating at restaurant before and family recommendation to have our lunch here. So glad we did. Excellent food..wonderful staff nothing to much trouble and great atmosphere. 12...

Had a bunch of hungry friends visit me in Chelmsford to eat here. Anyone thinking of having the fillet steak, it was to die for. Had mine cooked medium to well, with a gorgeous amount of Docelatte cheese sauce. I mopped that up in no...

We had our Christmas party here last Friday and all had a wonderful time. The entire staff were warm and welcoming and the overall service was excellent. Our food was delicious. Our entire party had an amazing evening.

Due time of year (Christmas parties) had to book, but they worked around other bookings. Very good food and friendly efficient service. Quite reasonably priced.

Thank you to the friendly and hardworking staff who brought out all our orders together, hot and delicious. Great portion sizes too. Quality food and friendly staff, who made us very welcome, and easily catered for such a big booking. Great Christmas set menu too...

Went with ex-work colleagues last night for our annual Xmas get-together. The food was delicious and service second to none. Highly recommended.

Had a big family birthday celebration and there were lots of us. Food was excellent, delicious and portions were perfect. Service was perfect, attentive but non intrusive. Staff were all friendly and helpful. Had a very grumpy 3 year old with us and they were...

A party of 14 of us went to Il Palazzo list night to celebrate my husband’s 70th birthday and none of us could fault the atmosphere, service or food, which has been the case each time I have eaten here. A great night was had...

First went here in May and had a delicious gluten free pizza but we were on limited time between shows at the nearby Civic Theatre. Always vowed to go back and we finally did with friends. From start to finish we could not fault a...

Sunday lunch. fantastic restaurant with plenty of classic dishes on the menu all look yummy👍 Definitely come back!!

Visited for my Mum’s birthday, and what an amazing meal we had! The food was delicious, service was impeccable and they even surprised my lovely Mum with a birthday dessert! Absolutely would recommend, wish we’d found this lovey place sooner!

A most enjoyable lunch for a group of 50 people. Sam and his team were very welcoming and happy to accommodate all our requests. The food was great and extremely good value. Highly recommended!

The pizzas and pasta dishes are exquisite! Service is great and staff are very nice. Would recommend to all who like classic Italian food.

The people in this place are so nice and polite and the pizza is amazing I have never tasted a nicer pizza in my life.The workers put a lot of hard work into making this food and even gave me their WiFi password. The drinks...