Italian Kitchen in Sunderland - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Me and my partner come here on a frequent basis, we’ve often recommended to family & friends and brought them along too. A few months back, the pasta we ordered (we order the same one most times) was completely salty and inedible. We weren’t the only ones with an awful taste in our mouth, as the manager seemed disgusted that we reported this issue. You can see via the photos the difference in the pasta. We’ve decided to go back as we do enjoy this place to eat, but what a mistake. He clearly recognised us from the off and didn’t look best pleased, I wish we left at this point but we thought the unprofessionalism of this establishment would end there. Sadly not, he launched the pizza onto the table like it was a frisby, it almost ended up on the floor. He shouted asking if we wanted Parmesan, he wasn’t friendly or welcoming in the slightest. The food was really spicy, and this wasn’t what we requested, the dish is not usually spicy and one we enjoy. The pizza wasn’t cut either, and he also wasn’t happy when we asked for some utensils to cut with.. We will never return to this establishment, nor will our friends or family.

Food was outstanding very very nice,starter was mushrooms in sauce,absolutely delicious then pizza which was the best pizza I've ever had.highly recommend 😋

Had the best italian meal I've had in a long time Staff were amazing food outstanding 👌 You must pay a visit if you are in the area

Decent size meals of good quality

Always love coming here for food and drink. Great customer service. Service always with a smile. I got the Angus burger meal. I asked without cheese as I'm lactose intolerant and I really enjoyed it. Lovely Angus meat. All food was hot. Onion rings nice and crunchy. Fries I loved, Nice and crispy and salted. Lovely presentation. Only one negative was the bottom of bun was soggy but that might of been because of the salad. Maybe toast the bottom of bun more and dry off the salad a little before applying. Didn't want to ask for replacement as I was very hungry. Could do with bigger parking place as if you use Aldi car park you might get charged if you there more than a hour. Food is served fast too on a busy evening within 10 mins. Lovely decor and clean. Feels homely. Would highly recommend this place Thank you to all who work here and the owner for such great experience and can't wait to come back for more.

Nice food at a reasonable price.

Staff are very friendly and helpful the food is beautiful and hot well worth a visit to the Italian kitchen

The food was delicious. Authentic vibes. Very busy however, and the phone rang whilst we were there, relentlessly. Although the staff were busy, there was no urgency to answer the phone. Now some may argue that a phone is less a priority than sitting guests and I agree, but the ring tune was loud and could be heard above the vibrant chatter. Slightly annoying after 45 minutes of constant ringing. Food great, service outstanding. Slight moan.

Pizza was again soggy in the whole centre this as happened before, tonight another person ie couple complained same thing , I do not like to complain as I enjoy my meals hear

AlwYs delicious. Great setviceand normally buzzing

Excellent staff couldn't do enough to accommodate me with my 10 month old absolute pleasure to eat and dine here. Food was 5* as always

Absolutely insane food as always!! Been coming here every weekend for 12 years and i’ve never had better food or service! Would recommend to anyone who’s in the area 🫶

Fantastic menu great staff always a lovely welcome Thank you

Love this restaurant and food is always excellent. However tonight we booked a table for 6.45 to accommodate our 12 year old. Apart from garlic bread starter we still hadn’t been served our main course by 8 pm. We know it’s very busy and we don’t normally complain but we just think you shouldn’t take bookings if you can’t cope with so many people. The food was as always delicious but our youngster was too tired to even have her favourite dessert .

Iv been eating there for long time and alway been very happy, but today was not good at all , I love brushetta but always have the bread toasted today was just really soggy bread. The kids spaghetti boll was ok a bit watery though, but mine was very spicy tasted more like chilli and so salty I couldn't eat it . Really disappointed.

Restaurant top notch well worth 5* friendly staff served with a smile

Lovely food, staff all friendly and service very efficient.

As a once frequent visitor to The Italian Kitchen I have always enjoyed the food and service here. More recently I have visited their Takeaway Nana Franca on Sea Road where the food is fantastic & 10/10 every time. Visits Italian Kitchen today & before my partner & myself had even pulled out our chairs we were asked “Can I get you any drinks?” Our waiter was a very rude man with a bald head, striped shirt & tattoos on the back of his neck! 0/10 for his attempt at any customer services! If he doesn’t like his job, maybe he should get one somewhere else that doesn’t include interaction with paying customers! The food itself was below average & not a patch on Nana France. Maybe the chef should go down there & see how it’s done properly! Our pasta sauces were both a watered down version of the amazing quality we get at their Takeaway! Our cutlery, plates, glasses & table were absolutely manky! We even witnessed a family finish their meal on the next table to us & the waitress moved all their plates, glasses etc away, then set the table for the next seating without cleaning the table! Our table was sticky, glasses smudged & smelly, and cutlery looked like it hadn’t been washed for ages! Food: 6/10 Attempt at Customer Service 0/10 Cleanliness (or lack of) 2/10 NEVER AGAIN Oh yes…… also charged £3 for a glass of Pepsi in a manky glass!

60th birthday celebration food amazing been today prefer afternoon not too busy service was excellent and precise had salmon for main thought I.d died and gone to heaven ha ha had an amazing time with my family

On walking in a waitress was straight over and asked what I wanted to drink before I’d even pulled out the chair or had a chance to look at the menu. I asked for a Pepsi max and she said, “two Pepsi max” as she turned to walk away. My sister quickly said no and asked if she could just have water, the waitress gave her an odd glare, so my sister thinking perhaps she had misheard asked again if she could just get a glass of water, the waitress gave an odd look and repeated, “water!?” Before she walked away. We were pleased that the staff changed over after that. There were not many veggie options on the menu but the waiter was helpful and let us remove items from the calzone to make them suitable. The food was lovely and plentiful. So, I would recommend.

Excellent quality of food and price 👍

Great prices and lovely food, always busy so book in advance. Still perfect in 2024!

Terrible sound system too lound poor quality spoit night just turn it down few smiles would help

This is a busy restaurant and very noisy. Food was ok. Staff never smiled. Everyone seemed so serious.

Wonderful food,massive portions, excellent staff,lovely atmosphere. Our favourite place to eat

Brilliant as usual excellent service and great choice of food really affordable.

Lovely food and amazing staff!! Can't recommend this place enough!!!

Used to be lovely place for food .

Fantastic place, food amazing and large portions. Best food I’ve had in a long time. The staff are excellent in both the service and advice they give.

Very reasonably priced and nice food. Carvery is very tasty

Been here quite a few times for Sunday lunch, the food is beautiful, won't go anywhere else for Sunday lunch now.... the pub has its own little car park but there's plenty parking in aldi car park ... never had any problems with parking or anything else for that matter... well done guys keep doing what your doing ...

Ate there quite a few times last night sick from the pizza and my partner is currently in bed with sickness and cramps after eating the prawns. We have nothing to eat all day apart from in there so hard to be told two different meals will not be as a result of the place said the person who I contacted from there.

Great restaurant food always perfect served by friendly efficient staff

A word of mouth recommendation. Was absolutely fantastic. Food looked and smelt amazing. Went for the black pudding and mash with peppercorn sauce for starter and pizza main course. Great value of £13.95 for 2 course set menu. Arriving midday on a monday, I thought it would be dead quiet, but we weren't the first to arrive and the restaurant continued to get busier as lunch went on. Service was efficient and polite. Over all I'd highly recommend this restaurant!

Service a little slow but there were 16 of us. Everyone enjoyed their food too. Just one issue really the waitress knocked my wine glass over holding about a third of a glass and splashing my clothes they replaced the glass with barely the amount it had already had in it......I just feel given my trousers/leg for wet (luckily they were black do red wine wouldn't stain so no probs) they could have provided a full drink to apologise? Just a thought for next time ??

Very nice food affordable and well worth a visit best steak I've had for a long time

A great experience all round, the only downside is that it closes so early! We booked a table for 8:15pm and based on their website the restaurant closed at 8:30pm (which we didn't know) so they were moving tables around us whilst setting up for breakfast. Seemed a bit noisy whilst we ate. My wife is coeliac and their choice of options were brilliant There were 6 of is dining and we all had starters, mains, 2 alcoholic drinks each, and 2 x non alcoholic gin and lemonade, £185 which I thought was insanely reasonable. Wish we took more pictures of the food

This place is always excellent. The food is tasty, arrives quickly and there is always enough! The service is excellent, staff are always friendly and helpful. I cannot fault it. Portions are very good and prices are fair. Definitely go back soon.

Lovely food, couldn't fault it. Can't wait to go back.

I went for garlic mushrooms to starter, I thought it tasted weird,soapy kind of taste. My daughter tried it said it was fine then said hang on there is a awfully after taste. She had a brutetta that was lovely. My second course was a chicken pasta that was tasteless. Such a let down used to love dining here. It will be a long time before I try it again.

Holy wow! This place was absolutely smashing! Came with a bunch of work colleagues on match day so there was already a full house and an amazing atmosphere! The staff were superb! So helpful in suggesting what to order, so attentive and checking in on us (despite how busy they were), and when the food arrived... Gosh.... Well presented and so so tasty! Id have eaten here again without a second thought.... Hopefully be back up again sometime to come here! Thanks guys really made our works meal out one to remember! (Parking is a little tight but street parking on main road is also a possibility)

Food was lovely service was very good would recommend Italian kitchen

Beautiful food plenty of choice. great prices. Staff are friendly and helpful. Definitely recommend.

Food quality and quantity 5/5. Value for money 5/5. Service 4/5. Would have been a full 5 star review but on arrival there was a mix up over my booking.

Gorgeous food and attentive staff thoroughly enjoyed our visit! Best gamberoni I’ve ever had! Everyone enjoyed their meals and we had a lovely night

Lovely friendly atmosphere, food was great and staff very helpful as I have gluten intolerance, catered for my needs

Food is beautiful and staff very attentive. Probably my favourite Italian, definitely recommend.

Service is fast and friendly, it's a nice place and the food is beautiful and fairly priced

Excellent food and the service was excellent.

Italian kitchen is just the industry standard now. It's always lovely, always well priced and always busy. The perfect place. No matter what Italian restaurant we try, we always compare it to here, and usually the more expensive restaurants aren't any better. Everyone in our family eat here fairly regularly!

Terrific food. Lovely staff with a great atmosphere. Definitely be back. Update 08/04/22: Back again, food still amazing, staff are brilliant can't wait for the next one 😀

As always a great place to meet up with friends and family. Food absolutely lovely.Staff attentive and efficient. We went for the special deal..and it was really packed full. Large tables of people celebrating special occasions. So it was incredibly noisy....again no complaints from our party but if you want a quieter more intimate dinner perhaps a little later in the evening. Will always go back.

Beautiful food but 1 female staff member very rude. Room a little too warm and music a little loud

Amazing food. Fast service. Good specials two for 13.95 can't go wrong. Highly recommended

Been a few times and the food, service and staff are bang on, will be back

Great food and Amazing customer service , highly recommended. We will definitely come back😊

We came in as a couple. Food came out quickly. However we got the same starter and quantity was visually very different despite being the same dish. Then for mains we ordered lasagne and carbonara pasta. The lasagne was mainly cheese and carbonara very watery. No one asked us how our food was or offered anymore drinks or even asked once they took food away when it had visually not been eaten at all.

Myself and my family had booked a table for 7.30pm last night (Saturday 9th December) we asked on two separate occasions if our table was ready, which we got told that people were still sitting at our table, I appreciate that it's Christmas time and other people have booked for Christmas parties, but sitting waiting for over a half an hour waiting for our table is unacceptable, our money is no different to anyone else's money what we spent. We didn't even get offered any free drinks for a delayed wait. Terrible service, we have used he Italian kitchen since it has opened

Booked a table for 18 people for 7 o'clock 4 weeks in advance didn't get seated till 8 didn't get our food until 8:30 food was really nice service staff very polite and friendly I would definitely go again just not at busy times.

Always amazing food. Staff are friendly and fast. You are not waiting for ages between courses. Have been here lots of times and intend to return lots more.

Used the takeaway service on this occasion excellent food and just as cheap as an Indian or Chinese but a top class chef doing the cooking.

We had a huge booking for a 60th birthday, loads of care was taken by every member of staff, great management team, and fantastic food we're always happy to come back. Got recommended a new beer that was really good too.

14 0f us today for a birthday lunch brilliant..

Best family friendly Italian in Sunderland. Great service and great food

Couldn't fault it... Great food and service

We love the Italian food when we went on Sunday it was a roast carvery so we tried it. Big mistake cold plates cold food I've never had a plate of food like that. The staff were great as usual. But never go on a Sunday again. We will go back for what they do best excellent Italian food.

We love this restaurant and always feel really safe eating there. I have coeliac disease, and I have always found the staff to be very knowledgeable about what I can and can't eat. There's loads of choice and a specific GF menu, which is great. My daughter has a couple of allergies too, but the staff are always very good at checking everything for us. We would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone, the food is amazing, there's always a good atmosphere and the staff couldn't be more helpful.

As always, top food, top service 👌

Came here with my daughter pizzas were lovely very quiet as waited to meet my daughter front room was quiet lovely feeling to the place dining was quite loud loads of people talking 👄 but thats the norm can't fault the place I'd go again .my daughter says pepperoni was to spicy service was good 👍

Fantastic place wish it was in Barnsley food was amazing if I'm ever in Sunderland again I will definitely be visiting again thanks for looking after me last week

Food is amazing I was working in the area had two lovely meals food was delicious staff was pleasant and the place was spotless highly recommend

Lovely food and very friendly staff

Lovely, was very quiet but that was fine. Food was delicious. My friend did have to ask for hers to be reheated as they wernt super hot. I didn't mind though. I would come back :)

It's delicious food here! Venue is very popular and busy!

Walked into the bar side of the establishment, but staff were not very friendly in explaining there was a dining side. Both of our starters were excellent, and we had no faults or complaints whatsoever. However, the experience went downhill quickly when it came to the mains. I decided to go for meatballs, I was going to have this as a starter, but I decided to have it as a main. What a mistake I made!? Firstly when I placed the order the waiter seemed quite blunt (Italian chat)in relation to pasta options, the menu didn't have pasta options for the meatballs so this would have been handy. So I was put on the spot so just when for a familiar option. When my dish came it wasn't very well presented, lso there was only 2 meatballs but plenty of pasta. My girlfriend opted for the Gourmet pizza, it arrived and smelt very nice, it wasn't cut up tho, so I asked the waitress if she could cut up. The female waitress was very helpful and did this. When my gf tried eating the pizza it was evident that it was very floppy. I looked at the bottom and it looked like it needed a couple more minutes of cooking,.my Mrs tried to eat if with her knife and fork but she wasn't impressed. I decided to try her dish, but the base wasn't soggy but had become mushy, almost inedible. This was such a shame after fantastic starters. My gf's dish was taken away but I never got to ask why my dish only came with 2 meatballs. Service was lacking overall.

Came for a family Birthday Staff very attentive, polite and friendly even though it was very busy. Very welcoming, little things like eye contact really relaxes me and makes me feel valued as a customer. Then the food was absolutely delicious too. Be back again for sure.

Problem with meal but quickly rectified

Hadn't been in a longtime & was even better than I remembered. Couldn't fault anything, can't wait to go back.

Amaizing service, food, atmosphere.

Great food and fantastic service

Extremely disappointed here tonight. Table of 26 out for a 50th meal and food and service was the worst I've ever had in over 10 years if not more of going to this restaurant. No apology for cold starters and not even sure what happened to the lasagne but definitely wasn't prepared to eat it. One bar staff/waitress was very rude and obnoxious not only to us but her manager as well which a few of us noted . Very unprofessional. To me they had taking far to many bookings and this showed in the quality of food. Greed over standards of food. Won't be returning to a restaurant that I spoke highly of if people asked.

Restaurant was very busy when we arrived. We hadn't booked but it wasn't a problem we were seated straight away. We had garlic bread pizza base with cheese to start, delicious. Partner had Divolio pizza and I had Lasagne both very tasty and good sized portions. Staff were friendly and attentive. All in all excellent food and good service. Would highly recommend

Food is amazing. Staff are lovely.

Lovely atmosphere, friendly and helpful staff, who I must admit watching them work they are so hard working people food is delicious 😁

Brilliant place for a good quality, good sized portion meal. Have been going regularly. Always excellent service and good prices.

Excellent as always... delicious, authentic and freshly cooked food, reasonably priced and wouldn't go anywhere else! 😋

Waited nearly an hour for mains. Ordered the scampi and chips,chips were over cooked,tasted burnt,i left the chips,plate was taken away,didn't even ask if i was finished. I think he knew i was probably going to say something. Good points for the CheeseGarlic bread that was lovely.and my grandaughter enjoyed her pasta.

Great food and service as always

Best potato skins I have had lovely

Too noisy. Finished our meal had ordered a take away. Waited 15 minutes before we got it no apologie .would not recommend

Amazing GF food, cooked in a separate kitchen for coeliacs and the taste was pure class, service was so friendly, staff were super informative about gluten and honestly a class above the rest and great value for money, which all coeliacs will appreciate.

Stumbled upon this hidden treasure..never judge a book by its cover, pretty ordinary from the outside but inside is warm and welcoming with great service and food. Signed: not easily pleased Steve..

Great food and service as always

Late night food was actually during a happy hour ending at 5.45pm on a Saturday. A family of 6 and a toddler had booked and it was packed as it is normally whenever we go. The room was very hot and the manager had the doors and a window opened which gave some cool air. Service was very good and meals were too the same quality we expected. We ordered takeaways for 2 other member of the family. Prices were good. One point off for sticky tables and frayed menus

Absolutely lovely place. Great atmosphere, selection and staff. Massive letdown due to both me and my mother becoming I'll off of the food. I can only assume it was the parmesan cheese or the cheest garlic bread.

The food is always absolutely delicious and served beautifully. The staff are always wonderful, especially the tall man, I’m sorry I didn’t catch their name but it’s always a lovely experience. 10/10 would recommend, really impressed.

We came with a very large group and were accommodated very well and given great service given the number in our party. The menu here is extensive and quite authentic and the food is great. Definitely enjoyed the Cajun pasta and the pizza.

As always a good night .staff are brilliant and will do anything to help you

Spent an afternoon celebrating my Mum’s birthday along with 26 members of the family. Was a lovely afternoon. Food was fabulous, service was friendly and wasn’t rushed to leave

Always a good restaurant good service good food