Julia's & Sofia's in County Durham

Always good and prices are good. Good food, good prices and good food, what more can you want?

Visited on a busy Saturday night only one serving drinks at bar , took 15 minutes before we were even asked what we wanted to drink whilst waiting for our table , lovely meal when we evenly got it due to some Internet error

Staff were friendly and easily changed a glass wine, no hassle. The girlfriend simply chose the wrong wine for her tasting. Food was nicely presented, tasty food and we didn't have to wait long.

Slightly small portions but excellent all round.

Best place in the area to have nice food for a great price. We are regularly ordering a takeaway but also coming in every now and then to try new things from the menu. Staff is always very friendly and helpful, tables are clean and ready for customers to sit and enjoy their meal. Worth visiting, if you don't know what to order, start with garlic bread and try any pasta - I'm sure every choice will be good. :)

Love your pizzas but sorry £14.50 for a takeaway pizza is simply being greedy. After 3 years of getting these every other week you have priced me out!

Food was good (not excelent), beer not cold enough, but overall ok.

The staff were welcoming when we first arrived. We were seated promptly and drink orders taken swiftly. The food was lovely and fresh… so lovely that we couldn’t wait to tuck in before remembering to take photos. Hubby got sea bass with mussels, which he said were delicious, but I didn’t manage a photo.

The rib eye on the bone was raw. Then they took it away and cooked it but it was well done. Worst experience.

Dined here 4 times. We visited last night and it was quite poor. I had a fillet steak, it was tough, it didn’t even look like a fillet. I asked for it rare it came well done and the edges were charred. We were never asked if we wanted any condiments. Very disappointing, £96 for three main meals. One garlic bread and a bottle of wine. I’d be happy paying £96 for better quality food.

Good food, great service, friendly staff👍👍

Wonderful , very nice atmosphere, excellent food, very attentive staff . Jon nd Pam.

We reserved the table for 7.15 and told to wait in the front and after waiting for 20 minutes we finally got our table. No drinks offered whilst waiting. Only two waiting staff on as the other two staff had called in sick and other one hadn’t turned up. Consequently no tables had been cleared away and the two staff looked tired. Ordered quite quickly as we were both hungry and they took our drinks order. No apology for the delay. Finally had our meal served at 8.35. After reserving a table for 7.15 we were both ready for the meal as you can imagine. I go there for the Tornados Rossini as it’s my favourite meal and it seems to be the only place in Teesside that still makes it. Hubby has the calzone every time. When it was served,the vegetable portion was tiny, so when I questioned it waitress asked if I’d like some more and I said yes and wasn’t charged for it. Thank Goodness. The meal was delicious but the service wasn’t

We popped in for a happy hour meal after a long journey home. We know the restaurant is good and the service is excellent,but even after coming here over the years,tonight was a surprise. There is a new menu and it takes the restaurant to another level. "Happy Hour" usually brings good meals that are heavy on the cheaper ingredients and lighter on the expensive ones. Tonight we had really generous servings of mussels, sea bass, belly pork and black pudding - the expensive ingredients! The cooking was excellent and the presentation appealed to the eye as much as the flavours appealed to the palate. This was a delightful meal with a real surprise factor. The cooking was backed up by friendly, attentive service.Of course we will be back!

Food was lovely. One of the best cheese Garlic breads I have ever had

Excellent restaurant and food that did my Family proud. All age groups were well taken care of with an assortment of very interesting dishes. The seafood platter went down especially well.

Superb food and very reasonably priced

Lovely family evening meal. Quick service which is great with young kids on a week night.

Excellent food Great staff Value for money Not at all pretentious as compared to some of the other restaurants in Sedgefield

Had a takeaway Sunday Lunch 😋, food always good

Took my daughter for a birthday lunch. It was lovely.

Excellent food And very welcoming staff

We have been here a number of times (before Covid). We went for Sunday lunch this week and it was beautiful. Beef was so tender and tasty. Staff were brilliant and helped my father who is in a wheel chair. All in all a lovely day with family and a super Sunday lunch

Food was amazing, very clean and tasty. Spicy sardines were fresh and delicious. Chicken with grilled prawns superb. To be honest the whole family were very happy with everything. Would highly recommend

Lovely food no complaints, steak risotto was sublime , the Garlic bread with soup was 10/10

Truly wonderful food, great service, lovely atmosphere.

Great food and attentive service from all the staff. The only let down on our visit was some larger parties who were quite loud and rude in their behaviour for what should be a cosy environment.

Fantastic gem of a place to eat. 5 star all round. Definately be back 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

We travelled 15miles to visit this establishment and it is worth the journey. I'm giving this Restaurant Very Good as it is all of that if not more. Great Menu. I could have had anything. Black Pudding starter was gorgeous. The three starters we had were all lovely. Main Courses better. Couldn't have a Dessert but wanted one. We were all ready for home. Food didn't look a lot but we were all well serviced and couldn't eat any more. It is nearly fine dining but is priced reasonably Venue is welcoming Car parking outside . Would I go again? Oh yes very soon

First visit for us and it was fantastic. The most amazing garlic bread followed by two delicious chicken mains. The side vegetables were cooked to perfect. Very friendly and professional staff Absolute winner 👌

Very quiet so no atmosphere. Scallops were not cooked as I expected them, a bit insipid. Our friend had lobster linguine which was tough and very little meat. My prawns were delicious. Calzone pizza was very good.

We booked a table after recommendations from family and friends and were not disappointed. The food was excellent and staff very attentive. Will definitely be paying another visit.

Lucky to have such an excellent quality restaurant close to Polemonium Plantery B&B and the Pate de casa starter was a feast in itself. Staff were friendly and helpful and service an excellent standard. Can thoroughly recommend to guests and will be back.

Visited for the first time tonight and it could not have been better. The food was fantastic (I did not remember how badly I was making pasta) and the service was excellent. I would encourage everyone to visit. I could not praise the restaurant more. Ty for a lovely night.

An excellent meal and great atmosphere. All 4 of us enjoyed our meal selections. The service was great and the staff very friendly.

Great food, great service. Had a wonderful night here. Staff even gave us a lift back to our hotel because of poor taxi availability. Food and wine were excellent great value.

Food was lovely staff were polite and friendly

Food was amazing! Both myself and my partner has steaks and they were cooked to our exact standards. Barnardo our waiter, he was brilliant. His service made it an extra special experience. We will recommend and we definitely will be returning!

This was our first visit but it won’t be the last. We thought the food was really delicious. It was one of the best Italian meals I’ve had. Highly recommended.

Had a lovely night here but found the food very salty and service too quick just seemed to swallow my starter and the main arrived.

First visit.A lovely atmosphere food was very good.Great pasta.

Very expensive drinks. The food made up for it though 💪

Absolutely jewel in the crown fantastic food at a fantastic place I had lasagna & homemade chips as a side 😘 give it a go you won’t be disappointed 👍

Went here Saturday with my partner and daughter, absolutely beautiful food and fantastic service cannot wait to return

What an amazing little Italian, we were accommodated without booking, food was amazing, service friendly and efficient.

First time eating here today, will not be the last time, food was wonderful. Service was fabulous. Such friendly staff

Lovely lunch out ,food delicious and service excellent. We will be back

We popped in for lunch today on the off chance it would be open. The quality of the food was incredible. The arancini balls were the best I had ever tasted, we left very happy and will definitely be back again!! Thank you

I went to this restaurant on a business trip and the food was simply amazing. Very good value for the money and polite and funny staff. I found the experience very lovely and I would come back in the future and recommend it to anyone in the area!

Lovely food. Pasta inferno was really lovely. Great service too

Very good service, excellent food, first class dining experience would definitely recommend and we will be back.

Very busy place for small village location. Lovely to see it's success. We had the best ever potato skins, decent pizza and very average lasagna. 4/5

The restaurant was cold (visited in January). I know energy prices are soaring but being cold while you eat is not conducive to a pleasant experience. There's not much choice on the menu if you don't eat meat and even less if you're gluten free. What we had was delicious but expensive.

First time for us, but we'll be back. Great food and service at a reasonable price

Nice menu options, friendly helpful staff, and we had comfortable seating by the fire. Enough people in to give a nice atmosphere for a mid-week catchup over a meal and drink.

Very friendly and efficient staff offering the perfect service... food was faultless....

Popped in for quick meal, although busy very accommodating, excellence service and well cooked authentic food. Although just the house red wine it was good quality. There were a range of good wines available. Main meals around £10 each.

We always visit this restaurant when we are in Sedgefield as they always serve excellent food with great service. My wife had Crab ravioli as a starter and thoroughly enjoyed it and her pizza following. My Bruschetta starter was very tasty with the FETTUCCINE VODKA AND PRAWNS following which too was very well cooked and was very enjoyable. Thanks again for a wonderful meal and a great evening

Came here with my boyfriend and my son. Thoroughly enjoyed the food, and the staff were very accommodating. Would definitely come again.

Came highly recommended from family. Left thoroughly disappointed. Waited 30mins before our drink order was even taken. Then waited a further hour for food. Staff seemed ignorant to customers existence, frequently walking by with zero acknowledgement. When the food arrived the order was incorrect and the food average at best. To end the evening we were presented with the bill without being offered a desert, which ironically turned out to be a different tables bill. After waiting a further 10mins to pay by card and having to ask ourselves again if we could pay we were told to pay at the front desk as its quicker, to which no rapport or goodbye was offered when paying for the meal and service. Just a flat thank you and goodbye. Overall I'd say the experience had high expectations and was let down on all fronts. Attentiveness, Quality and experience a disappointment on all fronts.

Food was average for the price, Calamari was like rubber.

Very nice food, served very quickly. Fish starter was great. Chicken with blue cheese sauce was nice. Slightly cold and draughty near the front. Very busy and clearly popular with a wide range of locals. Yet somehow, less than the sum of its parts.

Visiting from Canada. My nieces treated me to a first class meal at Julia & Sofia's. A delicious night out in every way. The servers were attentive and knowledgeable. We all had starters and main course and two had dessert. Everything was well prepared and served. Thank you for making a special evening an extra special and memorable evening.

Great food at a reasonable price. Good friendly service.

Lovely place and the meal was fantastic

First time at this restaurant service and food first class enjoyed it so much we've booked to go again

Really liked it here, will go again.

Nothing special. Pizza was good. Pasta was bland, meatballs were too spicy. I liked the service. Not sure if I have a reason to return given how pricey it was.

Beautiful Italian food! Visited over a year ago for a birthday meal with some friends, haven't forgotten about it since! Definitely need to visit again soon.

Good service. Relaxed atmosphere. Good food.

I had starter main and desert plus 2 wines amaretto etc etc. Ate too much and drank a lot and still only 40 quid. Didn't eat off a set menu. The carbonara was the best I have ever eaten and the calamari was soooo good. I ate in another place last week and had carbonara which was like salty raw egg on pasta. This was perfect. Panchetta was delish and salty enough, the sauce was creamy and yet not too heavy, nor drenched over the pasta, but coated perfectly. I also had the pleasure of eating the tiramasu, incidentally one of my favourite deserts. I love any desert with coffee, but this was silky and subtle. Not too much coffee that if you were not a fan would be too much. The cream layers of mascapone were so succulent and felt naughty with every bite. A slimmers worst nightmare and I can feel the widening of my hips lol, but in a very satisfying way. I literally ordered the worst things for my diet, but there were plenty of less calorific options available. I will definitely be coming back. I highly recommend the tiramasu, even if you don't like coffee deserts you will be in heaven. Fantastic service from both the chef who had the food out fresh, hot and fast and the lovely waiter, who I had the pleasure of chatting to. Very very good service and food. If I could afford to, I would dine here daily. Compared to a bad review I made of a gastro pub here in sedgefield this was worlds apart. Fantastic and for the amount of food and drink I consumed, very very reasonable. Cheap and good, not cheap pub grub, bur definitely lower end prices for a good Italian and the chef knows his Italian staples. I am sure the rest of the menu is probably as good. In my opinion though to test an Italian restaurant you try the carbonara and tiramasu and if they can nail that the rest is easy. I look forward to trying the rest of the menu over time. But to the owner; well done, since covid it is practically impossible to find good Italian food in a place that is well-maintained and good service. You should give the waiter and chef a pay rise lol 😆 👍

Website advertises specials - but these aren't up to date. And that just about sums up this place. Promises lots and under-delivers. Food isn't bad, but some of the ingredients appear to be sourced cheaply for the prices charged. Eg the chicken on the BBQ pizza. The beef on the filleto risotto was very chewy, though the porcini mushrooms were very good. Staff were miserable. Quick to ask for more drinks, but slow to deliver them, especially given the number of staff on duty. Food took an age to arrive. We won't be back. There are nicer Italian restaurants with better food, charging less with staff that are friendly. Very disappointed as we had our wedding reception here when it was the Ministers

Excellent food and service, highly recommend.

Good Italian food at a good price and attentive service.

Good italian food, sometimes it was a bit long to be served

Calamari was not good and we suspect frozen. Service and the rest of the food average at best, disappointing.

Food was delicious, really nice food but I didn't like the womanising male Waiters in there. They looked so miserable and gave off a bad vibe. They kind of ruined the experience to be honest. Every time I asked for something they we're not polite but the female Waitresses were fine. The restaurant, cleanliness, quality of food was faultless. I would go back there again, maybe.

Distinctly average Italian food

Lovely food lovely staff. Made very welcome.

The food and staff were very good and looked after us during our evening. It was very busy but we were not left waiting. We will gladly return in future

Lovely food with a very pleasant atmosphere. Very nice place to eat at reasonable prices.

Went for lunch, Had lasagne which was nice, setting is a little dark and felt a bit rushed to finish

Absolutely best meal I've ever had out in the UK. The service, food and atmosphere was exceptional. The last time I ate such quality food with such a quality service was in Italy 17 years ago. The best night out I've had in a long time. Keep up the hard work guys... it is seemless ❤

Fabulous food, dough was so light. Very friendly staff, thoroughly enjoyed will definitely visit again

Absolutely amazing staff and food

An excellent place to eat. Wonderful food, lovely atmosphere, and friendly and efficient service.

Watch out ! Top dollar for small portion even for lunch. Never known a Italian risotto to have jalapeños in it , the Mrs doesn't do hot / spice , didn't see it on the menu. 🥵👎just said fillet steak risotto. Desserts where a poor choice, seemed a lot on but nothing to our liking considering there were 6 of us 😪👎. It was ok, but better places you could go, oh drinks were dear, as my fresh orange was cheap and nasty ( £2.95 ) don't think I'll be going back.

We booked a while ago for 8 of us(2 kids included) for Christmas Day lunch and we weren't disappointed. The food was to die for. My starter was a seafood platter with plenty of prawns, languistines and fresh salmon. OMG delicious.( Big tick) It was then followed by a beautifuly presented Turkey Roast Dinner of ample proportion and believe me they didn't scrimp on the meat. (Second big tick) then served with a delicious dessert of lemon sorbet. Wow. All in all exceptional food. The last big tick is for the staff who couldn't have been more helpful and worked tirelessly to keep us well served with drinks etc. Polite, and efficient. I would highly recommend this establishment and will be returning soon to sample further delicacies. Thank you

We just had the most amazing pre Christmas lunch at Julia & Sofias well done guys you did us all proud in the conservatory xx

First time visiting, would highly recommend. Lovely food and staff were extremely pleasant.

Food was superb. Service was excellent. Really good atmosphere. Limited choice if beer was only negative

First time I have had spicy dish with just the right amount of spice, good food, good service, you need to book as it get v busy

The food was lovely. Nice atmosphere. Happy hour 5- 6.30

Average at best, way over priced for what it is, like waaaaay over. Choice could be better as well , plenty of stuff you could just cook at home , nothing special at all.

Lovely Sunday lunch - very friendly staff!

Food is acceptable, service by one of the male staff was terrible, decor quite lovely, and the gents' bathroom utterly appalling--loose toiletseat and filthy door does it no favours. One of the male staff left a woman waiting at the entrance of the mostly empty restaurant for a good ten minutes as he walked past her. In the end she seemed to have decided to find herself a table. It's such a shame, too--you can see this place is well-liked and is something of a local treasure. The food is well-presented, and the restaurant's name certainly evokes expectations of a traditional Italian family restaurant, but no such charm to be found on our visit. Doubly surprising was an Italian restaurant with no sun-dried tomatoes. Still, could be worse, and no doubt experiences might differ depending on the staff at the time. Unfortunately, it takes just one poor experience to guarantee that we'll not revisit. Many other places to try out in future in search of that truly special Italian place with great service, authentic wood-fired pizza, and an abundance of high quality olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Or, heck, even crostolis.

Excellent food, nice restaurant, definitely I will try again

Food good and tasty apart from bolognaise which wasn't at all. Very noisy don't expect a quiet meal. Some staff lovely some not so much, a bit grumpy and just tipping cuttlery off plates across table.

Excellent food. Friendly atmosphere

Fabulous food in a lovely restaurant