la spaghettata in County Durham

The entrance was a bit hidden but it is a place that you cannot miss for their amazing foods and great services. Great portion, and the food quality was beyond expectation. They also have vegeterian options and their cheese was tasty. Simple foods, however they were so satisfying. Their staff were all very lovely and friendly. Would definetely recommend this place foor food!

portion sizes are so large and very filling, i had the penne alla vodka pasta and it was alright just quite bland, my mam got the risotto was also abit flavourless. we got a pizza to share also and it was lovely stayed hot the whole time and had an excellent cheese pull same with the fries kept burning my mouth of, couldn’t finish it all so took the rest to go will probably season the pasta myself when i reheat it

Decent, but a mere shadow of its former self.

Visited her on a recent trip to Durham, it was recommended to us by our hotel staff, we came on what we thought would be a “quiet” Tuesday evening, how wrong we were! We were told by the locals it was the university end of term get together at various locations. Despite being very very busy, the waiter still found us a cosy table for 3. Lots of attentive waiters to help advise, we chose garlic cheese bread as a starter and 3 pasta meals. The garlic bread oozing with garlic was delicious. All 3 pasta meals were piping hot , plentiful and tasted wonderful! Prices very reasonable, great atmosphere too, a must for an Italian meal in Durham!

Came years ago and still to this day think about the sausage+mushroom tomato-y pasta, best pasta i've been served

Such a great restaurant that felt very authentic. The food was very good and the service inspiring.

Mi esposa y yo visitamos anoche y no nos quedamos impresionados. El servicio fue muy bueno, tengo que decir, muy rápido y educado. La comida era un asunto diferente. Pensé que había pedido pieles de patata y champiñones de ajo, lo que me dieron fue lo que parecían ser cuñas pequeñas de Mcains y un botecito de papel de champiñones. Mi esposa tenía pan de ajo que tenía muy poco ajo. El plato principal carenado no mejor. Pasta de pesto de pollo que estaba frío casi de inmediato, y parmensan de pollo con linguini. El pollo era agradable, pero el linguini sabía a espagueti heinz y estaba tibio. En general, la comida sabía bastante soso para la comida italiana. Lo he pasado mucho mejor. El lugar parecía apurado anoche y obviamente atiende a los estudiantes y el lugar estaba embestido con ellos.

Parece haber perdido su enfoque - después de haber visitado hace unos años, este era un pequeño restaurante genial, precios agudos y comida muy sabrosa. Sin embargo, nuestra reciente visita fue muy diferente - el precio sigue siendo bueno y las porciones son enormes, pero el sabor y la calidad se ha ido - la comida carecía de sabor y carecía de cualquier estilo - la pasta ‘slopped’ en un tazón y comprado en pan de pizza manufacturado para el pan de ajo. El servicio sigue siendo amable y el ambiente también. ¿Tal vez reducir el tamaño de las porciones (puedes decir que son de lejos a grandes de casi todo el mundo teniendo una caja para llevar al final de la comida) y centrarse en la calidad que tenían?

La primera vez aquí después de ver buenas críticas fue temprano el almuerzo y estaba ocupado no mucho después de que abrió, entonces para cuando habíamos terminado no creo que había tabletas restantes. El entrante eran las cuñas de patata y creo que eran las mejores cuñas que he probado nunca. También un pan de ajo con queso para empezar y a mis padres les encantó absolutamente el pan de ajo. Plato principal Fui por la carbonara y fue increíble tamaño de porción muy bueno también. Lo único que podía decir era que no había menú para niños para mi hijo, dijeron que hacían pasta en medias porciones, pero no le gusta la pasta, así que tuvimos que pedir una pizza completa, incluso si era un pequeño menú para niños con pizza de pasta y nuggets de pollo y patatas fritas o salchichas y patatas fritas. Personal amable y buen servicio

Excellent food, value and service

Place is okay for food. Although 3 out of the four dishes looked watery. Good atmosphere, relatively quick to bring out food.

Absolutely amazing place to eat.... is so popular had a bit of a wait but was well worth it..... amazing food really reasonable prices

is the best Italian restaurant I have ever tasted in Scotland, it’s delicious, plentiful dishes and exquisite service!

All an experience. delicious food and very good attention. 👁️ too much food on each plate, so you have to go hungry 🤤

Lovely friendly restaurant. Made to feel welcome frim the start.. food delicious.

The food was absolutely amazing, fantastic portions & great quality. Most of the waiting staff were awesome, but one of them women cleared away the table while one person was still eating, but i understand thats more of a personal issue. Bizarre that you have to pay extra for gluten free, but fantastic it's an option in the first place. Would highly recommend as couldn't fault the food at all!

Awesome place. Was there on new years eve and was a great buzz

WOWWWW!!! Normally my wife avoids tomatoes, we recently celebrated our 10 year anniversary, and this was the first time I actually saw her INHALE tomatoes...the Bruschetta was 10/10. We ordered a pasta dish and pizza to share between us, the room is full of chatter and you can totally see why...taste this, taste that...everyone was buzzing from the flavoursome food on show! We actually have a pet GOAT at home and they would be very happy with the food and the quality served!! Their hearts would bleat for us to bring some back home! Honestly, this is possibly some of the most amazing food we have ever tasted. Authentic Italian food, amazing staff and what a lovely, relaxing atmosphere!! Get down to here ASAP!!!

Tasty and big bowl Cheap and large size.

Great food, good prices, and the staff and manager are all so nice.

Came here with my friends for a meal and we were all very exited. When receiving the starter I was a little sceptical, we ordered potatoes wedges and a garlic bread, the wedges were full of oil and very obviously frozen and the garlic bread was dripping in oil. I ordered a spag bol for my main which was okay but nothing special, after eating a couple of mouthfuls of my food, my friend who had ordered a salmon pasta had multiple thick long back hairs in her food, she had pulled one from her mouth and visibly had loads mangled in her pasta, this quite obviously put me off my food and I am so put off any food in general now, I constantly think of her hairy pasta. This is not acceptable, I am put off going out for any meals at all, if I could rate this one star I would. DO NOT EAT HERE. The image below is my spag bol I wasted, not my friends pasta with hair in, however to say I had a few mouthfuls it still doesn’t look very appetising.

Food was spot on I had salmon and prawns it's the best in durham...plus 2 starters 2 Main meals 2 bottles of wine for £86 and the staff are so nice ...10/10

Vine aquí con mis amigos para una comida y todos estábamos muy emocionados. Al recibir el entrante me mostré un poco escéptica, pedimos cuñas de patatas y un pan de ajo, las cuñas estaban llenas de aceite y muy obviamente congeladas y el pan de ajo goteaba en aceite. Pedí un spag bol para mi principal que estaba bien, pero nada especial, después de comer un par de bocados de mi comida, mi amiga que había pedido una pasta de salmón tenía múltiples pelos largos y gruesos en su comida, ella había sacado uno de su boca y visiblemente tenía cargas destrozadas en su pasta, esto obviamente me apartó de mi comida y estoy tan pospuesto cualquier comida en general ahora, constantemente pienso en su pasta peluda. Esto no es aceptable, estoy pospuesto a salir para cualquier comida, si pudiera calificar esta estrella lo haría. NO COMAS AQUÍ. La imagen de abajo es mi spag bol que desperdicié, no la pasta de mis amigas con el pelo dentro, sin embargo, decir que tuve algunos bocados todavía no se ve muy apetitoso.

Came here with friends, had high hopes but the food was terrible. The potato wedge starter was clearly the cheap frozen stuff and my main was covered in thick black hairs. There were so many hairs in it that even my friends were put off eating their own meals. Would not recommend, lots of other lovely Italians in Durham.

The staff are so amazing, they create a fantastic atmosphere. If you're looking for italian food in Durham, this is the place to be! Highly recommend 😊

Fabulosa comida sabrosa, gran menú , personal atento y gran ambiente - realmente razonable y de buena calidad. Volverá

Lovely cozy restaurant with friendly staff and lovely food and reasonable prices. Would highly recommend.

Elegimos La Spaghetta para las opciones sin gluten y deambulamos en un espacio acogedor y vibrante. La comida era fantástica y abundante y fue igualado por el gran servicio - atento pero no quisquilloso! Cuando le pregunté si el pan de ajo de cortesía era gf, el servidor inmediatamente se lo llevó y lo reemplazó con una deliciosa opción gf! Precios muy razonables para una gran experiencia!

Cheap and cheerful, absolutely packed though. Very loud and boisterous on a Saturday. Tin of sardines springs to mind

Lovely food, great ambience, and quick when waiting. food quality was brilliant, especially from someone who came from Italy.

Sad to say I didn’t enjoy my meal here as I was really looking forward to it. The service & ambience was good, but my starter, main & wine was not. I ordered a glass of house red which was freezing cold so asked to switch it for rosé which tasted so much worse. I ordered calamari which was chewy and undercooked. I ordered carbonara which was tasteless & not authentic, full of cream & sliced sandwich ham. The portions were big though.

A brilliant night at this cosy restaurant in Durham. Great atmosphere, food, price and service. Great job la spaghettita 😀

Linguine Pescatore: big portion of seafood is a plus but overall watery and low quality ingredients used.

Food was decent nothing special 50 people rimmed into a small room shoulder to shoulder with the table beside you unbelievably loud couldn't hear your self think never mind have a conversation

This is a popular restaurant and so is always packed with people, which helps create a nice atmosphere. The food is nice, and at a reasonable price.

Had to queue for a little while but we went during peek times we were seated right next to the bar which was perfect for ordering drinks and cocktails through out the evening we had prawns for starters which were fantastic. lobster ravioli and lasagna for mains and profita rolls and fudge cake for dessert all of which were amazing staff were very lovely and food and drink were served promptly even tho you could see they were rushed off there feet. After tasting their food it was plain to see why they were so busy

Fantastic atmosphere, great food and very reasonably priced. A Durham institution well worth visiting.

My personal favourite restaurant in the UK.

Recommended by a colleague but found the food very disappointing. Pizza bases seemed shop bought and overall quality poor including pasta. Shame

Went for a birthday meal, quite busy but service still good & food really nice.

Fun and cheerful place to enjoy some Italian food in Durham. Big portions and nice location. Recommended

The hottest lasagne I've ever had. Not sure where they managed to fit the volcano in the kitchen, but I'll figure it out next time.

Couldn't of asked for more, francious was the best, rapped me happy birthday ❤️❤️❤️

Para un tazón rápido de pasta es ideal. ¡Las porciones eran enormes! No es el mejor plato de pasta, pero el precio refleja esto. En general, mucho.

Thought we'd go for lunch here whilst dropping my son back at University as we'd seen all the great reviews. The pizzas we ordered and the garlic bread with cheese were extremely disappointing. They were clearly made on bought in pre made bases which were awful. Won't ever come back.

Incredible food and atmosphere, best Italian spot in Durham.

We used to go here regularly for our Italian food, over the last few years the quality has reduced drastically, the pizza bases are not made on the premises even though the owner said they were, the food was bland no seasoning, seems to be quantity before quality as it used to be, our meal tonight pizza base like cardboard, lasagne bland, Italian potatoes terrible left them, told staff not interested, get them in get them out

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal here on a busy Saturday evening. As the restaurant doesn't take bookings there was quite a long queue to be seated. We only had to wait around 20 minutes before being shown to our table. There is a very authentic environment in the restaurant with the servers bustling around chatting in Italian. The food was delicious and arrived quickly. Highly recommend.

Excellent meal-good menu options, including gluten free dishes

Great service and delicious Food. Place needs a little upgrade. But overall Great value

After a recommendation from the hotel barman, we had our evening meal here and it certainly lived up to the recommendation. We had a superb garlic bread with cheese to start, which we both agreed was one of the best we have had. Main courses were equally good, with my wife opting to have the Caesar Salad with prawns, a starter on the menu, for her main course. I had the lasagne, which was again superb and one of the best I have had in a long time. This gem of a restaurant was almost empty when we arrived, but was packed when we left…a testament to it reputation within the area. We will definitely eat here again if in the area.

Fantastic food at a very affordable price with a wonderful, cozy atmosphere! Would definitely recommend eating here to anyone in Durham.

Passing through during our vacation, we had a great time!

Food was amazing, service was excellent. If you want Italian in Durham I would highly recommend thus restaurant.

Solid wholesome unrefined food. Staff authentic. The portions were generous, very generous. Rustic setting on the 2nd floor.

Authentic Italian with a great host !

We visited La Spaghettata for an evening meal. It had been recommended by others as a great place to try. This is a place that does not take bookings and is first come first serve. We arrived around 8pm and queued on the stairs for 5 minutes. I didn't mind that as I thought it would be a good sign of how good the place was. We were seated and offered drinks, they were quick to arrive. We were given a few moments to choose our food and proceeded to order. The food arrived after around 10 minutes. The pizza was poor and had a frozen pizza look to it. The base was not fresh and I presume to be ordered in. The sauce and cheese also seemed to be lacking. From looking over reviews of this place I was expecting some authentic Italian food. I ended up leaving around 1/3 of the pizza because I didn't enjoy it. We then got the bill and the prices were good if I had of had a nice meal but unfortunately not.

Authentic Italian food served by authentic Italian staff and a few other non Italians who were great too! I had bruschetta to start and was given a pile of beautiful tomatoes and red onion lavished with olive oil and balsamic. Simple but spot on. I then had lasagna a bubbling hot plate of meaty pasta smothered in tomato sauce and bechamel. My daughter had the spaghetti bolognaise which was enough to feed two people! My son’s pizza had a spicy nip to it. It was amazingly well priced I would have expected to have paid more. Well worth a visit if you are in Durham.

We had a lovely time here celebrating our anniversary after recommendations from both our sons. Garlic bread came free with the house wine and we followed this with meatballs, and fettuccine with salmon. Both were delicious and portion size was generous. Great atmosphere and the place got very busy but the staff were all charming and attentive and we didn't feel rushed.

Excellent value for money, food is excellent and the service is brilliant!

Great traditional Italian restaurant with cheerful efficient service. Food is terrific with generous portions. Lovely atmosphere. Great value. We love it.

Excellent Italian restaurant in the centre of Durham. Up a flight of stairs, the restaurant is large with a quirky decor. Efficient, friendly service and great food. I had calamari and jumbo prawns with chorizo, which were delicious and good value. Very popular with students, and doesn't take bookings.

such a nice atmosphere but the food was horrible. Not even close to Italian. Pizza was the same as the one you buy for a pound from Tesco. Pasta was horrible - spaghetti swimming in tomato sauce. Majority of staff are Italian so it really baffles me how that's even possible?! Serving that joke of 'Italian' food.. would not recommend.

Nice Italian in Durham , only let down by the poor service, water didn't arrive, candle not lit on the table, for a group of five sticking the fifth on the end of a table isn't what I'd class as accommodating. Food was nice, the risotto was a little bland, but the chicken pizza was cooked well.

Good restaurant but lots of stairs!!

Table of 7 Quick service , good food , big portions value for money. Friendly service.

From Chile 🇨🇱 excellent service. We were on tour and had little time, they were very friendly and served us in record time. The best place and very cheap compared to the rest and very abundant.

Stumbled across this place. Excellent food, good atmosphere, great price and great service.. 👍👍

Enjoyed a great meal here. Couldn't fault it

Food was okay, but service was poor. Took an age to ask for our order, and as soon as we finished eating were hurried out.

Very nice Italian food I liked it and I recommend it 🙏

Very busy, great location. Excellent food for the price

Gorgeous food! I shared a cheesy garlic bread to start which was perfectly balanced, followed by the tortellini! It is my favourite! I always get it when I'm there! I also ordered the roast potatoes which were not what I was expecting as they were traditional in a tomato based sauce but they were delicious too! Always attentive service, quirky but cozy decor. A firm favourite amongst family and friends!

Just amazing. The atmosphere was perfect and food was served quickly and was superb. Would highly recommend.

Probably the best Italian restaurant I've been in, excellent food.

My choir were singing at Durham Cathedral and La Spaghettata hosted all 30 of us at short notice for an absolutely fabulous meal. Delicious food, a wonderful atmosphere, cheap and delicious drinks, attentive and accurate service with a smile. You couldn't ask for more and I'd give 6 stars if I could. Thank you.

Enormous portions served rapidly, there was a queue outside waiting to be served. Food was excellent.

Wonderful, gem of a restaurant. Great food,reasonably priced, great service.

Incredible place to try some authentic Italian cuisine. Food is delicious and great value for money, very filling. The restaurant may be packed if you come at a wrong time, but I think I got lucky and was served in about 20 minutes. I ordered a lasagne, which was great, but maybe a little too much tomatoes for me, and my friend ordered a carbonara, which I also tried and I think that it was amazing. Overall, a great choice if you are visiting Durham as a tourist or a potential student or if you live here and just want to try tasty Italian food that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg.

A quaint place with potential but our pizzas were shockingly awful. One of the worst pizzas I’ve encountered. The base was hard as though it was cooked from frozen. Chicken cold. Tomato base so sharp.

Popped in for a late meal and they were happy to accommodate (thank you!) Great quality food, fresh ingredients and lovely staff

Excellent food and a great atmosphere and not too expensive

Love this restaurant in Durham and visit it most times I'm working up there, fantastic food, good size portions and reasonably priced.

Great starter but underwhelmed with the spaghetti carbonara - lacked flavour and pancetta/ham, in fact, I counted only 4 little pieces of ham in the dish. Despite it not being busy, the service was indifferent. Overall, not in a rush to go back there.

After hearing such rave reviews about this place, I can safely say we were massively disappointed. The garlic bread and pizzas were like something out of a frozen pizza box. They lacked depth, authenticity and flavour. The chicken was nice but the table for 2 was that small, I felt like we were eating off a postage stamp, not to mention that the table was 6 inches off the next table. So basically we were part of their evening and they were part of ours. To sum up, we won’t be going back. Not to mention, you can’t book!! You can’t book at a restaurant???? Instead you have to queue on a cold staircase. You could go to the bar upstairs beforehand but it’s more like a student bar with the feeling that sawdust should be on the floor. Plus it smells. If you want a proper Italian restaurant with a nice atmosphere, and without the feeling of being cramped and rushed, then go visit Mama Italia in Sunderland! Proper food. Proper people! I should have set fire to the £50 we spent to keep warm on the stairs!

After hearing such rave reviews about this place, I can safely say we were massively disappointed. The garlic bread and pizzas were like something out of a frozen pizza box. They lacked depth, authenticity and flavour. The chicken was nice but the table for 2 was that small, I felt like we were eating off a postage stamp, not to mention that the table was 6 inches off the next table. So basically we were part of their evening and they were part of ours. To sum up, we won’t be going back. Not to mention, you can’t book!! You can’t book at a restaurant???? Instead you have to queue on a cold staircase. You could go to the bar upstairs beforehand but it’s more like a student bar with the feeling that sawdust should be on the floor. Plus it smells. If you want a proper Italian restaurant with a nice atmosphere, and without the feeling of being cramped and rushed, then go visit Mama Italia in Sunderland! Proper food. Proper people! I should have set fire to the £50 we spent to keep warm on the stairs!

I went with a group of girl friends for a galentines meal. Sat down to order the meal and ordered a bottle of Prosecco to have with the meal. We were asked for ID which we all provided and then the server personally refused to serve me alcohol even tho i am the oldest out of the friend group, due to the server insisting my very valid driving licence was fake. He took my ID bent it and tried scratching out the details and photo. Horrendous service and most embarrassing experience I’ve ever had while out for a meal

Fabulous walk-in experience (they don’t take reservations thank goodness): ultra tasty and fresh, simple, cuisine (salmone al forno, cesar’s salad, and that BRUSCHETTA! !!!). To top it off service is simply perfect. Will be back !

Amazing service and atmosphere, however, food was mediocre. Value for money.

Stumbled upon this little gem when we met up with some friends who were visiting Durham. Lovely atmosphere, friendly staff and the food was top notch. Prices were very reasonable which makes a refreshing change. Would definitely recommend and will be returning soon.

Me and a friend went for a nice catch up to this restaurant and we’re quite disappointed with the service. It wasn’t awful just not what would I would expect of a place so highly recommended. We didn’t book as it was a Tuesday night and they sat us quickly which was amazing. The problem was that the full time it felt as though they were rushing us out. They didn’t say they couldn’t seat us or mention a time limit to the table but we were fed and billed in under 40 mins which wasn’t ideal. They rushed us to order and they gave us the bill as soon as we finished our food when we hadn’t asked for it and basically told us there was another table reserved so we had to leave. I thought this was rude and if they didn’t have space they shouldn’t of sat us, that would’ve been completely fine. I wasn’t finished my wine and I wasn’t ready to leave but I had no choice. Wouldn’t go back for this reason, food was also only okay. Not as good as expected.

Visited tonight for my mum's 80th birthday. Wow this place is amazing, the atmosphere was so good and the food was to die for!!! I had the nicest pasta dish I’ve ever had. The service was excellent by everyone, definitely recommend if you are in the Durham area.

Real authentic Italian restaurant, very delicious food, quick service, and friendly staff. What else you can ask for.

Seated 5 of us without having to book. Food was of very high quality and plentiful. Happy staff and good service.

Really great food, authentic, great to see an independent restaurant doing well and surviving through covid, tight times etc Not quite full marks on service as they are run off their feet- so busy whenever we’ve been there - that tells you something. We go back when we can

Brilliant place to eat, good food , lovely staff. Will deffo go back . X

Pleasant atmosphere and good service. The food was average and the portions big.

I went with 10 of my friends, I'm a local but they're German. I thought I'd introduce them to a not so secret amazing restaurant right in the heart of town. It is the perfect option for people looking for cracking food at a good price which was brilliant for students like us. My mum first discovered this place in the mid '90s and it's been great since. The service was amazing, kind and friendly and the kitchen made one of the best meals we had as a group from the travels we'd had throughout the whole semester.

Great food, extremely tasty and very reasonably priced. The service was excellent and food arrived promptly. We were a large party and everyone was served together. The atmosphere was pleasant and we had a fantastic night. Would definitely visit again

I imagine this place could be great. Visited on New Year’s Eve & it was rammed. Starter of mussels was lovely. House red wine decent. Pizza was not good. Very sloppy, very greasy. Real shame. Also as soon as starters were finished the mains were bought out. Very rushed. Obviously had 2 sittings due to NYE ! Also I have no idea why there are 3 bouncers on door all gave no acknowledgement of arrival or leaving. Far too busy all 3 on their phones. !!