La Trattoria in Purbeck

Delicious fresh and flavoursome food, served quickly, located in the centre of town. My partner and I went two days in a row it was so good - we would highly recommend the lasagne!

Really lovely little find. Great ambience to the restaurant. Attentive staff. Service quick and food very authentic.

It was a blues music weekend so Swanage was quite busy, so we booked ahead to eat here. Whilst it's not as smart or trendy as a number of the newer restaurants in Swanage, it's been in business a long time, which would suggest that it's been pleasing diners for many, many years. We choose 2 fish dishes both of which were tasty. They coped with my dietary requirements without a fuss & atmospheric was relaxed & the service friendly. Whilst it's probably at the pricier end of Swanage dining we'd definitely return on our next visit.

Lovely food with friendly service. Good wine too. We had a terrific evening at La Trattoria and would go again next time we're in Swanage.

Had a nice meal here one night on a visit to Swanage. The food was averagely priced for a restaurant and both my Grandaughter and I enjoyed the pizzas we had chosen.Two others of the party had the pasta dishes and they said they were good as well. Would certainly return here if passing by and wanted italian food.

Eat here every time we visit Swanage and as always, excellent. Lovely atmosphere, friendly and helpful staff and great food. Will be back the next time we're in Swanage.

We have just had an excellent meal with excellent service. The ambience was truly Traditional Italian and the food perfect. Would highly recommend and would return if we were not just here for the weekend

We stopped in here on the last evening of our long weekend in Swanage and I wish we had visited earlier. A lovely Italian restaurant with excellent, attentive and friendly staff. A good menu plus a Specials menu and this time of year they also provide a Christmas Set Menu so plenty of choice and all very reasonably priced. The portions were generous and we enjoyed three courses. We will visit Swanage again and we will make sure we dine at La Trattoria's again. Thank you to the owner and staff for a lovely evening and meal.

Went here recently during a family holiday in Swanage. Wanted a night out to celebrate with family and this did not disappoint, very attentive and polite staff. Beautiful food and a wonderful restaurant. Potions very extremely generous for the price. Would highly recommend

A family of four, in general we enjoyed tasty dishes including pizza and pasta to well prepared desserts, with a good house red. Slightly disappointing was the Carbonara sauce, good on creaminess but less so on the bacon content. The lasagne was full of flavour - the main requirement of course - though the ragu was not layered as expected within the pasta and spinach base. Overall good on ingredients and flavour but not a high score for value for money, which has pulled down the final star rating.

They very kindly managed to fit us in at the last minute. We had cannelloni and chicken. Delicious accompanied by a lovely bottle of wine. Nice atmosphere.

I had high hopes for this restaurant but unfortunately for me it did not feel like authentic Italian cuisine. The lasagne I ordered come out swimming in fat and juice, there was no garnish with it at all. I then had the Tiramisu which was very tasteless. My husband had Cannelloni which was very tasteless. All in all I felt disappointed for a fairly expensive meal.

It's been a while since we visited but once again we had a fabulous family meal, great service, great food and teriffic atmosphere.

Amazing Food is incredible and authentic Atmosphere is lovely staff is really nice So well priced! Will deffo been back I was extremely happy with the staff and the service

Website says they close at 9 but they turned us away at 8:30. We even explained that we only wanted a quick pizza. Not impressed.

This restaurant looks very ordinary and low key but we were delighted by our experience. We wanted an easy supper before our journey home from a short break in the area. We chose to have a mixed salad as starters which was very refreshing with a nice home made dressing. We then had a vegetarian Canneloni for main course. It was absolutely delicious being made with fresh pasta and good, fresh ingredients. We had no dessert but a delicious coffee. Our half carafe of Pinot Grigio went very well with the meal and was very flavourful. All staff were friendly and attentive. The toilets were spotless. I would recommend reserving a table as they were having to turn people away. We will absolutely definitely return and hopefully soon!

Service and food were great, Maitre d was very switched on, good recommendations on the specials and on the wine, very enjoyable and a nice find in Swanage

Food was OK. However £5.50 for very uninteresting bread is not acceptable. If this was a real Italian restaurant, the bread would be complementary. Could do better.

Expensive, which is not a problem if the quality is good, but in this case the quality of the food was poor.

Third time visit and fantastic service and lovely food. Highly recommend. Nice atmosphere with no rush. Friendly, attentive staff.

Lovely food. Cooked nice and fresh. Staff very helpful Service was good Nice variety on the menu All food was well Cooked and tasty Slightly expensive

Mother and I managed to get a table here. The food was excellent as always, and reasonably priced. I Loved the prawn cocktail and chicken in mushroom sauce, and the dessert was a gem too. Mother also enjoyed her food. I cannot wait to be back in September. In no way was the food microwaved or not fresh. Well done and lots of love xxxx :)

we had pizzas and a bottle of wine, pizzas were very nice. this was the first week of inside dining , infact first evening, may 17th so very busy. Felt a bit crowded...we dined out all week and other restaurants had tables removed this one didnt.

Awful. Clearly 5 star givers are not foodies. Had better pizza from Tesco. Definitely not fresh dough, frozen bought in base? La trattoria, reply and deny it! Bland, over cooked. Other dishes pale and lacking in presentation and colour.I'm a big Italian restaurant fan. Been to countless around world. Had better at a chain resto

We visited on last evening before lock down 2. For the main course we had veal lasange and sea bass fillets. Both were very good. We then had excellent tiramisu. Service very efficient and pleasant.

Can't remember having such a really tasty pizza (chicken & spicy sausage). Perfect base and textures.

We booked a table for a Saturday night, via the simple online booking system. When we arrived we were quickly seated and given menus. The tables are devoid of cutlery and condiments as is safest at the moment. The menu is reduced, but it has some good choices and we both easily found dishes that we liked. The food was quick to arrive and very nice. All the staff were friendly and courteous. We would visit again if we were to return to the area.

We had a fabulous evening meal in this lovely family run restaurant. The lady serving us was extremely helpful as my daughter has a dairy allergy, they were able to adjust both a starter and a main course for her to have. The food was delicious and plentiful. So lovely to find an authentic Italian restaurant with so many chains out there.

Due to Covid, great booking procedures online. Lovely food prepared fresh. Always happy to spend a little more for quality food. However, disappointed to be charged extra for a spicier Penne Arrabiata!

Friendly but firm welcome ensures customers have face coverings on at entry. The tables appear well spaced and no real need for people to walk close by on way to loos. There was a good choice of food, the old fashioned pawn cocktail to mussels in wine source to start. A range of pizzas and traditional Italian meals for main course, all good on our table without being outstanding. Friendly service, only house red or white by the glass but good selection of bottles of wine; beer was expensive and came in small bottles I guess in keeping with the class of the restaurant. It was a treat without breaking the bank. Oh they have two sittings on Saturday 6 till 8 and 8 till 10.

Amazing proper Italian food and great service. In covid you never now what to expect but they really knew what they were doing. The lasagne was the best I'd ever tasted and the atmosphere was professional yet friendly. A definite must!

Like almost all other restaurants in Swanage, the Covid-19 restrictions meant a simpler menu. That should mean they could continue their high culinary standards, but for our visit that was not the case. The dishes were good, but a long way of “excellent”, which is what we’d previously experienced there.The mussels and the scallop starters both used the same garlic and herb sauce. It tasted like they were both cooked straight then had a portion of sauce splashed onto them. My main course of Pork Escalope could have come straight out of a frozen food packet from the local supermarket.We’ve dined there on a September Sunday evening each year for the last four or five years. It may be time to find another restaurant.

We had a lovely meal here very enjoyable, the food was lovely and staff friendly, the only thing I would say the wine is very pricey but it was nice.

Booked this restaurant to eat with friends,It did not disappoint, the menu was amazing and food delicious.You need to book, but well worth it.Only slight complaint was service was too quick but this I think was due to 10pm curfew.We ate mussels, prawn cocktail, scallops for starters all beautifully prepared.Mains of sea bass, cannelloni, pork were all delicious.Very limited desert menu but I was too full anyway.

Visited in Augaust with our Grandchildren, food was excellent service ver good, book early to avoid disappointment as table sapce is limited.

I had the mussels special to start and the scallop spaghetti for main (which also happened to come with some mussels). The mussels were evidently very fresh and cooked in a lovely sauce. The scallop spaghetti was also very nice. My partner had a half portion carbonara to start which was delicious and garlicky and a chicken pizza for main. Service was good given it was a busy evening where the restaurant was full. Would definitely recommend, especially for seafood lovers! Might seem a bit pricey but portions were very reasonable, particularly if having the fresh seafood.

We were drawn to the nice cozy looking atmosphere, and it was the perfect spot to shelter from the rain. We enjoyed the cannelloni, but the pizza was the worst pizza we ever found in a restaurant! The base was like cardboard, it was actually worse than you’d find in a deep freezer in Asda. We even suggested to the waitress they shouldn’t bother having pizza on the menu if they’re going to make it so poor. Service was mediocre at best. As other reviews say, way overpriced for what it is.

We had a decent enough meal here, no complaints about the quality but it was expensive for what you got. Service was good and efficient.

Really rather mediocre. Service was somewhat disinterested, food was ok but overpriced (margherita pizza £11) so I’d recommend going somewhere else.

Delicious excellent value, and quality food and service. Had mussels and scallops - yum Good choice of drinks Not blown away by the comments gin for high price of £7.50 Thank you

Great food. Not a large choice at this time but well cooked and presented. Buffalo mozzarella starter excellent. Chicken in mushroom sauce also excellent. Definitely be back.

Food was nice and tasty staff seemed quite stressed and rushed but to be fair the restaurant was full.

We pre-booked due to Covid situation. Well organised and very efficient and friendly staff. Felt very safe with tables well spread out. The food was very good. Freshly prepared and the pizza was one of the nicest I have had in a long time. Decent size portions too. Perhaps a little pricey but very filling and well worth a visit. Food quality is always important but at the moment feeling safe in a restaurant is high on our list of requirements and we weren’t let down in this respect.

Booked ahead due to COVID, they were busy so was glad I did, service was good, the food was nice although perhaps a little expensive for some items, currently running a reduced menu but there was still a nice choice.No children under 5 years allowed (suited us fine!). Food was cooked fresh and was very hot.

Ate here twice, because difficult to get reservations anywhere . Both times the food was fine to good. Service was excellent and quick, perhaps a tiny bit too quick at times. We had good fish, crab and pizza and pasta. No complaints at all. Maybe it’s just Swanage in late summer rates, but thought prices were high.

Service throughout the evening couldn't be faulted. 3 lovely girls running after all the tables without missing a thing. Unfortunately, the food was average at best. Was all very basic and felt like it was made with minimal effort. Our starters were probably the best part of the meal, bruschetta and olives. After this we had a pizza and pork escalope. The pizza lacked any kind of seasoning and the pork was very anaemic. We tried dessert however the tiramisu is not tiramisu and was covered in an terrible chocolate sauce. My husband had ice cream which you can't really go wrong.with but £6.50 for 3 scoops feels a bit much.

Couldn’t get a table so ordered take out after a fabulous beach day. Piping hot pizzas & lasagne & a delicious salad, enjoyed in front of our cottage tv! Highly recommend!

Takeaway only due to Covid restrictions. Staff were friendly, reasonably priced and quick to complete the order. Pizzas were tasty and properly made crusts!

Haven't been here for a while. Well set up for social distancing and precautions etc. V friendly staff. Limited menu post lockdown but good family choices. But I was disappointed with the quality, very average pizza, quite uninspiring and bland and if I'd paid full price, expensive. Happy to have "dine out to help out" which made it good value. Not one to write negative reviews but I would look for something better

Always consistent,even during present crises. Very good meal and excellent service. Tables well distanced and hygiene very good.

We have been here many times and booked dinner over a week in advance as most places require reservations at the moment. We arrived and were told children under 5 are not allowed “due to coronavirus” and were told it says it on the door! Well that would have been better to be told at booking time as we had 2 hungry children to find dinner for and all restaurants fully booked! Shocking and when we asked why no under 5s they didn’t know. I can only assume that under 5s do not spend enough money on food and alcohol!Shocking service and will remember it and choose elsewhere from now on

Good combination of informal with excellent food, remember to order from the specials, I had spaghetti with scallops and it was excellent.

We enjoyed some great food from what seemed like a reduced menu. We sampled a mix of dishes from the main and specials menu, all were good. Covid procedures were in place but with staff wearing face coverings it was difficult to gauge their mood but felt one or 2 were less friendly and possibly rushed off their feet. The bonus was having £40 taken off the bill in the August dine out scheme, thanks Rishi!

Booked in, have been going here for years! Yes the menu was limited, however the food was tasteless, and for what you pay there, not worth it! Won’t be returning!

A brilliant meal here as always. The covid procedures are all very well thought out with tables spaced out, staff wearing masks and plenty of hand sanitiser. While the menu is limited there is still plenty of choice especially including the specials. The mussels were incredible, as was the crab spaghetti and pizza. Panettone for pudding finished off a really amazing meal. Not the cheapest in the area, but you definitely get what you pay for and the food is well worth the price!

Great Pizzas. Rang early evening for four pizzas, ready within 15 mins. Extra chilli as requested on 3 of them. Hot, fresh and delicious. Recommend

Went here last night and had a lovely meal. They had a limited menu because of the social distancing at the moment but enough to make it a hard decision to choose. My sea bas was delicious. Staff very friendly and helpful. Would definitely go back

Italian red wine £5.95 a glass and it was nice,bowl of pasta with sliced scallops was nice but I could of eaten it twice not a big amount so had to order garlic bread to fill me up pasta was £18.95 mussels lovely £16.95 then extra for chips,not a friendly place,head guy was rude he said he was risking his life being open! I replied which is more important to you then your life or money! He replied both! I thought don’t open then if you don’t want to be here! Some businesses are really struggling his Restuarant was full yet he was complaining whilst other businesses in swanage were quiet and down on trade and would love to be busy! There was hand sanitiser on entry and the staff wore masks so all good on that front.would I return no.

We’ve been coming here year on year and never been disappointed. Today’s experience was awful. Caprese with cucumber! And very little basil & oil, leaving it tasteless. Carbonara was penne pasta ( unusual ) and mushrooms ( I’ve never had that in my 51 years as an Italian male ), and it tasted bland. So disappointed. I tried to save the day with a coffee but they ONLY had full fat milk so that was a no go. Shame but I won’t be visiting again. Boys said the pizzas were ok though.

Delicious dinner: mussels and salmon. Friendly and fast service. I would highly recommend to anybody!!!

This restaurant really has it's house in order when Covid is considered. Far fewer tables than normal, smaller menu though still plenty to choose from), staff wearing face masks/gloves and good cleanliness in place. The food was as good as usual.

Service excellent and polite, Food was perfection and waiting time was acceptional. Would recommend to anybody and this was a perfect place for couples to have a nice romantic evening.

We turned up on a Saturday evening without a booking and although they were busy, they managed to squeeze us in. The service was great and so was the food. Highly recommended.

Reopened recently after winter break. Usual excellent standard of food and drinks. Superp food in the evening and great variety during the day.

We ate here both the two nights we were in Swanage. 4 meals, chicken, pizza and 2 steaks. All very good

We have been going to this restaurant for years and when we started the food was fresh and tasty and you could taste the freshness of the ingredients but it has gone severely down hill over the years whilst the prices have gone the other way. I think it is probably only still afloat because it's so difficult to eat after 8.00pm in Swanage. I had spaghetti in a tomato sauce with mussels. The spaghetti looked as though cooked spaghetti had been coated in tomato paste and little else. The mussels were so tiny that you couldn't taste them although, they were plentiful. My wife and daughter each ordered a pizza that looked as though it had come from Icelands. There was no texture to it and it was as flat as a pool table on the top. The staff were pleasant enough without being overly welcoming but we were just happy to find somewhere to eat. Add a bottle of house Rose and a pudding for the daughter and a couple of Irish coffees and £88 was gone. No more LaTrattoria. I am pleased that this business model keeps you afloat but it's not good enough for us and we're not overly fussy.

Service was ok. Pizza was ok. But just ok - nothing special. The tables were crammed together so that private conversation was impossible. Didn’t bother with dessert.

Restaurant was busy and we were served quite promptly. Two of us had lasagne ant it could have come out of a supermarket - very ordinary. We also had dessert which was equally ok but that was all.

Visited during the Day,had Coffee.Very nice.Spoke with managet,viewed an Reserver/booked a Selected tableFor Two,near window.for 7.30pmAll Good,good Ambience,attentive.Returned in the Evening,10 minsEarly,to have Drink first,our bookedTable,Reserved n Empty,nor window.Approached by waitress,said ReadyTO BE SEATED,TOLD NOT OUR RESERVEDTABLE,no Tables nr window AvailibleOnly one near Toilet Door.Asked toSpeak to manager,told No Table available in our location.This Was Our 25 wedding AnniversaryRealy Poor,realy upsetting.How thingsCan Change in 5 hrs,when those in theSeats New the Manager,n wer regular'sWe wer So Upset.Never Use again.

WE managed to squeeze in here on a busy Thursday night. The service was excellent, friendly and fast but the food was the highlight. Really tasty, freshly cooked traditional Italian food. Nice atmosphere and not too noisy considering how busy it was.

Pleasant restaurant. Good atmosphere even though not full. Food was fine although extras were hard to get. Service was slow.

Found this lovely Italian while visiting Swanage, what a gem. Good food, service and very pleasant staff. Very good value.

Lovely pasta but disappointed with the service. Served wine already opened instead of at the table. Not enough time between courses very rushed service. Took my husbands plate when he had garlic bread in his hand, he was too shocked to say anything. Tables to tight together not very romantic when your listening to someone else’s conversation. Unfortunately we won’t be back.

We went with friends and can't fault it. Great food, good attentive service without being over the top and reasonably priced.

Have visited here a few times, it’s very accommodating to families and quite casual. They don’t do children’s menus but smaller pastas but not smaller pizzas. Managed to get a last minute table and the food was nice. For two adults and a child, including two glasses of wine, one course £46. Need to book in the peak months. Enjoyable.

The cafe part of the set up is noisey and cramped. Chairs are uncomfortable. The waitress was cold and didn't smile. The food arrived overdone. We should have sent it back, but not wishing to delay our guests it was accepted.

Very impressive food and efficient service in this restaurant run by several generations of the same family since it was founded about fifty years ago. It was deservedly busy when we went

I've been holidaying in Swanage for over 40 years, often dining at this restaurant. I'm happy to say that this place is as good as it ever was: food is nicely presented, and tasty despite not being entirely authentic, but for darkest Dorset it's really not bad!! These guys are also often open when other restaurants are closed in Swanage, so useful for off-season tourists.

Returned after a great visit earlier this year. Great service seated us on a busy saturday night really quickly and served us quickly. We both had pizza which was delicious.

Had dinner here twice and lunch in the cafe part once.

Ended up here by default as every other restaurant was closed. Lovely pasta dishes, and despite being some of the last customers of the evening, we were not rushed or made to feel unwelcome.

Ate here twice this summer. Each time the food was delicious. Fresh and well balanced flavours. The nicest place we ate at in Swanage. A bit expensive but worth paying for the quality. The staff couldn’t have been more pleasant and helpful. Will be back next year.

Stayed in Swanage for business at Purbeck House Hotel but didn't want to travel too far to find a good meal. We found La Trattoria a short walk from the hotel and we were able to get a table as walk in guests. All the staff were polite and friendly and offered great service. I had a chicken & italian sausage pizza and my colleague had the Seafood Spaghetti. We both enjoyed our meals, the atmosphere and we were able to eat within budget.

Italian restaurant located in the center. Little can be found in Italian, especially in the ministry. The food is below average, especially the pizzas are small and are reminiscent of a warmed up frozen pizza. The other meals are also small. The service is very impersonal, especially from the lady and below par (Something the Italians always excel at).

So before I start let me explain that my wife is quite hard to please when it comes to food and for her to say amazing is saying something haha

We visited hoping to have seafood pasta but it wasn't on the menu that night. However, they offered to make us a special dish and wow, it was amazing, delicious muscles and spaghetti in tomato sauce. It was fabulous. The restaurant was very busy and the atmosphere was great. It was our favourite meal whilst visiting Swanage. We would definitely go back. The staff were very friendly and the service was excellent.

I have been to swanage many times and never eaten at this restaurant as always full. It is lovely the food was superb and the service was good, we weren't kept waiting even though they were very busy. Well worth the wait to finally visit. Would definitely return,

Visited twice on a recent visit to Swanage and the place was busy on both occasions. Probably because the food is of a very good standard, even if slightly on the expensive side.

We've been here twice in the last two weeks. Food is delicious, waiting staff are polite and accommodating. All in all a cosy and charming, little Italian restaurant. In summer, the front of the restaurant is open to the street, which is lovely on a warm evening.

We had a lovely meal there, food was very good, service as I said was exemplary, medium price range, had an enjoyable time there, owned by the Forte family who have been here evidently for over 100 years, remember the cafe they had on the sea front when I was a child many years ago, lovely traditional Italian food could not fault, only criticism was tables were a bit close together

A family party of eight, we had that great multi generational mish mash of dishes ranging from pizza to fine fish and meat dishes. Great for a fun family meal.

During our annual visit to Swanage, this is becoming a regular place for us to eat. As well as the standard pasta and pizza they have chicken and fish dishes and a few specials of the day. The Scallops in garlic sauce I had from the Starters specials were some of the best I've ever tasted. The wine list isn't huge, but I can recommend the house white wine - it's under £20 a bottle. Also recommended is their Espresso coffee. It's specially selected and better than what you'd buy in the supermarket.

In a recent visit to Swanage , we went to this restaurant for one lunch and two dinners. The food was of a very good quality and (in the main part) the service was fast and very friendly. The restaurant is a bit cramped, but there is a friendly and vibrant atmosphere. The food is quite expensive, but I think that it is good value. There is one young lady who needs to be taught a few lessons in customer service.

Me and my partner went to La Trattoria on our last day of a week long visit to the Jurassic Coast. We wanted a nice restaurant to enjoy and so were recommended this place by our Air Bnb hosts. The food was exquisite and the service was excellent, Georgia in particular looked after us incredibly well. It is a tad expensive compared to other Italian restaurants, but so much of their food is hand made from scratch on site and you can tell this when you eat. Overall a wonderful experience. We recommend the scallops starter, caprese starter, salmon main and lasagne main. Thank you La Trattoria.

Furnished it bright red and green, and the smell of pizza in the air, it took me back to the 1990's italian pizza restaurants, enjoyable evening, i had pork in breadcrumbs with pasta. nice mid week meal choice on holiday

Visited this lovely restaurant bit expensive great service lovely food. Great coffee too. Would visit again. Manager was rude but rest of the staff were friendly.

Great authentic Italian food served with a smile and great efficiency. On the whole, a little pricey for what we had but the taste and flavours were excellent.

We went in this restaurant after not being able to get into the place opposite. They had tables available and the menu looked nice.

Had a meal here and the food was excellent. A very busy place so was a bit loud as it was packed out. The service was very good and the food was very tasty. Will visit again when next in Swanage.

Lovely restaurant with authentic food. Pizza and pasta lovely, the seafood one was the best I have tasted. The side salads also have amazing dressings. Staff friendly and helpful. Highly recommend.