Pinocchio Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

The atmosphere was good, we ordered bufalina pizza, spinach and riccota cannaloni pasta, mimosa and morretti in drinks. The cannaloni was a bit sandy, I asked for a half pint morretti they gave me full pint, and they completely missed putting the basil in the bufalina pizza when it's already mentioned in the menu. We asked for it to be put later on which was okay. Overall it was an okay experience, staff were very nice.

I was on holiday in NewCastle and decided to try this Italian restaurant. As an Italian, before entering, I did not have high expectations but I had to change my mind. The atmosphere in the restaurant is cosy, there is Italian music in the background and the quality of the food and wine is excellent. If you feel like experiencing a little piece of Italy in NewCastle, this is the place to be!

A fabulous and authentic Italian restaurant with excellent food and incredibly friendly staff. The manager Luisa took splendid care of us. Will definitely visit again next time we're in Newcastle!

Gorgeous authentic Italian with great decor , charming atmosphere with great service and lovely food !

Such a gem, authentic Italian. Relaxed atmosphere but attentive staff, will definitely visit again.

The pizzas here were delicious and the wine really nice too. Great atmosphere, a quaint little restaurant with a real Italian feel! Service not rushed but we liked that, we felt like we could relax and enjoy the evening together. All the family happy and the bill very reasonable.

Really good but my pizza was burnt on the bottom. However. Good pricing, popular and everything else was spot on.

I highly recommend this restaurant, delicious food and very nice service

Highly recommended! , Lovely friendly staff , outstanding service and lovely Italian food! Thank you I will 100% be coming back!

Place run by Italians, friendly and helpful. Excellent pizzas, plentiful first courses and delicious homemade desserts. Excellent quality/price

Locale pulito , ordinato dove si respira un’aria allegra .. Personale cortesissimo e simpaticissimo .. Grazie per la bella cena

Everything is beautiful Thanks Ariana

One of the best "real" Italian restaurants in Britain. Excellent pizzas made to perfection, first courses cooked to perfection and above all with Italian flavours. Delicious homemade desserts. Prices absolutely appropriate for the quality of the food. Attentive and trained staff. Highly recommended as well as very easy to reach as it is 20 meters from the central station metro stop.

Excellent Italian restaurant, delicious dishes and exceptional staff. The pasta and pizza are very good and the desserts are also excellent! I highly recommend the Pinocchio Restaurant to all lovers of authentic Italian cuisine.

My partner has a nut allergy and carries an epipen, as usual we let this restaurant know in the booking on this allergy and we have just received a call telling us not to come to the restaurant. The reason they gave was that they found the allergy confusing and they explained that there main chef was on holiday and they don't want to risk it with there temp chef. This clear discrimination was awful. My partner never has fancy food when out to avoid any accidents and is always very honest going into restaurants. Very concerning that they felt they couldn't accommodate someone with a very common allergy. Makes me wonder about how they run their kitchen.

best pizza amazing super friendly waitress

Had an excellent experience here, friendly service, great food, good value. Perfect for a family dinner in Newcastle.

Not bad, service was a bit rushed, felt a bit sit, eat then out. However staff were nice and prices reasonable. Food very tasty and coffee was excellent

Stumbled across this brilliant Italian when staying over for business in Newcastle, just opposite the Indigo hotel, the food was excellent and the owner was welcoming and a great host. Probably one of the best authentic Italians ive been to, Morretti on tap 👌

Absolutely gorgeous food. We had pollo Diane, pesto linguine, seafood risotto and two varieties of pizza plus desserts. Everything was soooo good. Lovely friendly staff and great service.

The restaurant vibe is really classic. Staff are very attentive and quick with service. Food is amazing and the portions are generous. The restroom area is clean and has a changing table if you are there with a baby. The choice of music is amazing. You will certainly enjoy your time here!

if near Central Station and want an Italian … get an Italian , all good. (mrs wanted better chilli in dish so i’m going with her 😎🤣)

Pizza was really tasty. I went for Napoli. The lady serving us was extremely friendly and helpful. Prices are reasonable and the overall experienced was quite pleasant.

Paid an impromptu visit after going to the theatre. It was quite late but we were welcomed in. The service was very good and our server was really pleasant. Our food came quickly and my mushroom risotto was delicious. The rest of my group also enjoyed their food with the cannelloni being a big hit. Will definitely return

Visited for my mother in law’s 70th birthday, staff and service were great, food was delicious and would definitely go back

Overall bad experience Reserved online received confirmation turned up no knowledge of booking. Service was extremely slow even although not busy. Upset stomach the following morning?! Maybe an off day but honest review

Food was really disappointing, cold and sent back, returned, meatballs still cold and tasteless. Chips were soggy and tasteless, also. Both main meals were removed from our bill. I would rather have had nice food than a refunf!

What a wonderful quaint restaurant, staff very friendly and attentive, the food and drink fantastic. Would highly recommend.

This is a small traditional style Italian Restaurant in central Newcastle. The atmosphere is great, the food is excellent, from a menu with a good range of options. Can recommend.

Delicious food, excellent service, friendly and professional staff, compliments to Gianni the Sardinian chef, I highly recommend him

The food is amazing. The Sardinian chef, Gianni, is very good and friendly

Food was amazing!, Service was quick considering there was 18 of us... In and out in around 120 minutes even though we had 3 courses

Spent our evening at the Pinocchio Restaurant, for dinner with our family. We all loved the restaurant, it was like we had found an old traditional Italian restaurant with lots of atmosphere. The food and service is great. We will certainly go back.

Waited over an hour for food, when dishes finally arrived the mussels were still frozen in a luke warm sauce. Very disappointing considering the previous reviews. Won't be going back, even though the manageress offered us a free meal if we returned.

Lovely food and staff very friendly xx

Good atmosphere, classic Italian cuisine, done well. Pizzas made with great base & very good prices drinks. Friendly & polite staff. Would dine here again.

Excellent food quality. Courtesy and professionalism of the staff. We will be back!

Absolutely loved Pinnochio’s, authentic and delicious Italian food. Worth every penny and fantastic service. Highly recommend

Lovely food and atmosphere will definitely be coming next time in Newcastle

An authentic Italian restaurant, lovely friendly staff and a cosy environment. I went with a friend but it would be great for couples or groups too. The food was great, I did ask for extra sauce and it was no trouble at all, a jug soon appeared.

Amazing restaurant! Beautiful food at very reasonable prices with amazing service. Paulo was lovely and nothing was too much of an ask. Highly recommend

Ordered 2 pasta dishes which came out very quickly. Unimpressive and of very small portion size. Ordered a side salad which was tiny. Not impressed with anything about this place, will not return and would not recommend.

Best experience ever, me and my wife have had a lovely meal. Definitely I’ll come back, highly recommended!

Fantastic hidden gem. Handy when going to the theatre. The food and service was delicious.

A group if us dined on Saturday, the waiting on staff were lovely & very efficient with a check in once the meals were served, the food was nice but we all commented that with the exception of the lasagne (which looked burnt & without any accompaniment, but was edible) the portions were not filling, we did add garlic breads to the order which were lovely & a grateful addition, the cheese one was the tastiest! Not sure if the heating was broken or not on but the restaurant was really cold or so I thought until I went to the toilets & it was freezing down there, not very appealing either with no lock on the door of the one I used! Won’t be rushing back!

Been here once before last October, had a really nice time, good food, good service, so came back expecting more of the same. Unfortunately it was the complete opposite! We were seated towards the back where we were subjected to listening to the kitchen staff have why only can be described as a party, loud music blasting, and watching the majority of the wait staff sat around a table chatting and playing on their phones. Our food took nearly an hour to arrive (on a quiet night!), and was dry and so over done it was barely edible, I’ve had better ready meals from the supermarket. We had to ask for more drinks, and because they took our napkins away after starters we had to even provide our own, luckily I had a pack of tissues in my bag. Toilets were also dirty with no toilet paper available. We will NOT be returning.

I used to love this place, but I was unimpressed tonight. I ordered a mozarella and tomato starter which came swimming in water, (not sure how - had the lettuce not been dried? Had they not drained the mozarella?) - and thickly dusted with oregano (I assume in a bid to soak the water up!) Mains were ok, but that was about it, and took a full 45 minutes to arrive - sorry, but we won’t be rushing back…..

Lovely food, good atmosphere, helpful staff, wine was a bit pricey

Very tired looking, well over due a revamp. I found the food to be very over priced, it was cheap Sambuca Italian food which was more expensive and not as nice which is saying something. The service staff were friendly and nice. Biggest faults being the price for the food and the decor. Certainly wouldn't go back when there are so many others now in town.

Great food, lovely helpful staff

I was early so on my own at first, excellent food and service, I will be back next time I am up that way

Visited with work colleagues on a quiet Monday evening in January. Really impressed. Rather unassuming from outside but incredible food and brilliant service. Definitely recommend!

Had a great evening last night with my friends the service was friendly and fast the food was absolutely amazing Great place 10/10 will return for sure highly recommended

Had a great evening last night. Under new management the service was excellent and the food was absolutely perfect. Great atmosphere and can not wait to return

What a cute spot. Lovely music and friendly staff. New management have made the place feel much more welcoming. Food came out looking absolutely fabulous. The pizza was 10/10 and the carbonara possibly the best iv had in a long time. We plan on returning next week.

Had a great evening last night under new management the service was excellent and the food was absolutely perfect Great atmosphere and can not wait to return highly recommend !

Great place to go for a dinner after a long day in the office. Had a table of four with some of my colleagues. Straightaway, a great ambiance when you walk in. Friendly and experienced staff. Food was insanely good from the pizza to the pasta. The kitchen seems to know what they were doing! Good selection of drinks. All-round, fantastic experience. Will suggest this place for any family or business outing.

We went as a group of 6, some of the food was nice and some was just ok. The food was not bad but overall was not worth the price as it was on the more expensive side. I'd probably go back just to give it one more try but probably wouldn't recommend it to others unless the next visit was better.

After visiting at the start of 2022 and being impressed with the food and service, we decided to come back. That was the first mistake. The second was attempting to use the extremely outdated and quite frankly scary toilets that were located down narrow stairs and required squeezing past the bar seats (uncomfortable for all involved). The third mistake was ordering any kind of meat - my boyfriend ordered a type of pasta with sausage in it only to find that it was pink inside and looked like it had already been chewed up and spit back into the bowl. He chose to leave the rest of the meat and eat the pasta but even this in itself seemed like a bit of a risky move if it had in fact come into contact with undercooked meat. The servers seemed to have no idea what they were doing, they had us repeat our order 5 times and different people kept coming over to ask if we'd ordered a comical amount of times so clearly not much communication going on there. Every interaction we had was painfully awkward and seemed like it was their first day on earth and they were just learning how to speak to a human being for the first time. We were seated right next to the kitchen and could see right into it and the table where the servers were having breaks, watching their phones so loudly we could hear every word and giving us strange looks as we attempted to have a romantic meal - that was the fourth mistake, thinking that we could eat in an intimate and relaxing atmosphere. There were plenty of other tables we could have been seated at so I'm not sure why they prioritised the one where we were passed by every single server going to and from the kitchen or where we practically might as well have shared a meal with the staff on their break we were that close (I'd want somewhere a bit more private to relax on my few minutes off I would think). The cherry on top of the cake (not literally as we weren't sticking around for desserts after the meal we had just experienced) was the server or chef (not sure of his job) who decided it was appropriate to walk around the entire restaurant with his trousers so low you could tell what brand of underwear he was wearing and what he ate for breakfast. As if our appetites weren't ruined enough already. We are so disappointed as we loved it the first time but after this are pretty much guaranteed to never go back.

After visiting at the start of 2022 and being impressed with the food and service, we decided to come back. That was the first mistake. The second was attempting to use the extremely outdated and quite frankly scary toilets that were located down narrow stairs and required squeezing past the bar seats (uncomfortable for all involved). The third mistake was ordering any kind of meat - my boyfriend ordered a type of pasta with sausage in it only to find that it was pink inside and looked like it had already been chewed up and spit back into the bowl. He chose to leave the rest of the meat and eat the pasta but even this in itself seemed like a bit of a risky move if it had in fact come into contact with undercooked meat. The servers seemed to have no idea what they were doing, they had us repeat our order 5 times and different people kept coming over to ask if we'd ordered a comical amount of times so clearly not much communication going on there. Every interaction we had was painfully awkward and seemed like it was their first day on earth and they were just learning how to speak to a human being for the first time. We were seated right next to the kitchen and could see right into it and the table where the servers were having breaks, watching their phones so loudly we could hear every word and giving us strange looks as we attempted to have a romantic meal - that was the fourth mistake, thinking that we could eat in an intimate and relaxing atmosphere. There were plenty of other tables we could have been seated at so I'm not sure why they prioritised the one where we were passed by every single server going to and from the kitchen or where we practically might as well have shared a meal with the staff on their break we were that close (I'd want somewhere a bit more private to relax on my few minutes off I would think). The cherry on top of the cake (not literally as we weren't sticking around for desserts after the meal we had just experienced) was the server or chef (not sure of his job) who decided it was appropriate to walk around the entire restaurant with his trousers so low you could tell what brand of underwear he was wearing and what he ate for breakfast. As if our appetites weren't ruined enough already. We are so disappointed as we loved it the first time but after this are pretty much guaranteed to never go back.

I went here with my husband and 4 year old. We had a lovely meal - delicious food, great service and really friendly atmosphere. Highly recommend!

Visited yesterday for our pre Pantomime tea. I was a bit skeptical, having read the reviews after I'd booked but like to give these independent places a try. We were welcomed by a lovely friendly guy on arrival and were seated in the middle section of the restaurant. We all loved the tradional decor and cosy feel. It wasn't that busy and was a bit chilly at 1st but soon warmed up. We ordered the pasta Alfredo ×2, which was really very good, I don't often clear my plate but it was really nice. Then there were 2 pizzas and my son said this is the best pizza he had ever had and could we go back in the Christmas holidays! The other pizza was nice enough but lacked a bit of flavour (he said). Kids had some ice cream and cheese cake for desert and bith enjoyed it. There was clean plates all round. Service was efficient, friendly and perfect for what we wanted. I will definitely visit again.

Nice food, decoration, service and polite staff

Arrived at 11.50am for our 12 noon booking with friends. We do this on a yearly basis for our Xmas get together. Me and my family were told to wait in a small area next to the toilet stairs as they didn't open until 12 noon. So we did, but other guests arrived and we were all cramped into a very small space like sardines. After we sat down at our table my starter arrived fairly quickly. It was OK. However, the wait for our mains was over an hour and my daughter along with our friends children became very hungry and irratable. The service was sadly terrible. I personally bought three drinks but each time I had to ask multiple times for my drink as it had been forgotten, as well as others at our table. After 75mins of opening they ran out of draught beer at 1.15pm which was appaling for a restaurant on a Saturday lunchtime. So myself and others had to buy bottled beer instead. My main meal of Spaghetti meatballs was very poor. I'm not sure if the meatballs were fresh or bought in but I could only manage two as it was poor quality. I didn't mention it to the staff as they all looked stressed out. I also witnessed a male and female member of staff arguing with each other at the bar area right next to where I was sat which was very off putting and unprofessional. Another member of staff twice left and came back with food supplies which wasnt very good for us to see. Everything was just manic. I felt no one was taking charge of the team and showing leadership. I must stress that the foul odour at the bottom of the stairs outside the toilets is disgusting. It was vile to be brutally honest. On a positive note, the pizzas looked nice, but the pasta dishes and my partners lasagne was very woeful at best. The previous year at Xmas we all went to the Italian restaurant directly next door called Insieme. We all wished we had gone there again. The friendly waitress and Manager recognised us outside so I popped in and told the waitress and manager that we should have visited there place again after our experience next door! Non of us will be visiting Pinocchio again.

Came to the restaurant rather than eating at our hotel, enjoyed the food and the atmosphere was lovely. Some of the best pasta I have eaten in a very long time

Their lasagna was fresh and incredible. The bread is fresh and feels like it's straight from the oven. Definitely recommended.

Pasta was great, got the carbonara and really enjoyed it but pizza was at least 1/2 min undercooked assuming it’s in a wood fife oven

Horrendous...waited over an hour to be told food nit even started. No drinks or starters arrived. Food undercooked and one meal arrived after everyone else had finished other tables in similar position. Won't be back

Nice Italian restaurant with quick service and a nice range of plates available. Bruschetta good and cannelloni very tasty for main. Does the job!

I was recommended this restaurant as I was in a solo work visit. It was amazing, the food was amazing and the staff were so friendly and attentive. Would highly recommend this independent Italian.

A truly wonderful dining experience. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed our time here. The food and drinks were delicious, the staff couldn't do enough to make us feel welcome and the whole atmosphere was warm and relaxing. Top marks. We're looking forward to our next visit. 👌

Our waitress was nice but a few awkward things from our visit. Our first member of staff seemed awkward about us ordering wine, meaning we ended up ordering at the bar. Then we waited a long time for our food orders, with one person not receiving theirs until some had finished their food. The food wasn't fab either, nothing to write home about.

Very slow service food not nice

Had a really nice birthday meal here, the food was spot on although a little slow at coming out, at one point we were asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu before before receiving our mains, think there was just a bit of miscommunication with the staff, however the food made up for it

It's been a while since I've been to Pinnochio's but always remember it fondly. I'll start with the positive: the restaurant is decorated in a traditional style and its warm and welcoming. However, the service was slow, so much that we only had 10.minutes to eat our main course, despite giving ourselves one and a half hours (we had show tickets). I told the staff several times to which the reply was: 'It's on its way." Obviously, it wasn't or we would have had it ten minutes later when I asked again. When the food did arrive, it was bland. I honestly think the pasta Alfredo was simply a jar of creamy tomato sauce from a supermarket. My friend had the lasagne, which looked nice but she said it was also bland. Overall, very disappointing.

We went for date night and it was lovely - multiple staff members said hello to us as we walked in, we were served quickly and the food was delicious. Definitely going to return!

Lovely place to have a Italian meal just perfect for me

Lovely atmosphere, staff were fantastic. Food was absolutely amazing, great find, will hopefully be back when in the area. Would recommend

Despite the shabby chic exterior the food and service is excellent. Came here twice on our visit to Newcastle and would definitely recommend.

It's handy for the theatre up the road, the food was tasty, service polite and quick, and it wasn't in any way expensive.

We were in a large group but fell short on many fronts. Not enough meal for the money. Ran out of some of the desserts. Had no vanilla ice cream. Gave me a soup spoon to eat dessert with then when I asked for a dessert spoon said that that was one so ended up eating my dessert with a teaspoon. Failed to add the deposits we had paid prior to the bill until reminded. The food was tasty but another restaurant/ hospitality suffering the same post pandemic problems a lot of places seem to be having.

The mushroom starter tasted like off cream, the risotto wasn’t cooked very chewy, not edible. The prawn pasta wasn’t cooked as much as I’d like it and the prawns were very undercooked

I have ordered Risotto Marinara. It was superb! Absolutely loved it! The seafood was of good quality, not over cooked. The service was excellent and the whole atmosphere was unique and great. Highly recommend it.

We visited here on a Wednesday evening for the first time following a recommendation from a family member. We were due to watch a comedian at the Tyne Theatre nearby at 8pm so booked a table for 6:45. The restaurant itself is lovely inside and bigger than we expected with plenty of comfortable seating arrangements. On our arrival, it was quite busy but we were able to order our drinks which arrived quickly, following by ordering our food at 6:55. Come 7:30, our starters hadn’t arrived, and 2 other couples who ordered before us were yet to receive their food, so we were conscious we’d struggle to make the theatre on time. We politely asked if the pizzas could be cancelled and we’d just have our starters. It was at this point we unfortunately got our backs up… as we were first told ‘if they’re not in the oven, yes we can cancel’ and off she went to check (which was unlikely considering our starters hadn’t arrived yet). She then returned to say ‘the pizzas are coming I’m sorry’. Now at this point, both my husband and I said ‘but how? We haven’t even had our starters yet?!’ So I’m assuming it was an attempt to get us to stay and pay? Very odd. It was at this point when she realised we hadn’t received our starters, she returned and apologised, saying we could cancel completely and as an apology, we didn’t have to pay for our drinks, even though we were more than happy to. We were grateful for the apology and the GOGW with the drinks - it’s just such a shame the meal didn’t go as planned. I don’t know whether this was due to an unexpected busier than normal Wednesday or staffing issues. Either way, we of course left disappointed and hungry but enjoyed our evening none the less at the theatre with a takeaway on our way home.

A Monday night up in NEWCASTLE for a conference was brightened by my meal at Pinocchio. What a little jewel of a painted restaurant! Lovely service, helpful about my coeliac requirements and a delicious healthy meal of mussels, roasted veg and rucola salad, joy!

Beautiful food excellent service 👌

The best fresh pasta I had in a while! The main dish took a bit but the restaurant was packed. All the food came out piping hot and delicious! Great service in a cozy restaurant!

The restaurant was very hectic with 2 of our neighbouring tables receiving the wrong food however we tried to stay optimistic. To start, me and my partner ordered a garlic bread with cheese. This was tasty although alot smaller than other Italian restaurants. The woman next to us received her main (mushroom risotto) and straight away started complaining about it. This made me abit apprehensive as this was the exact thing I had ordered but again tried to remain positive. Our food then arrived but it was incorrect. The seafood pasta got put in my partner's place as she had ordered something similar and we thought it must be hers. Mine however was completely wrong and we explained that I had ordered the risotto so she took the ravioli back. When tucking into her main, my partner found clams and muscles and realised it wasn't hers and then got the attention of a waiter who seemingly just took it to the table it was ment for without getting a fresh batch. Ours came and we requested parmesan only to be told they had none. We tucked into our mains and my partner winced (she had chowed down on a prawn which was still in its shell hurting her tooth). I also ate mine and couldn't taste anything. It sounds dramatic but it litterally had zero taste. The portion was huge but it just looked and tasted like boiled rice and a couple of tiny shredded mushrooms (they certainly weren't wild mushrooms as advertised). Needless to say I left most of mine. I could have made something at home which tasted better for a fraction of the price. The staff were just ok, the young blonde server is lovely though.

6 of us came before seeing Lucy Worsley at Tyne Theatre. Service a little slow and just managed to leave 10 mins before it started. Good range of pizzas and pastas and Nancy enjoyed her chicken and veg. Drinks reasonably priced too

Waited a while for drinks then received the wrong bottle of wine. Waiters would then not take our order until it quietened down (it wasnt overly busy), as it 'stressed the chefs'. Will not return.

We visited this restaurant whilst we were up for a weekend break in Newcastle, ordered the seafood pasta and the chef special of beef stroganoff. Absolutely superb good and very very friendly welcome on arrival. Drinks very reasonably priced and we had a very pleasant experience - the only downfall was that we wanted to go back and book for the Sunday - but it's closed. Overall a very nice meal and superb experience - would return again without hesitation

Overpriced, gloomy atmosphere, no one in except us 4, food not particularly tasty, will not be visiting again.

Good Italian food, my wife’s Vongole was very good, my pizza was good but did not quite feel authentic. Wine was cheap and service was friendly albeit bit quirky at times. Good value meal and would go back.

Long wait..menu choice .mixed up orders..late service. Food not good ar all specifically Rib Eye...which wasn't like any Rib Eye I've ever seen. No more than than 10 mil thick and as small as the palm of your hand...It simply wasn't a Rib Eye. Not the first visit but definitely the last.

Great pizzas, pastas and excellent location

amazing food, great atmosphere and would go back again! sorry i was one of the last ones to leave on a tuesday and i'm sure the staff wanted to go home, still very friendly even then!

Absolutely amazing food and drink. Perfect place for an Italian.

Another great meal here. Cocktails were also very good. Mushroom bruschetta starter was amazing. Chicken parmesan very good, thick tasty chicken and was too large for me to finish. Which is almost unheard of for me!!

Very authentic Italian Restaurant In Centre of the city

Beautiful atmosphere, very cosy restaurant. The food was delicious, the cheese garlic bread and the salmon pastas were 10/10. Fantastic service, Saad was very friendly. I would definitely recommend this place.