Sambucas Italian Restaurant in County Durham

My wife and I called in for lunch recently.Tge foid was excellent,the service friendly,beer cold and excellent value. What more do you need - we shall return - excellent.

Called in for lunch with the family,we hadn't booked a table,but the lady on the front desk was great, she found us a table,but did say we had just over an hour to eat our meal as she needed the table for someone else. The waiting staff were all miserable, didn't smile,or interact at all.The food was OK, nothing flash, we didn't have the carvery, wished we had now and had enough time to eat . Not a good experience, as we have been before and it's been Great.

Had a lovely meal her for three people , we chose the early bird three course menu which included a steak option for £23. The food all arrived on time and was cooked to perfection with well sized portions, we all left feeling full, we will return again.

Very warmly welcomed, good atmosphere and very good reasonable priced food

Great restaurant. Good prices. Excellent food and nice helpful friendly staff.

We went to celebrate our granddaughter passing her driving test first time, the waiter overheard us talking about it and to our surprise came over with a complimentary garlic bread. A lovely start to an absolutely great evening. All the staff so friendly and accommodating, food first class.

Amazing staff chloe always makes us welcome and Pedro the chef goes up and beyond to make everything perfect, we come regular and always made so welcome keep up the good work guys xx

Popped in for a takeaway 12/08/24 what a disaster and waste of money chicken was tasteless,sauce well i thought it was gravy but according to the menu it wasn't very much overpriced

Awesome food, staff, and atmosphere.

Can always rely on a good solid meal from here. Great price to quality ratio and fantastic service!

Fantastic food and service,me and my family got the 3 course special for £8 ... tremendous value...food was beautiful and good size portions...served with a smile 😊... definitely will be returning.

Delicious lunch with my daughter.

Takeout meal collected, promt service and ready when app informs you.

We attended as a party of 9, including 2 children. Arriving at different times, our drinks orders were taken as each group arrived. We had a long wait before food orders were taken. The restaurant was busy, with 3 large group tables and most smaller tables occupied. The staff seemed very stressed. Food was nice. We ordered from the specials menu, 3 courses for £23 or £19 depending on the dishes you got as mains. They were accommodating when I ordered our sons meal as he didn’t want the children’s options but wouldn’t have been able to eat a full portion on the adult menu. Fillet steak was cooked beautifully (with garlic butter sauce) and the children’s chicken nuggets were strips of chicken breast. We all got the standard potato skin starter which was nice with the garlic dip. A few decided to go for cheesecake for dessert and others went for ice cream or chocolate fudge cake. Cakes felt very shop bought rather than homemade and were not that tasty. Slow service when we wanted more drinks while we were eating. Nice meal, slow service but would still go back.

Had lunch @ this restaurant recently with my family.We chose off 4 x menus available.They are all great value @ £8,£12 and £20 for 3 courses as well as an ala carte menu.We ordered pizza,pasta and steak dishes as well as two kids meals and they were great when they arrived.Pints of moretti/Stella are £5ish. The service is very friendly and the food is really nice. Highly recommend a visit.

Brief visit for the 1st time in a lot of years, so just had a cake n coffee. Lovely atmosphere and great staff. See you again.

What an amazing meal we had. Lovely place food was incredible

Wondeful food. Such a good value for a sunday carvery. Loads of meat and veg cooked to perfection. Kids were free too! Brilliant 👏

Love, this restaurant, great atmosphere, staff very friendly and accommodating food is great too

Food was good service excellent but to much going on around you

Excellent as usual. Good food and very good staff. Brilliant value for money.

Good service and food, friendly staff.cold beer, tender steak and crispy chips yum yum.

Went last week very disappointed with the garlic mushrooms they were cooked in a runny water juice without any flavour to them I expected to see some cream like every other Sambuca my toasted bread was burn to a crisp the mains were a bit better the biscoff cheese cake was great but I won’t be going again !! Sorry x

Visited here earlier in the week. The typical class you expect from Sambuca restaurants. Pizza was lovely and drinks were nice, and decently priced. Clean and nice look to the restaurant. Highly recommend

Food was nice and plentiful. Sunday Carvery. Atmosphere was loud, service was a tad slow, however, it was very busy.

Excellent cuisine, very nice room, low prices, easy parking, very professional staff. At the top 100% on all tables. To recommend.

Great night with the girls! Food and service are always great here. Nothing is an issue. Thanks again. We will be back.

We visited this restraint this afternoon with the family . To say we were disappointed would be an understatement . We had the dinner menu. First of all the potato skins were cooked well and looked as usual . However the dips looked as if they had been on the plate a while and had a slight dry crust as if it had been standing for a while . The usual pasta dish I ordered was no way near their usual standard from others of the chain . We all were not happy with the food and will defiantly not be going back . This is the only negative review we as a family have made but really feel this restaurant is not up to the standards others are .

My birthday What can you say the food was awesome As we're the staff You made my birthday a memorable one Chloe and Emily many thanks And a big shout out to Carl the owner See you all soon

Great place and staff and nice food.

We are regulars to this Sambuca and we always leave with full stomachs after a great experience. What stood out this time was the exceptional customer service skills from a server named Michael! Absolute credit to the restaurant!

Had the mussels and now we are ill

Ordered Sunday lunch it was lovely and well worth the money will definitely be ordering again

Cheap and cheerful. For the cheap princes it's obviously all frozen food but it's reasonably priced and clean and easy to get parking

Great place great staff took lac with ld children everyone was great with them

Booked for 3pm, finally sat down after 4pm. Food arrived 30 minutes after that. 10 people on a table more suited for 6 or 8. Carvery was lukewarm but tasty enough. A family meal where I expected we would all eat together, however it just didn't happen. Not such a Happy Mothers Day.

Love it best place to eat and all of the staff are super friendly and helpful been a few times now never had a bad meal yet we'll done to all.

Beautiful hot food excellent staff and service

Had pizza, it came on a plate which I was happy about. Now I’m overjoyed to live in Chester-le-Stret !! :))

Good food and good polite service

Excellent throughout. Food great,service great and nice relaxing atmosphere. . Will be going back again very soon. Definitely 5 stars 👍 ## Update 17/2/24"" visited today along with family including 2 babies one of which has allergies. They cooked some of the food differently to avoid the items which she was allergic to so that was really good of them. As per the last time I was there everything was first class food staff service and atmosphere

Food lovely as usual. Staff super friendly.

Nice meal, but chips, little underdone, corrected with new ones, but nice overall

Great food, lovely staff, definitely recommend 👌

Portion sizes are amazing, good food. Staff were super friendly and helpful considering we were a huge group.

Really lovely place to eat. Both times we have been we have been served by peter. He stood out, the service was brilliant. He made us feel so welcome. Always made sure we had everything we needed. Give my daughter a selection box the first time, then the second time she got a lolly. He is very professional and quick service. Food is very good 👍 5 stars. Thank you.

Love this place we go often, but this time, our waiter went above and beyond. Unfortunately, I don't know his name. But I think he is Italian.

Called into this previously visited restaurant for tea recently @ 4pm.They have special menus up till 5pm for 3 course pizza/pasta dishes for £8 and a chicken/burger one for £12.We went for pasta ones with a side order of garlic bread.The food when it came after about 25 mins was lovely with the garlic bread the size of a pizza.The potato skins,pasta dishes and bread were all very good.The service was very friendly and excellent value.Book ahead as they get large birthday parties in - two when we were there. We shall return as it is very good value with quality food.

Food was lovely. Function room isn't the best furnished and toilets are downstairs.

Great food and attentive staff. Ambience was good too.

We got meat feast pizas chips margarita piza garlic bread plus cheesecake was delicious, staff very nice quick serve compliments to the chef we all enjoyed food cheers Maria Russell, c you all again in December

1st time went and def be back.lovely food and staff are great

First time here with my son and his girlfriend. As we are not from the area we didn't know what to expect. The restaurant was almost empty when we entered which was a little concerning but we needn't have worried. The food was lovely and the service was first class. I'd recommend the calzone and the chocolate orange cake. Competitive pricing was also welcome. We will definitely be back when we are in the area again.

We booked the function room (The Loft) for a 40th birthday and it could not have been better! The food was delicious and the room was fantastic- lots of space for people and for the children to play, but what really made it was the staff. They were so helpful and attentive- helped with decorations as well as organisation. They were also amazing with the kids. They could not do enough. I would recommend to everyone and anyone looking for a function room in the area. We will definitely be back and they really did make our occasion extra special.

First time trying this place and it was awful, service was terrible took ages too deliver food and when the food did come they gave us the wrong pizzas, the chips were not even cooked properly and the cans were warm as anything, they then charged us too get the pizzas we actually wanted so prices were rediculous, and when they ended up bringing the pizzas we wanted they were burnt as crisp, honestly so disappointing with this as I’ve heard so many people say it’s supposed too be really nice, it’s fair too say I will not be eating from there ever again.

Didnt realise until I went to pay that children's carvery on a Sunday is free with 1 paying adult! Fantastic.

Had tea @ this restaurant recently.We chose off the 2 x special menus which are available till 5pm.They are both great value @ £8 and £12 for 3 courses.We ordered pizza and pasta and they were great when they arrived.Potato skins/pasta and coffee/ice cream for £8.Pints of moretti/Stella are £5. The service is very friendly and the food is really nice.I would advise booking ahead as it does get busy with birthday parties.Highly recommend a visit.

The food was excellent. The staff were very friendly and efficient. We had a great time and would highly recommend a visit . Got to know all the staff by name will definitely be back .

Booked my daughters 18th birthday party here. I can't recommend this venue highly enough. From start to finish the staff were absolutely amazing, nothing was too much trouble. The buffet was delicious and plentiful, they even provided pizza boxes filled with leftovers for us to take home. Fantastic evening all round. The only minor criticism is the room was a bit warm.

If you've been to a Sambuca before it is more of the same. Excellent value for money and tasty menu. Venue is

Lovely food and staff Peter was really nice and helpful.

Nice restaurant good food, good service could not fault it

Went for a 8yo birthday party,6 adults & 3 kids for sunday carvery. Attention to service was first class as was the food,well done guys & Girls,we will be back

First time visited today, nice food, fast service. Will come again

Excellent service and food. Sunday carvery under twelves eat for free with paying adult!

Just wasted £50 on a delivery from this disgusting rancid place. Pasta was vile, pizza was like a slab of soggy wet slop, chips were dry as the desert, chicken tasted like it was a month old...... ended up throwing it all in the bin. Never again! Wouldn't even eat their food for free.

Great carvery lovely food 😋 Service was a bit slow Definitely will go again

Worst piza i have ever had very noisy

Ordered pizzas, they were ok, cheesy garlic bread, very dry, and the tirimasu....Well the portion was small, definitely not worth £4.50.

A sambuca which is so different to any other I have visited. They have a massive selection of different meals to any other Sambuca I have visited. Lovely food and a lovely waiter who was very helpful.

Cheap and cheerful Italian food. We enjoyed our visit and would happily go again.

Very generous with the Carvery and amazing food, and the staff are friendly and helpful

Thursday lunch with the girls was lovely. Got there just after opening and seated near the window. The room soon filled up. Service was brilliant and attentive. Food was amazing 3 course for £15, Inc minute steak, this was the size of a normal steak and was cooked to perfection. Definitely go again. Lots of choice on menu and special menus

Alot of good food for not a great amount of money

Fantastic meal, let us come in just before last orders even though we were the only customers (others like Fabios don’t do this). Excellent food and excellent service, and good value - thank you

As ever a perfect evening The food was beautiful, full of tastes The presentation was on point the staff, although very busy still had time for all customers It was great to see Emily again a fabulous member of the team who couldn't do anymore to make our evening a perfect one Many thanks to Carl the owner Top class person

Wat an amazing experience from start to finish... Best restaurant.. I no regards Ray and Lynn

Lovely Food and drinks.Three course chicken meal for £17 and it was very nice.The only reason I marked it down was that they only had two waitresses working the food and it was very busy so waiting time for food,tables cleared etc suffered.Dont know if the rakeaways going out delayed the food orders.The food is lovely but ensure more support is given to the servers.We will return as its food is lovely.

Really friendly staff and great food. Have really enjoyed every visit here and will definitely be back as soon as I can.

Absolutely fantastic. My husband and best friend held me a surprise baby shower in the function room upstairs. The room was lovely, the food was amazing! We had an large buffet which was beautifully cooked, plenty of choice and even offered containers for us to pack up anything left that we wanted to take away. The staff were truly outstanding. Peter, I believe the gentle man was called, what a guy! He was the life and soul, he couldn't do enough for us. Thank you all 😘

Great value for money, waiter was very funny and friendly. Decent place for a quick meal and lots of choice

Great food and friendly service

Called in for a bite to eat on an afternoon plenty of choice 2 course £8 a 3 course £12 plus other choices I got potato skins as a starter then a jalapeño burger with chips and coleslaw very tasty will be returning

Massive let down got seated straight away I ordered Sunday lunch my daughter pizza . Went to carvery ordered beef lovely meat nice mash then downhill from there.opted for sausage and stuffing got stuffing chef said I will send your sausage over he apologised however no sausage arrived.toast potatoes were a few remains carrots cold broccoli a mess Yorkshire pudding cold with bits of foil stuck on £10 for a mediocre sun lunch Pizza cheese tasted plastic No one came to ask if everything was ok sat for 15 mins when finished and no one came to clear up or ask if we wanted dessert

Having eaten at restaurants on five continents this one is in my top three of all time Service was immaculate as soon as we entered, the food was presented beautifully and tasted even better than it looked and the waitress and all staff were friendly , polite, professional but with a great deal of humour. Simply fantastic

great meal in Chester le street

Food was absolutely amazing first time been here and burgers was unreal. Best ones I've ever had. 10/10 and 100 % be back

We had a family meal today celebrating my grandson's birthday. The food was lovely and the staff were excellent. The atmosphere was relaxed and family friendly, thanks to the lovely staff who looked after us.

Highly recommend the food was perfect steak was cooked to my liking, very good value for money, staff were lovely and friendly and a special thank you to Peter the waiter who went over and beyond to make sure everything was perfect, can't wait to go back thankyou.

Excellent service Peter our server was friendly and very informative we choose the early menu we all had a starter main and dessert for £20 starters were very tasty and the steaks were cooked perfectly will definitely be back

Great value food with friendly service and nice atmosphere

First visit for a long time and the food and service were great. Staff very friendly. Definitely would go back.

Really nice food and so friendly

Food is amazing Staff friendly Atmosphere is class

Popped in for a quick bite to eat on our way home. Oddly, although listed on the daily set menu, chicken dianne was missing from the main menu. I requested chicken dianne and was told that would not be a problem. But what i was actually served was quite strange and certainly not a dianne sauce. It tasted very much like a chicken gravy, of which, unforunately, i am not a fan. We ate and left without complaint, although sadly the meal was not enjoyable due to the gravy in place of the dianne sauce. If i had been told dianne sauce wasnt available i would have ordered something else.

The food is lovely , however took children to toilet, this was disgusting, toilet seats broken, wee on floors all wet, one toilet was full of waste

My wife and I called in for lunch one afternoon recently.We had not booked and were seated by a very friendly employee.We looked at the menus and ordered our drinks.We decided to go for the 3 course afternoon/lunch menu for £8 and ordered potato skins /pizza and pasta.The food which we were served was fabulous and well worth the money we were charged.The service was efficient and polite at all times and I would highly recommend this restaurant for a day/night out.Top job by all concerned with this restaurant - we shall return with friends again.

Went for a meal with my partner and two children on Sunday Evening. Service was brilliant and the food was great! Servers were more than accommodating for my son who is a picky eater and even stayed after closing (sorry for this, didn't realise you shut at 8) Will definitely be returning!

This restaurant used to be amazing and I can only say from tonight’s visit , Absolutely shocking! After sitting 20 minutes and still not having a waitress take drinks order let alone food order. While the staff laughed and yapped behind the kitchen. We decided to leave and mentioned when going to one of the staff that we weren’t happy. Only to be ignored and they carried on yapping and laughing. Terrible service! The last time we were in it was shocking but we thought let’s give it another chance incase the last visit had been a one off!! TRY THE SHIELDS RESTAURANT ITS FAR BETTER STAFF ARE AMAZING!! Very disappointed!

My son had the belly pork starter which was lovely, garlic breads with cheese also a fab value starter. New smashed burgers were great, cooked perfectly. Chips were fab and a really nice lasagna for one of our family. Staff attentive and couldn’t have been better. Thank you