The Italian Connection in Harrogate

Good honest food and fantastic service, decent wine list too

Fantastic once again..popped in for a little bit of brunch today and fantastic food, coffee and of course cake. Great service throughout and well worth anyone attending. Friendly and the perfect host even when busy.

Shhh... don't tell everyone! Brilliant obliging friendly atmospheric Italian restaurant on Cold Bath road, about 1 min from 3 bars / pubs but just beautiful under stated. Pricing spot on. Had good fortune to say thank you to the chef and his smile felt like he was genuinely happy to have fed us well. Front of house attentive but not fussy. Happy not stuffy. Felt like only couple in the restaurant when reality was it was busy. But promise you'll keep this place qt enough so we can go again...

Returned to the Italian Connection after a break of over a year (having been many times between 2020-2023) and were not disappointed The Pear and Ricotta Tortellini is consistently my favourite pasta dish in Harrogate. The red wines never disappoint, the bresaola was a lovely starter and the lemon cheesecake was absolutely delicious. This is a lovely small family run restaurant.

Small independent restaurant serving tasty Italian food. The specials board is good. Fresh beetroot pasta filled with crushed chick peas and chilli served with wilted spinach and toasted pinecones. Spot on.

Amazing restaurant. Adel front of house is amazing. Makes you feel so welcomed

Popped in for lunch, for the price of the food it’s what you’d expect, we left feeling full and happy. Ordered lasagne, fish pie and a bread basket. We were expecting the bread basket first thing but it arrived during our main meals after a reminder. Both dishes were nice for the price. If we’d paid anymore we’d have been disappointed, both dishes arrived frazzled around the edges like they’d been in a microwave, taste wise they were ok, the fish pie did need a lot of seasoning. It’s simple food at a reasonable and fair price. We liked the laid back atmosphere, however the two ladies working there seemed rushed off their feet, although it wasn’t even a third full. It’s like popping into your mate’s mum’s for tea, service a bit frantic but you can relax. We were discussing how it’s probably great fun on an evening, when really busy

Was looking forward to meal unfortunately both dissapointed staff lovely but food nothing special.red wine was cold place was cold didn't appear to have any heating on overpriced for what it was

Wow !!! What can I say , we have just stayed in Harrogate for a couple of days and found this little gem of a restaurant. The service was truely amazing nothing was too much trouble we were totally made to feel welcome in this cosy dining experience. The food was outstanding & totally perfect & authentic. If you have not visited yet you really will not be disappointed !! A massive thank you for adding to our time in Harrogate and we will definately be back and recommend you to all our friends & family xxx

Had breakfast here, very good food and pleasant service. All home made. Eggs Benedict were delicious

Frequently visit here for lunch. Food always fresh and tasty, good range of wines and really friendly staff.

Superb family run restaurant in great location with pubs nearby for pre-dinner scoot. The menu has lovely assortment of ‘Specials’ and the food is freshly cooked and absolutely delicious. Delightful owner taking our order and discussing ingredients & flavours while her husband was in the kitchen.

A really good local restaurant. Consistently good food, great service - attentive. Also it’s in the area of Cold Bath Road a fabulous part of Harrogate. Delicious main menu plus daily specials.

We had a great Friday evening with friends here. Lovely menu topped by a specials board alongside decent wine. Staff excellent.

The place where I had one of the worst experience of my life. Rainy day, we went there to have lunch, 3 families with three babies, they had no changing facilities and my friends baby nappy was very wet so we decided while I was holding the baby my friend quickly changed him. We were in the terrace, there wasn’t anyone there but us. The owner comes out shouting at us, saying that we couldn’t do that in her property. She made us go to the street and change a baby under the rain. Unacceptable. Harrogate is a lovely town full of children and babies we were shocked to be treated that way, in my 15 years in that lovely town it’s the first time I’m treated that awful way. We obviously left and didn’t have any food there.

Took me a couple of weeks to write this review as I am still processing what happened that day. We went to this place with some friends and babies, before arriving at the restaurant from Valley gardens we got soaking from a storm that caught us on the way there. If you have kids you can imagine this situation, we arrived at the porch all stress from running, babies are wet, so we are trying just to sort them out with dry clothes, I came in quickly to check if there was space for all of us, which it was fine as only one couple wqs sat inside in the room at the end, I went outside to tell everyone they have room for us, so I take my baby with me inside and sat on the table (nobody was in the room, the couple eating there were on a different area, so I start changing my baby into dry clothes (as they don’t have baby changing facilities), I forgot to mention that since the beginning, she was suggesting for us to go to the next door cafe because they had a baby changing room and no steps, but we were al there and didn’t mind at all so we wanted to eat here, so while changing my baby discretely I saw he had a wet nappy from the rain so I went outside to the baby bag to take a clean nappy, and this is went it went absolutely mental, the lady stood at the door asking me: what you think you are doing? And I said well I am changing my baby into dry clothes, and she went ballistic shouting that’s against the law 😒 shouting, so I said I am not going to change my baby outside in the cold and rain, and she said she doesn’t care, Holding a half nacked baby upset the lady shouting… my friend looked at me and she said I’ll help you, so we starting dressing the baby up, and again she started shouting like mad: get out of my property! The lady pushing us away, the stressful situation we ended up dressing him in the rain, because she didn’t even let us stood underneath the roof on the entrance. It spoiled the day for all of us as we were friends reunited from Spain having a happy day. In my 35 years of life and countless of experiences eating out I have never witnessed this sort of behaviour, specially in England. A woman not letting you inside to change your baby indoors, honestly I am surprised how this business is still running with such a person in charge. Thankfully the cafe next door welcomed us with open arms, the Italian guy was just an angel. Please do us a favor and remove the “italian” mention on your branding, this is an insult fo Italian people where they could not be more family friendly nation. Avoid at all costs this place.

Called in on the off chance for a late Friday breakfast, table of 4. Food was great and all freshly prepared. We had Omelette, BLT, and scrambled eggs on toast. Couldn't fault any of it and would highly recommend.

This is a nice little independent restaurant on Cold Bath Road. Very quirky and a nice atmosphere with lovely chilling background music. We had homemade meat lasagne with salad it was just superb and really reasonably priced. We returned the next evening and sat downstairs near the entrance, again just lovely atmosphere and food was super. Highly recommend the sticky sausages. The evening main menu sounds very nice and they were nice and busy. The front of house lady is amazing she is so so efficient speaking to everyone and serving etc. No wonder she is slim ! Thanks again will be back Phil and Tim

We were 2 couples with two little baby's wanted to get luch, we asked for a table but before we went inside , we stay in the terrace saying goodbye to another friend that doesn't stay with us for lunch, Before we went inside to have a lunch , one of us want to change the baby because it was raining outside and the baby was Shoaking wet , they don't have facilities on the toilet to change a baby, so we have to do it in the terrace, the lady(horrible human being) came out saying that we can't do that on her propertie, we can't changed a 1 year old baby on the terrace? , so she forced us to changed a 1 year old baby under the rain,a one year old baby 😳 . on her terrace she had 3 tables and only one of them with two people We couldn't have a lunch because she said we stayed on her terrace for a long time, no more than 5 minutes , but she didn't let us to have lunch. I can't understand how people like this horrible person can exist in 2023,. I hope all her anger and frustration goes back to her. It was the first time we went to this place and of course I will never ever will go or recommended because the lady was horrible

One of the best breakfasts I've ever had. Eggs Benedict were really tasty.

Popped in for a quick lunch. Had a lovely homemade lasagna and salad. Great value and tasty food. Good lunch choices too.

Fantastic little place, great for food, coffee and cake. Staff were incredibly friendly from our first stepping foot inside.

20 years since last visit Just as great Thank you Peter and Adele

Untidy restaurant but food is great and goof value.

I was hugely disappointed with my dining experience at The Italian Connection. Firstly to my dismay, I found a hair in my starter! If there’s anything I hate more than anything, it’s this and what annoyed me even more is that server looked so puzzled as to where it might have come from that I almost felt accused of planting it myself. Suffice to say I don’t have long, blonde hair! Last but not least I’d asked for some extra bread to accompany my main meal; they then charged me over £3 for a few small pieces! To be honest, at this point, I was fuming! They didn’t deduct anything as a goodwill gesture so in my eyes they failed to make things right. I seriously question the hygiene of this place hence therefore, I’ll not be returning nor shall I recommend this restaurant in the future. All in all a very expensive and unpleasant experience!

I was hugely disappointed with my dining experience at The Italian Connection. Firstly to my dismay, I found a hair in my starter! If there’s anything I hate more than anything, it’s this and what annoyed me even more is that server looked so puzzled as to where it might have come from that I almost felt accused of planting it myself. Suffice to say I don’t have long, blonde hair! Last but not least I’d asked for some extra bread to accompany my main meal; they then charged me over £3 for a few small pieces! To be honest, at this point, I was fuming! They didn’t deduct anything as a goodwill gesture so in my eyes they failed to make things right. I seriously question the hygiene of this place hence therefore, I’ll not be returning nor shall I recommend this restaurant in the future. All in all a very expensive and unpleasant experience!

Friendly from the moment we arrived We have been to this restaurant many times always enjoyed Good food and time for a bit of banter even when they are very busy My wife and I highly recommend

So….entering the place we were met by a very miserable looking girl who said “if you’ve booked a table go up the stairs” … no smile at all (Clearly hates her job) We then were sat down by a very frantic waitress who was having to single handedly serve the entire dining area. She dashed around and had no time to actually speak to anyone as she bellows “do you want wine??!” .. “which bottle?!!’ … “bread and olives?!!” Food arrived … undercooked scallops. Nobody came to speak to us so once the miserable one came to clear the plates, I said my scallops were undercooked and ALL other tables had received three scallops and I had two.. the waitress just shrugged her shoulders…. BIG MISTAKE!!!! She then processed to throw cutlery down and refuse to speak to us. Rude. Over-worked waitress arrived and said “this is just how we do it here” …. What is? Crap food and poor service???!! Deserts - amazing. Wine - amazing Customer Service - leaves a great deal to be desired😕 Much better places to eat in Harrogate!

Food and service was fab as always

Went in on spec and it turned out to be a good choice. Nice freshly made food reasonably priced. Nice atmosphere too.

We had heard some good reviews for the Italian Connection but unfortunately it was not a good experience. Had to wait ages to have the order taken and for the food to arrive - that's actually not an issue at all with us if the food/service is fantastic. The chicken was overcooked/dry and was served with greens and 6 small slices of potato (between 2 people). Just no need to skimp on the potatoes - this was raised with the waitress but she just shrugged her shoulders. We always like to provide an opportunity for things to be rectified there and then rather than giving a poorer review - we tried, but alas no interest at all to rectify it. One waitress literally running around and the other really sullen and couldn't care less. Its such a shame as it could be an awesome place there but there are loads of places to eat in Harrogate and we wouldn't return due to the food quality and service.

We received a warm welcome as soon as we stepped in the door. It was the beginning of an excellent evening, both service and food were great. We were visitors to Harrogate and were so pleased to have discovered this little gem.

What a fabulous evening we all had with lots of beautiful food and giggles. The best meal out I have ever had with my two boys. Such fun and amazing quality food, plus truly exceptional service and welcome!! Thank you for helping a mum out on her own with a 6 and 9 year old have a great night out. Memories made! A highlight was the two sorbets! 👌❤️

If I'm ever in the UK, you'll be seeing me. Always great reviews/recommendations from Daddy W on telly/radio.

We had a perfect meal, in pleasant surroundings with a great host. The menu was varied and interesting with high quality and generous portions. Sensible pricing for such quality dishes.

Last here for my mate’s 60th when we had the whole restaurant. This was just 4 of us on a quickly arranged dinner. In at 7pm, already filling up. Drinks sorted, pace was perfect. Specials checked, some temptations. I had chilli prawns for starter and...

As far as I am concerned this place is a gem --- well kept secret! Was there over a week ago with Daughter and Grandaughter and a "frend" Had Brilliant time. !! Been often with my girlfriend at lunch as well. Chrissy ----

Wonderful food. Service was slow and took forever. Maybe not enough staff. Would go back.

We had a nice meal here..or so we thought...unfortunately we were both ill afterwards......and we believe it was the scallops as we both had those......so sadly cannot give a true rating.

Great coffee, nice almond croissant. Friendly welcome and brought some water for our dog. Perfect.

It has been a long time since we last visited. Due to the pandemic. We were so pleased that it is as good as if not better than ever. Beautifully cooked, served, exceĺent menu. Great friendly service. Very highly recommended.

Delicious good and good service. Small, cozy, dining area.

Fantastic homemade Lasagne and Aubergine Parmigiana for lunch, superb taste and consistency was perfect. The Italian Connection is also perfect for that morning coffee and a pastry, look out for the freshly baked homemade scones.

Nothing really happening here. Microwave heated lasagne for a decent price. Very nice staff.

We love visiting this restaurant a small family run business with friendly attentive service and great food. Adele and her daughter wiss around the restaurant making sure everyone is happy, always with smiles despite it being full of contented diners. We can highly recommend the...

Excellent food and excellent service.

Friendly staff and willing to help you in any way.

Friendly happy owner. Good food.

Excellent, squeezed us in with no booking and gave us a proper good feed.

Amazing steak, great value top quality red wine

Tom was home, an occasion to celebrate. 4 of us went down Cold Bath for Dinner and were not disappointed. Adele made us welcome, busy Friday, a few interesting couples in - fab for people watching 😎 Service was perfect - steady and measured, no...

Every time I go to Harrogate I just have to come here for top coffee and top food. ❤️

Always a lovely evening and great food .. Adele is a fabulous host 👍🏻🥰

Superb food. Great service. Small and quirky.

Don't be put off by the exterior, this is a great restaurant with amazing food. Don't expect the standard pizza and pasta, the food is what you would find in a restaurant in Italy not an Italian in the UK. Service very good and staff were lovely.

Adelle makes this place. Lovely food and a great atmosphere. One of my favourite restaurants ever

A lovely meal as usual. One of the best restaurants in Harrogate. Give it a try. Pleasant and attentive staff. Proper family setup.

Nice enough place nice staff but food , we had the scallops as a starter very expensive for a very small portion , we had roast pork as a main it was a boiled pork haugh with a little tomato sauce on it , it...

Always a nice cosy atmosphere and fabulous food, everything is cooked fresh and you never feel rushed

Great place to eat or just have a coffee n cake (brownies are delightful) .. it's quite cold inside but the owner has a warm heart n smile👍

The Lad was across from Manchester for the post Saturnalia period. We figured somewhere for 24th. Been to the Whale’s before - Never been disappointed, tonight was the same. Early doors, no issues, superb service and relaxed. Drinks, nibbles - starters ordered, then mains. All...

Amazing food, lovely staff lovely little restaurant

Stunning evening with friends here last night. Food was absolutely amazing and faultless. Brilliant atmosphere and super-friendly staff. Cannot wait to go back

After I had climbed my way to the facilities, I reached the holy bog. It shone in prestige excellence before my eyes. I had a 10/10 sit down experience to a view onto the backstreets. I would definitely return for the facilities alone.

I’ve been coming here for a while and the food is excellent. Great service, wonderful atmosphere. Everyone is very friendly.

Stunning food , great staff , can't wait to come back 😀

Brilliant lunchtime treat, food very tasty service great and good prices. Menus for lunchtime or evening were a great range!

At last we returned to this favourite restaurant. It was great to do this. Possibly it has improved although that would be difficult. Lovely food good service and a happy atmosphere. Very highly recommended

The Italian Connection is as near as it gets to perfection ( and I am a fussy so and so) but what’s truly remarkable is that Adel & Peter have been at this level for over 22 years! Forget the formulaic shinny glamour of the glitzy high street branded restaurants with their revolving chefs and pre bought head office menus, The Italian connection are serving top quality food by an excellent chef ( Peter) in an easy, irrelevant and totally enjoyable “front room” atmosphere beautifully orchestrated by Adel, who is like a laughing swan. I’ve always left their restaurant feeling I’ve had fun and terrific food. I don’t know of any other restaurant I can say that about over 22 years. They have the magic formula. Bravo Adel & Peter, I take my hat off to you both.

Wonderful meal. Wonderful staff. Will definitely be back.

Great food, drink and very friendly service. 🥰

Great service,Fabulous food during day&evening menu.very clean worth booking!!

Delicious food and fantastic hospitality will await you at this lovely restaurant 💕 We really enjoyed our visit, the outside heater was lovely too!

Fantastic place, intimate and welcoming with good food and attentive service.

Fantastic birthday breakfast yesterday!

Incredible meal, incredible service and they go above and beyond to make sure you’re happy! Couldn’t recommend enough!

Great menu, amazing service, popular venue and metnlovely people too

Just love this place...food, service and atmosphere all great

One of the best dog friendly restaurants in Harrogate. Amazing steaks. Great for a coffee too during the day.

Just had a fantasic takeaway from them, it was one of the best. Pear and recoctta tortellini best I have ever had, ask for extra chilli. Got then to order a taxi do deliver it.

love the cozy feel, well cooked dishes and welcoming owner / staff

Great food and lovely atmosphere

Relaxed friendly place, good food and great staff Will be back.

Great food, very attentive service, nice atmosphere and all this on an extremely busy evening, well done to the waiting staff and the chef ! I would definitely recommend to anyone !!!

We have been regulars here for many years and also had a couple of private parties to celebrate family birthdays. The food is always great and the welcome is warm!

Went for dinner on Saturday evening and it was lovely. The service was spot on with a friendly welcome from both waitresses. The food is amazing as well as delicious reasonably priced wine. The star dishes for us were the pear and ricotta pasta and the duck with chilli and garlic sauce. The food and service never lets us down, looking forward to our next meal. Thanks and see you soon

Visited this restaurant last Saturday evening. We were looked after amazingly by the staff with welcoming and efficient service. The food was all freshly prepared and we didn’t feel rushed at all to be in and out quickly - even on a very busy night! The atmosphere is cosy and has a great ambiance. The pear and ricotta tortellini is amazing!! Couldn’t recommend The Italian Connection enough to anyone staying in Harrogate!!

Lovely atmosphere, great value for money. Would definitely recommend and we will be visiting again 😊

Lovely little Italian restaurant. Fitted us in as turned up on speck. Great service and lovely food selection.

We went here last night and I have been a few years ago, and other friends have recommended this restaurant. We called before hand, we were told to go in at 18.50, which we did, we were told to go back at 19.15, which we did. We got a table which was lovely and given some bread and olives, after abodut 20 minutes we had our drinks order taken, slightly longer than normal, but it was fine. We then gave our food order, after about 20 minutes, she came back and said she didn't have my starter, so I re-ordered the same as my family, another 10 minutes passed and she came and said she didn't have any of the starters, so we all had to re-order. We got our starters after being there for 1.5 hours (the table next to us came in after and were already on their mains). We had our average starters (after asking for 3 baskets of bread), and then waited another 40 minutes for our mains. The food was pretty poor. We then asked for the bill, we had been charged for all of the bread and nothing had been taken off. I went to her about how we had come for a family meal after a really sad day, to cheer us up and started to go into my reasons, she stopped me and took the wine off the bill. I would have been fine with this, but then she persisted to come to us and put it on us saying we should have come in earlier and she would have made sure that everything was perfect, I explained that we did, but it was like she was blaming us. I never write bad reviews, but I am so upset and disappointed that on such a sad day we were made to feel like this. I shall never return here and I will always remember just how we were treated.

Excellent food and very good service in this small & comfortable restaurant. Still reasonably easy to park in this upcoming area of Harrogate.

It was a horrible night but the welcome was very warm and we were quickly shown to our table and made comfortable. The menu is interesting with lots of daily specials and good deals on different evenings. There is a wide choice: not simply Italian. The food was well prepared, well presented and very enjoyable. The staff are very helpful and efficient. If you’re looking for pizzas or garlic bread this is not the place for you but if you want an excellent meal in a warm and comfy local restaurant then I would highly recommend. Prices are reasonable and it is obviously very popular with locals which tells you all you need to know.

We have been coming here for years and we love it . The food is amazing . We have never been disappointed with anything we have had . The steaks ,the scallops, the spaghetti, the sea bass the yummy puddings and those potatoes are to die for ! The lady who runs it is just lovely and the service is top notch . The red house wine is delicious and finish off with a lemoncello, perfect Friday evening. Thank you Ps breakfast almond croissants with a latte . Perfect start to anyone's day .

I've eaten here a few times & every time has been amazing! The chef really knows how to cook a steak to perfection! Always had very tasty food and lovely staff! Thanks guys!

No matter how hard we try to stick to the Special deal menu (which is really good value) we always end up veering off track and doubling our bill!! The food is tasty and the choices are good. Adele is a great front of house and is always happy to accommodate menu requests and offer suggestions. The pear and cheese tortellini is still a winner!

Food is very tasty, wine is excellent and lovely service from the wonderful Adele, highly recommend!

Wonderful homely café style restaurant. The smoked chicken salad was delicious

We visited this place for the 1st time. It was madly busy when we arrived. Adele and another server were working the tables. Adele is amazing jumping from one table to another with orders delivering meals etc. I dont know how she does it! I started with a very fine Lobster Ravioli. The pasta and sauce were sublime and i wished id chosen it for main course. I had duck with orange sauce which i felt was slightly meagre on the portion size for the price of £15.95. We also had bruscetta and chicken breast with mushroom sauce. The prawns in garlic were rather messy and difficult to manage. A lovely meal where the service should be commended.

Lovely pasta, just perfect quality fresh food.

Amazing for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Adele and her husband do an amazing job and the food is outstanding!