The best restaurants serving Italian food in England

Managed to book a table at very short notice for a group of dance kids and mams inbetween shows at the arc. There was 17 of us and they even accommodated adding a few more very last minute. The boss couldn’t have been more accommodating! We agreed to pre order to speed things up as we only had an hour before we have to be back. Everything was great, the service, food, politeness of staff. Someone said the lasagne was the best they had ever had. Thank you so much, cannot reccommend Borges enough!

Sadly this restaurant has gone downhill. The businesses either side have closed down and Bella Italia is looking shabby with wall paper torn off and unclean booths. We decided to ignore this and order lunch, there was hardly anyone else eating when we arrived. We ordered a pizza without cheese, the server punched the details into the iPad and read the order back to us but when this arrived it had cheese on it. By now several other diners had arrived and the server was dealing with them. When l was able to get his attention he checked and said he had placed the order correctly but the fault was with the kitchen. We were offered to have another cooked but we declined as the kitchen was busy and we were on a deadline. We paid the bill and were charged half for the pizza despite leaving it.. We will not return!

Gio's sourdough pizzas are absolutely delicious. The best I've had. And the staff were extremely lovely and kind. Would recommend this restaurant any day.

El servicio fue pésimo, peor imposible. Fui con mi familia, la comida no hay como describirla grasienta, de supermercado, el menú infantil, me lo cobraron y solo le trajeron al menor un plato, cuando deberian traer 3 y aun por encima no cobrarlo porque tienen una oferta y lo peor a la hora de pagar me cobraron la propina 2 veces. En resumidas cuentas nada recomendable, pésimo en trato y calidad y aún por encima caro, muy caro para lo que sirven. Id a cualquier sitio menos aquí Es local de Paddington Ahhhh!!!! Se me olvidaba y la limpieza, inexistente, vimos como limpiaban y no limpiaban...

We have a caravan at northwood caravan park and tiggis is just next door, so had to sample their food. Absolutely wonderful. Had the 2 course table d'hote menu, which was fantastic but far too much food. Will go for one meal from the a la carte menu next time.

Went for dinner on Saturday night, myself and my wife. The one thing that gets my goat is when both dishes aren't served together, my wife's main dish came out before my own and she had to wait for my pizza to arrive. Its not hard people to get this right especially when there is only two people to serve. My wife's dish was lovely she said, my pizza was a little well cooked on the base for my liking. I would have like to have a pizza cutting wheel instead of making do with a next to blunt knife. But apart from the above not a bad experience, the place is nice inside and the staff very helpful.

Really disappointed with the service, went in for a meal and only two other tables occupied at the time, we were asked for our drinks order, this then took nearly 10 minutes to materialise whilst staff chatting behind the bar. We then thought as drinks came over we could order our meal but the server dived off to greet other customers arriving. Another 2 parties arrived and half an hour later we were still waiting to have our food order taken. In the meantime the other parties that had come in had been served food! There was no apology for delay the entire time we were there and sadly, although the food was good, I won't be back again.

The employee providing the service is not welcoming.

Pathetic. I've been here a few times but I'm sorry to say that standards are slipping. Service is slow and the place is not as clean or tidy as it used to be. To make matters worse, prices have gone up while portion sizes have gone down. Noticeably. £17 for a burger that's smaller than a big mac? Seriously?

Not as authentic as it purports to be. Sauce on the pasta was sparse and quite bland, the veal tough and bland and the tiramisu looked as though it had been splashed on the plate from a great height. On the positives the lasagne was tasty as was the carbonara. Little ambiance about the place with bright lighting and no sense of Italy anywhere. The young staff were pleasant and attentive but couldn’t pronounce their own dishes correctly which contributed to the sense that is was as authentic as a cockney in a kilt. My nonna (grandma) would have been unimpressed.

My experience was very bad. In view of my trip to London, I learned about this Italian restaurant that was broadcasting the Napoli match. The idea seemed very nice to me and I booked a table MORE THAN A MONTH BEFORE via their Google form to watch the Napoli - Lazio Italian Cup match on 5 December. When I arrived at the restaurant at the appointed time, I was informed that my reservation had been canceled WITHOUT ANY NOTICE: NO EMAIL, NO MESSAGE, NOTHING. The staff not only did not apologize for the inconvenience created, but also had an arrogant and pedantic attitude, trying to justify their mistake instead of finding a solution or coming to our aid. The lack of professionalism and respect towards customers was evident. I absolutely do not recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a reliable place and a minimum of courtesy.

Thank you italian farmhouse managers and staff. What an outstanding service I have had. I hired italian farmhouse for my daughters birthday and from start to finish the service I received was amazing. I was unsure of what I wanted and kept swapping and changing my mind not once was I made to feel this was an issue,I just in the end decided I wanted something basic and simple like sausage rolls, wedges, sandwiches. I got this with the fun element for kids making their own pizza! They loved it and went down a treat! I have a niece who I didnt inform had a nut allergy ( my bad ) they were prepared to clean all surfaces allow us to check ingredients and make something for her but understandably said whilst they would do their best they couldn't guarantee so we declined and they allowed us to order in a pizza, this obviously is someones business but I feel to do this they want more than just money they want to give and make customers feel valued and welcome I was so impressed. Staff constantly checked everything was ok, constantly asked if anything else was needed they were prompt in bringing out food and keeping the area clean and tidy, nothing at all seemed to be a bother to them. I also had a courtesy call making sure all had went ok as I'd changed my mind that many times. Thank you so much italian farmhouse for an amazing memory for my little girl. We will most definitely be becoming regulars!

2nd visit for lunch. 1st visit I had the butter chicken baked potato. This time I tried a sandwich. Hard to choose but went for the ham hock cheese and pickle. Bread super soft, ham good qualify and plenty of filling. Came with fries which were very hot and crispy. Quick and friendly service. Will definitely be going back to try something else. Can't rate this place high enough.

Sarcastic and very slow service - one of our party asked for pineapple on his pizza which was advertised on their menu and was bombarded with criticism and sarcastic snatching away of his menu; he obviously thinks he’s a great dramatic actor but no it came across as nasty and embarrassing. Food came, meat all pasta was basically tasteless and whilst the pizza topping tasted good the base tasted like pastry (tasteless). We were going to order dessert until we’d waited 20 minutes after being given the menu for the waiter to return and they never did so we paid and left. Afterwards I looked this place up on Food Standards and was shocked to see it is GRADED 1 STAR FOR FOOD HYGIENE!!! We will never return.

Bizarre customer service... We enjoyed excellent meals at Portofino New Brighton, over several months, but on this occasion we have have been put off from going there again. On the plus side, the food quality is normally excellent , and on most visits staff were attentive and helpful, but one of the young Italian waiters is unfortunately not good at English, and this impacts on service; he often has to refer questions to his manager, because he doesn't understand them. He doesn't even understand some basic restaurant terms, such as 'gluten' On this latest occasion though, it was the manager who took our food orders; his English is good, but the Sea Bass my partner ordered, came with a completely unrecognisable sauce, not one described on the menu. She also suspected that the sea bass was mackerel (or another different fish). When my partner questioned him, he was adamant that it was sea bass, but bizarrely said that "we sometimes change the sauces". Er, no....I thought, restaurants do not "change sauces" without discussion with the customer. The manager also offered to go to the kitchen to discuss the matter with the chef and he would " come back shortly" But he didn't return. At all, ever..... He hadn't left the restaurant because we saw him chatting to other customers at the bar, on our way out. At the same sitting, I was given Ravioli in a rather sickly cream sauce, instead of the Canneloni dish which I had ordered. I didn't complain because we had already questioned my partners dish, so I just eat the meal, which I didn't enjoy. So this restaurant has lost 2 regular customers due to what appeared to be odd, bizarre behaviour by the manager. I notice that Portofino, New Brighton, don't respond to any of these reviews; They obviously don't care, not interested. They should be . If you go there, be careful that the staff have properly understood your order, and reject it if it isn't exactly what you ordered , is my advice.