The best restaurants serving Italian food in Sefton North West

Tasty food but awful service. Such a disappointment. This place has been brilliant in the past but while the food is still lovely the place is let down by the service. It’s totally chaotic. There doesn’t appear to be any organisation up front. Firstly they were completely overbooked. They squeezed 11 of us onto a table for 6 for the first 20 minutes. But at least we got a table. A few people turned up after us with reservations but basically had to leave because there was no space. It only went downhill from there. Drinks came out one at a time with several reminders that we were missing some. Bizarrely they then chose to serve all the adults food first before the kids meals with the kids just getting restless and hungry. At least the food was tasty. Finally I would just not bother ordering dessert if you do go. 20 minutes to get someone’s attention to order and then at least 25 more minutes to get the kids bowls of ice cream out (which we were charged full price for when they should’ve been included in the kids meal price). Our waitress was friendly throughout but clearly overwhelmed. We tried to flag her down several times to ask for an update as the little ones were now getting beyond bored and very tired. She was busying herself on the opposite side of the quite small restaurant and appeared to be purposely not looking over at us as I think she was just embarrassed by how long things were taking. Multiple other staff just faffing near the tills and no one even trying to clear our table from the main course or update us on our order. The lack of communication just added to our poor experience. It’s such a shame for a previously great place. I’ve heard from other people who have found the service similar when they went. Someone told me they waited 1 hour for their desserts and bill when they went and again saw the staff turning away multiple people looking for a table while they sat waiting. They must not want people’s business. Certainly for my party the tasty food just isn’t worth the sheer frustration of the service and we won’t be back.

First time visiting so not sure what to expect, we got 2 slices of pizza and nachos, I got meat feast, wife got chicken & sweetcorn (with added onion) nachos arrived first followed by the pizza. Slices were about 1/3 of a XL at a certain ‘spot pizza delivery’ served with dips as well. Drinks were a bottle of zero San Miguel (only zero beer they had, but it’s one of the nicer ones) and 2x187ml wine. All came to £25 so not too expensive for Southport and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We sat outside on a glorious Wednesday evening. Well recommended.

We had a family party at my home for my Mum's birthday and ordered a few platters of sandwiches and grazing meats. We were so impressed with the variety of food we were given, the quantity and the superb presentation. The scotch eggs are amazing! It was so easy to lay the platters onto the table and let our guests dig in. There were lots of oohs and aahs and very little wastage as everything was so delicious. I can't recommend these caterers enough. They are now my go to place for future occasions.

Food was delicious, lovely place, great friendly service from our waiter Elliot, nothing was too much trouble for him Would recommend

Best restaurant in southport for Italian needs. I had the pizza and was by far best pizza Ive ever had. Girlfriend had pasta and that was 10/10… will definitely be coming back here

Pasta 51 Express was fabulous ! Freshly cooked Italian food in a market environment. Southport market is made up of a myriad of kitchens with central seating and a huge affordable bar in the centre . Can’t rave enough about the freshly cooked spaghetti bolognaise at Pasta 51 Express. What a hidden gem the whole market is and so competively priced! Well done Southport .

Everything was great! We had pizza and pasta and the prices are decent. The food was really good and we will definitely be back.

A very charming evening. The staff created a wonderfully warm atmosphere for our family occasion. The food was of a high quality. Thoroughly recommend.

Absolutely wonderful Italian restaurant, the food is amazing as well as a large choice of wines from Italy. Higher commended.

The food was nice, but to wait an hour and a half for starters is unacceptable.

A good place to visit for a chat and drink.

Shut & doesn’t look like the pictures so no idea what it’s like. Suggest you drive by before deciding as I cannot say it’s still in business

Good food wine menu polite staff good service

Thanks guys for brilliant food and great service whist we’ve been back home for a few months. One of our favourite restaurant in Southport and the food is so good. Been coming here since it opened and we have never had a bad meal. All the staff are so pleasant and very attentive. Look forward to returning November for a few months again. We’ve missed la Tabella a lot especially Friday nights . Thanks guys

Really nice place staff brilliant good beer /food