Primavera Ristorante — Restaurant in Cheltenham

Very average food and service. Not a place I would revisit or recommend. Edit: In reply to the owners comments: I am part Italian and have lived in Italy, so I am well acquainted with what quality Italian food tastes like. Your suggestion that I consistently rate restaurants poorly is inaccurate; I’ve rated others in the same price bracket as yours more favorably simply because their food was better.

Since you requested more detail, here it is: The calamari was clearly frozen, out of a packet, heavily battered, and oddly paired with sweet chilli sauce, an unusual choice for a dish that’s supposedly Italian.

We both had the Linguine Marinara and both dishes only contained just one prawn and a single piece of calamari. The taste was adequate but unremarkable The portion of seafood was very disappointing and far less than what what I am used to being served in other Italian restaurants.

Regarding service, the waitress was noticeably unfriendly and disengaged. It felt transactional, with little warmth or effort to make diners feel welcome.

Your defensive response to my original review does your establishment no favours. Rather than take feedback on board, you’ve chosen to undermine a customer’s experience. That says more about your attitude toward improvement than any dish ever could.

Edit, I will reply once again:

I stand by my review, which reflects my genuine experience at this restaurant. I find it disappointing that rather than engaging constructively with feedback, the owner has chosen to make personal assumptions about my character, dining preferences, and even my relationship. That’s not only inappropriate it’s highly unprofessional.

The fact that they insist I didn’t receive the portion I described, despite both dishes being identical and underwhelming, suggests a refusal to acknowledge valid criticism. The owner highlighting the price of a prawn only underscores how little seafood was actually served in the dish. If the portions were generous, there would be no need to justify them and the dish would be improved.

As for the calamari, pairing it with sweet chilli sauce may be your house style, but it’s not remotely Italian and I wasn’t offered an alternative.

I’ve also noticed a pattern in the owners responses to other customers who left reviews 3 stars and lower both here and on TripAdvisor (3 stars is not a bad review simply average).

Rather than accepting feedback, often responding with defensiveness and personal remarks. That approach is unprofessional and does little to inspire confidence in your willingness to improve.

I have learnt that the waitress who served me is the owner, which makes the lack of hospitality and professionalism all the more...

Amongst the usual restaurant chains in this part of Cheltenham, it was wonderful to find this family run restaurant which didn't fail to impress.

First the accessibility issue, my wife is in a wheelchair. Two steps up to get into the restaurant and the toilets a located up the first flight of stairs. Not at all accessibility friendly which is a real shame, otherwise this would definitely be a 5 star review.

I'm assuming this restaurant is located in a converted town house and it certainly has that cozy, intimate, romantic atmosphere to it.

We were greeted by our host and shown to our table. She was very helpful in taking coats and helping with the practicalities of having a wheelchair. My wife was able to transfer to a normal dinning chair which was padded and comfortable, unlike so many establishments with the hard wooden variety of chair.

The menu has a great selection and we asked our host for her recommendations. The wine was nicely chilled, the food was served hot. The restaurant wasn't at its busiest and we didn't have to wait long. The food was fresh and flavoursome with good size portions.

We indulged in a shot of Limonchello each to end, reminding us of dining out in Italy.

If we find ourselves in Cheltenham again, we would have no hesitation in...

This is the worst restaurant I have ever been to in Cheltenham! My fiance and I travelled here from London on other business and decided to try it. The prices were similar to London but the quantity and quality were awful. When we arrived at 6pm in the evening we were the only ones there and it stayed that way even as we left. My fiance ordered a steak which was not the best quality and arrived simply as meat on a plate. There was literally nothing else. Any vegetables, sauces etc had to be ordered extra. Due to limited vegetarian choice I ordered pasta pomodoro. The pasta was way overdone (you could barely pick it up with a fork as it fell apart) and the sauce was extremely bland with no herby or even tomato flavour. It was also very watery. It tasted like the tomato sauce you get in the cheapest supermarket-own tins. I couldn't even eat half of my 'meal'. I wouldn't be surprised if this restaurant was no longer open for business the next time we travel...