Carluccio's — Restaurant in England

Visited at lunch on 29th April 2023.

We had not been to Cribbs Causeway in years and had not been to a Carluccio's for years too. Decided to have lunch at Carluccio's.

A very pleasant, Italian host (the gentleman with dark hair) greeted us. We had the option to choose where we would like to be seated as it was not very busy when we entered.

Waitress, Sofia was very lovely. Though the restaurant does cater for gluten and dairy intolerances/allergies, which is very much appreciated as they have quite a lot of options, Sofia was very aware of what could be served without having to consult the kitchen. As Sofia mentioned that she is Coeliac, I guess she could empathise with me as it is not a choice to avoid gluten and dairy. Sofia clearly takes pride in her customer service. It was a pleasure to have such a lovely, polite waitress.

The only negative regarding the food would be, Carluccio's should have a better range of desserts for gluten and dairy intolerance instead of just having sorbet as an option. Sometimes, we would like to have something more substantial like a tart or a slice of cake and in this day and age it should not just be a sorbet on offer. Saying this, Carluccio's is not the only restuarant who has this problem when it comes to desserts for people who can't eat both dairy and gluten but seeing that the rest of the menu is quite good for people with these intolerances, the desserts, let me down. However, the great customer service received and the tasty food that all 3 of us enjoyed, are reasons to return.

Have to add that some of the seating does need repairs as the rips in the leather/fabric is not very attractive looking when being shown to a table with rips in the seat. I do not know if this is an issue that Cribbs Causeway Maintenance/management should deal with, but it would be...

A disappointing first visit to carluccios. We popped in for a quick lunch, sat at 11:40 and was happy to wait to order food at midday. We ordered drinks (one coffee, one coke) and it took 25 minutes to arrive. Even after seeing another table receive theirs who ordered after. Shortly after drinks we ordered food, I ordered the chicken milanese burger and my partner the spicy sausage pasta with tomato sauce. Food came rather quickly! However, pretty average, my partners dish with hardly any sauce - it just looked like plain pasta with sausage. My burger was OK, however half way through found quite a big bone, quite odd after googling this should be a flat fillet… either way - these things happen. Our waitress was quite quiet but seemed friendly, however did not have a check back on our meal. When being cleared picked up the bone and popped it on the plate without comment… I did then mention before she walked away that this was in my burger. Not really acknowledged and didn’t see further comment to the manager. Asked for the bill which was given promptly, but was then left sat there for a while waiting for payment so we went up to another waitress to pay ourselves. Not ideal service considering the wait was noticed PLUS the bone in food… Not sure if service is included and wasn’t put on as a reflection on the bill but we had no further comment or a...

We visited on a Saturday. If you want lunch orders are only taken from 12:00 noon onwards. We were served by Ida, who was helpful and charming. We nibbled on olives and the bread selection with olive oil and a little balsamic. I was a little disappointed that the mixed olives only contained about 4 black olives but not that big a deal. I ordered the tuna steak, seared, no more than a minute either side. What I received, strongly resembled a piece of shoe leather. Ever the optomist I cut into it, just in case, beige coloured throughout. I explained to the server that I'd asked for my tuna steak to be seared and that this was over cooked. He duly took it away, returning 10 minutes later with exactly the same piece of tuna but even more over cooked! I politely explained, yet again, that this was not what I ordered and could I please have the seared steak that I'd asked for. Another 10 minutes elapsed and another tuna steak was brought to the table by a manager. This time it was perfect, but what a faff to get something edible. My husband ordered the mushroom risotto and paid extra for truffle to be added. He couldn't spot any shavings on top and asked our server if the truffle had been forgotten. Apparently the truffle was included in the parmesan crisp. Very disappointed, especially after having had several excellent lunches in the Leamington Spa...