Fratelli Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in England

Edit March 2025:

Sorry to echo another recent review, this place has gone downhill massively and stil expensive. Not sure if a change in owners, managers but seems like it.

We used to love Fratellis and have been customers for 5 years, we had our first date here, became a favourite of ours and even got engaged here as it held special romantic memories. The food used to be good, the service impeccable.

Now, we visited today and it was a world apart from what I remember. The staff clearly fairly new and inexperienced, pusbed me heavy for more feedback on the pizza, when i asked if they changed chef they said yes, i clearly said i didnt like it but they kept pushing and although nice but we were sat at a table which was tiny for 4 people and right next to the bar which means you can overhear staff conversations awkwardly, plus it's used as a walkway for all people and it's not a nice place to sit.

The food quality, taste, ingredients are all worse and the chefs which I'm sure have probably changed a few times over the years are no where near as good as they used to be.

The garlic dough balls, were a favourite, today they were completely different to how they used to be. Much much fewer of them, completely different shape, consistency being rock hard and had no garlic to them, served with a butter that just have looked at garlic no taste at all. Just a basic mini bread roll. They used to ooze garlic, soft to the touch and uniformly round with lots more on the plate.

The calamari, soggy not crisp or crunchy coating and very rubbery to eat.

The carbonara, today was drenched in cream, completely different to how it used to be, far too much.

The Pizzas were almost burnt, far too many black spots from the oven, all I could taste was burnt dough. For the ingredients added to the top, it was essentially tasteless except the burnt bits.

Still hugely costly, roughly £110+ and they include a 10% service charge, which is so wrong especially on tables of fewer people.

Sorry to say, but after 5 years, we won't be returning to what was once a highlight and special place to dine at.

Everything felt like costs have been cut at the expense of quality and experience, these high prices can not be justified by such poor food. So sad to see another once great restaurant fall by the wayside.

Too costly to say we'll give it another try, to make it worse the guest who had the prawns has been unwell since getting home last night. Original 2020:

Lovely restaurant, came on a date with my lady friend and we both loved it. The food is wonderful, authentic and delicious. We had the best dough balls and pizza I've had outside of italy here!

The staff are attentive and genuinely caring, the prices are very reasonable for the quality of evening you'll enjoy. We even had drinks bought for us by a lovely older gentleman at the table next to us, who happened to be a co-owner or investor in Fratelli, we was kind and enjoyed having people have a great time in the establishment.

Very cosy and almost feels like a private dining experience the way the layout is done, the only reason it's not 5* review is that parking is limited as it's in an old village. However there is parking on the street outside, usually best if you're not going on a friday or Saturday...

My wife and I came here for dinner whilst on a weekend away and despite the food which we cannot have faulted, the seating, atmosphere and conversations overheard from the staff massively let it down. Firstly, the restaurant is very small, it looks lovely and the interior is decorated really nicely but there are a couple of tables which have definitely been squeezed in to try and get extra covers. If we had been seated in the main restaurant area, I don't think we would have had such a negative experience, but we were seated on one of two tables directly next to the bar in an area of it's own, with people constantly walking back and forth past our table. There is also another tall table on it's own, directly outside the toilets, with both bar stalls facing out. If we had of been seated here for a booking we would have left the restaurant - it's not the type of table you want to sit at for a very expensive meal.

The one-on-one service we received at our table was fine, the waitresses were polite but unfortunately if you are going to have tables situated right next to the bar which is also the place staff congregate in between serving tables, the conversations need to be kept professional as we could hear absolutely everything. The guy behind the bar was moaning about the music playlist, and it felt like we were sat in the middle of their common room with waitresses constantly standing around by our table waiting for drinks to be made.

The table in front of us (a family of 3) left cash on the table after receiving their bill. When who I assume was the manager (dressed in normal clothes, managing the bookings) took the cash to the till, he moaned about the tip or lack of tip that was left and said "Are you joking me?" to the barman. The restaurant is expensive, and taking your family out for dinner can be something that many people are not privileged enough to do. You cannot assume that everybody can afford to tip, and quite frankly the service is not worth tipping. We heard everything he said, making us feel very pressured to tip and he made no effort to be quiet when moaning about the customers.

A further table complained about their food, and the manager and a few of the staff members stood around the bar had a full conversation about it - slagging the customer off and moaning about the fact she had sent her food back, laughing and not taking it seriously. The restaurant itself clearly puts itself on the higher end range, with a more expensive price point, but the atmosphere and service does not reflect this.

The saving grace of our meal was the food which we thoroughly enjoyed, but you aren't just paying the for food, as a customer you are paying for the experience of eating out. We were also put in the awkward position of a service charge being added to the bill which I would have usually asked to remove after an experience like the one we had, but after overhearing the manager himself make a comment about the table in front of us not leaving a good enough tip I felt too uncomfortable to say anything.

Would recommend a takeaway...

Frateli messed up my booking for my husband's birthday dinner. Booked for 7pm for 9 people on 4th Nov. I called 2 weeks in advance to confirm and advise of large table as directed on their website. I Confirmed 9 people at 7pm with Anthony, he was reluctant at first because of the numbers but I informed him that we had been so many times before and he agreed our booking. We arrived on the night and at 6.55pm to be told by the manager that the system said I'd booked it for 9pm and was adamant the system was right! He was a little rude and wouldn't accept there was a problem their side, not great customer service! The email confirmation even had the wrong time and numbers on it. Why would I book so late with a child in the group? It's obvious they've changed the booking for 9pm an wouldnt admit it. We had to go home, order pizza because my child was very hungry and I'm not going to make her wait till 9pm to eat or our guests! Although not a total disaster, not what we had in mind for my husband's birthday celebration. I had to cancel the booking which I did 10 mins after we got home but was concerned they'd charge my credit card because of their 48hr cancellation condition. They in fact made a charged to my card, even though the manager said they probably wouldn’t, great customer service NOT! Such a shame, as it's a nice restaurant normally and in the past we have enjoyed it many times with our friends. I will NEVER return to Frateli, Woburn or any other restaurant they own and I will inform my friends too, they’ve lost £££££ because of the way we were treated and that’s on them! No, apology when I called to query why they charged my card after telling me they wouldn’t - extremely bad...