La Piazza Antica — Restaurant in England

I would rate this restaurant 10 if I could!! This restaurant is absolutely beautiful with the most lovely staff! The food was incredible and the staff were all so kind, going the extra mile at every opportunity. I always find service adds greatly to the experience and how much you enjoy the meal and we were very pleased by the care the waiters showed. We showed up early to our reservation and the staff welcomed us in even before opening, which we weren’t expecting. They were attentive and personable making the experience all the better. The waiters were such large characters with the best manners. We loved all the food we had (the carbonara being especially tasty). The menu was extensive with plenty of choices available. Our meals were served quickly and had beautiful presentation. The carbonara was perfect; I often find carbonara can be too rich but this one was the perfect balance! The lasagne had a gorgeous sauce and was again stunning. We also had desserts which were wonderful also! The meal overall was very good value especially given the exceptional quality and the prices were reasonable - particularly for York. Also, it’s notable that there was no service charge added to the bill. I always appreciate this as I don’t care for being pressured to add a tip - especially since they are often added when the service isn’t exceptional. However, with the incredible service we received we did choose to leave a tip. The atmosphere was amazing and was not loud, crowded or dark. It should also be noted that period products were provided in the women’s toilets, something simple but something to be appreciated by anyone who may need one. It’s sadly not the standard in most places but it’s little things like that which give the extra touch showing how the staff care and take great consideration to the comfort of their customers. I’d recommend it to anyone and it will be my go to spot for a day out in York!!! I echo again that I only wish I could rate the place higher but sadly 5 is...

Staff were unfriendly. There was nobody sat in the restaurant when we walked in for lunch but had to wait to be seated. When we were the table was pointed to us. We sat for 15 plus minutes before the waiter came over to take our order. We were not even offered a drink we had to ask when we ordered our meal. It took another 10 minutes to bring two cans of coke to the table. And the bill was left on the table before anything had been served.

The starters were brought 5 minutes apart and I think they forgot to put the garlic on the garlic bread.

The staff were unwelcoming and stood in the middle of the restaurant shouting to the staff in the kitchen. When the food came it was a disappointment. It was very bland. No one came over to the table to check everything was ok or offer us another drink. It took several attempts to get someone's attention to ask for another drink each which they were in no rush to get. And when it came to paying the bill the staff despite noticing 4 times that we were ready to pay decided that checking his mobile phone was more important than a paying customer. Very disappointed and definitely would not return...

We stepped into the restaurant to be greeted by really friendly waitress. They accommodated our walk in for 2 request on a busy Saturday night so it was a great start.

The Buratta with avocado and tomato to start was perfect. Shared between the 2 of us.

The pasta was lovely.

I ordered the 8oz fillet steak as medium-rare. It came cooked nicely on the outside. The inside was honestly raw. It was “blue” on the scale of cooked steak at best.

I ate through as much as possible. Didn’t particularly want to make a fuss. When the waitress came to clear up, she asked how things were.. I replied it was all fine thank you. She noticed I wasn’t ecstatic but I didn’t make any further comment.

When the manageress later returned to take payment, she insisted on receiving any feedback. At this point I did let her know the steak was a bit under cooked for my liking but no big deal…her response was to thank me for the feedback and let me know that “next time, maybe you should order medium instead of medium rare 🫠”.

Other than the blue steak and the sarcy comment I thought it was a really nice atmosphere inside with charm...