Prezzo Italian Restaurant York Clifford Street — Restaurant in England

Yesterday 22nd March, I was sitting at a table in Prezzo; we had booked a table for seven family members. I was very disappointed they couldn't or wouldn't allow us to add an eighth family member to our party. Our party included my 80 y.o. husband and our two adult children - our son, his wife and our two grandsons aged 10 and 8. My daughter made up the seventh and she had called the restaurant, the day before, and asked if we could add another guest. It was her husband (he was unable to join us at the time of booking as he works abroad but came home earlier than expected). Despite pleading with the manager she would not budge. I then rang in the evening but to no avail, my daughter said it was the same person she had spoken to. The reason given was that there were already two large parties booked in. The excuse given was because of the 'pressure on the kitchen', and there was simply no room to add an eight person. A table of eight, apparently, was too much for them to cope with. I suggested we have two tables of four. The manager's response was as they were really busy, we could have one table upstairs and one table downstairs. This was utterly bizarre and a deliberate and stubborn attempt to not to acquiesce to our request. On our arrival we were shown to our table. I could not believe my eyes. There was room for another table at the end of our table. Please see photo, my husband has his back to the camera. The seating is fixed to a wall, and where I was sitting, there was more than enough room for my son-in-law. Plus, there were so many empty tables! These tables were not occupied throughout our two hour stay (3.30 - 5.30)! I took many photos over the two hours, and those tables remained empty. I asked one of the staff members that, if we had walked in with an extra person, would that person have been accommodated, and 'the response was absolutely, 'yes'. I then told the staff member about the suggestion the previous night re 'a table for four upstairs and one downstairs' comment, and he apologised. Shockingly, from my seat, over the two hours, I could see potential customers looking at the menu in the window. When these potential customers entered Prezzo, the lady manager (black jacket, grey trousers) farcically looked on her screen and turned 32 people away!! Yes I counted them all! They were mostly couples, including one young man with a toddler, two ladies with a pram and a toddler (I counted).All these people were turned away by the manager. As we were leaving at 5.30pm and the evening began, a young couple was allowed in, the next couple not, and so on. As evidenced by my photos, the first one shows the end of our table as we were about to leave and all the space available. The table under the window was empty the entire two hours. One of the photos shows my husband's back in the distance and the available space. As an aside, when my daughter and I both rang the previous day to add my son-in-law, the manager's excuse was they already had bookings for 'two large groups' when these these 'large' groups arrived, seven people at 16.45 followed by four people, then as we left at 5.30, another group of 6 arrived. Presumably these were the two large parties the manager had referred to. These two groups did not impact our time there at all as we were leaving. A very mean and petty act in not allowing us to add our son-in-law on a special family occasion. If the manager's response is that it was busy upstairs, then it's a LIE, there was no activity on those stairs for the two hours we were there, our table was alongside the stairs. What a shocking way to run a business. There were five servers downstairs, doing what? Incidentally, we had to wait far too long for our food. Also, I needed to ask a staff member to replenish the toilet tissue in the ladies, and the entire floor was wet! We will never return - our afternoon totally spoilt by this mean act. Some people are just not suited to working in the hospitality industry. Finally, I did have a chat with one of the servers - which I will pass on to...

My wife bought me a Gift Experience Voucher for Christmas (An Activity Superstore Voucher from Next for Italian Dining Experience for Two) and we decided to put it to use this week.

On further inspection of the voucher and the accompanying email I noticed it said set menu, so due to the fact that my wife doesnt like her food too spicy, I gave the Prezzo on Clifford Street in York a phone call to check what this "set menu" consisted of. I was told that some of the gift vouchers do have set menus, but the one I had, the manager said it was fine to order any items of the A La Carte menu. I also booked a table whilst on the phone. Great I thought.

My wife and I had a look at the menus online and we both (after some to ing and fro ing) decided on our starters, mains, desserts and drinks. On entry to the Prezzo, we were greeted by (I presume) the manager as he was not dressed in any particular Prezzo uniform just a shirt and jeans. He did look just like one of the other diners to be honest.

Anyway he looked around for a table for two, and we had to literally squeeze between two other sets of couples who were already seated. We were given our menus and we took a look at them.

Around five minutes later, one of the waitresses approached and asked if we wanted to order drinks. As the drinks were included with our voucher, I gave her it and told her that we had a gift voucher. She immediately looked crest fallen and told us to wait, and she disappeared.

She reappeared some ten minutes or so later, snatched the menus from us, and gave us other menus, the "set menu" that was printed on an A4 sheet of paper. She then pointed to the top of the menu where it told us what drinks we could choose from. We both went for a Pepsi.

As we had already decided before we arrived what meals we were planning on having, we were now having to decide all over again, this time from a very smaller selection, most of which contained chilli, which my wife wouldnt be able to eat.

Not even a plain spaghetti bolognaise

So out went the calamari fro starters and lobster and prawn linguine instead we both went fro giant meatballs in tomato sauce, my wife went for a plain pizza, and i had some pasta dish. I went for the panacotta for dessert and my wife wanted hot fudge pudding.

The starters came and were very good. Basic but good. Nothing too fancy.

The main courses were again good, but basic. The pizza was quite large for one person, but the main problem was the crust. It was very hard to cut. The pizza overall was good, but Ive had better from a takeway. The pasta again was tasty but only slightly average.

As we were then waiting for desserts, the waitress informed my wife that they were out of Hot fudge pudding, and suggested instead she should have the "chocolate dome". Which when it came consisted of what looked like a half tennis bowl sprayed gold and plonked on top of a bit of chocolate cake.

Overall our experience at Prezzo was average. I wouldnt say I would go back, especially paying the over inflated prices for "average" food. The service was adequate although I got the feeling from the waiteress that as soon as we said we had a gift voucher and no monies were exchanging hands that she thought a tip was out of the question.

I would give Prezzo 3 out of 5 - there are better places to go...

(Visited September 2024) After a previous meal, I won 40% off the next visit and so came here for tea with a friend. The Saltimbocca Chicken Sage (chicken, prosciutto and sage, potato and cabbage) was a fairly hearty meal- about as good as a chain gets, really.

-- (Visited May 2024) My friend and I came for tea here as- to our surprise- Tastecard can be used on a Bank Holiday!

I ordered the Pea & Goat’s Cheese Ravioli: a slightly tarte and creamy pasta dish- very enjoyable.

Service was pleasant.

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(Visited Jun 2019) My family and I came here on Father’s Day: it was one of the only places that accepted tastecard. Our previous visit to a Prezzo was a bit of a let-down, but this time around we were all far more impressed!

I ordered the roasted salmon fillet: this already comes with vegetables, but you also get to choose a side. I wasn’t quite sure what to go for, but I’d recommend paying the extra 25p for the fries infused with truffle oil and shavings of cheese. Although chips and veg is a bit of an odd combo, they were lush!

For dessert, I went for the Salted Caramel Chocolate tart. I enjoyed it, but a bit more caramel sauce wouldn’t have gone amiss. My dad and brother got the Chocolate Brownie Dome which was an interesting and tasty-looking pudding. My Mam would have got the Honeycomb Smash Cheesecake, but there was none left.

Service was prompt and friendly. We were very pleased, especially at the...