Villa Bianca — Restaurant in England

Surprised to say this was my worst experience eating out at a restaurant ever. First date night since lockdown and since having our baby who is 6 months old. We were so excited for him to try Italian food for the first time. 8:30pm booking. No greeting at the door, had to make our own way to a table at the back near the toilets. After 20 mins had still not ordered anything. Asked for a high chair for the baby several times but were never given one. After about half an hour asked to order to which we were told we couldn’t, the kitchen was busy and everyone else was eating (?) finally ordered and received our starters at about 10pm by which time our baby had fallen asleep. Starters were mediocre at best with dry bagged side salad from Tesco. By 10:30 we still had no mains so asked for the bill and to take the food away with us. Thought we might have been offered the wine on the house or at least an apology but nothing so we refused to pay the whole bill. Staff did not care or understand why we were upset let alone apologise. Instead they argued with us in the end explaining they were short staffed. We wouldn’t have minded if we’d been told that in the beginning but instead felt like a burden the whole time and very unwelcome. In the end we walked out hungry with no food and without paying. They threatened to call the police to which we laughed in their faces. Even without paying I was so disappointed I still feel compelled to write a bad review. I have over a decade waitressing experience working in various restaurants and if I’d ever treated my customers the way we were treated I would have been fired. Shame to say we will never be going back to our local Italian. Date night with our baby...

I get that in these times that the service would be slow, but we waited 20 minutes to even get a menu. It took over an hour to get our starter and when it did my flat mushrooms consisted of 2 mushrooms. For the price, I think that's ridiculous. I was so hungry (and having waited so long for it) my partner gave me the bread from his starter. Our main course, we were told, was "delayed" so we were left waiting for a further 40 minutes for that and when it did arrive my pasta wasn't cooked properly and the chicken tasted like it had been reheated. The sauce was nice - hence my 1 star! My partner's vegetables were also undercooked. We were offered "something free" whilst we waited for our mains but my partner had a full glass of wine and I was drinking water so we had to decline - nothing was thoughtfully removed from the bill instead (which other venues would have done). On another note, when we walked in we were not asked to sanitise our hands, there was no sanitiser in the bathrooms, there was no social distancing between tables, the staffs masks were on and off all evening. I'm pregnant and did not feel particularly 'safe'. Will not...

We used to love going here and the food and atmosphere was fabulous. However, recently my daughters and I went for lunch. The reception was unwelcoming. This is not the first time that she was 'unfriendly'. We do not know what it is we have said or done. Since she has 'taken over' the atmosphere (for us) is unfriendly and there over-efficiency whilst you are eating made us feel very rushed. Also, their tea and coffees are an absolute 'rip off'. You get this little cup for £2.50. It is an insult to customers intelligence. When you ask for a cup of tea, a small glass cup appears in front of you with a teabag floating in it. Only one cup! Absolutely ridiculous! It has to be said, that a few years before you would get a teapot with milk and sugar. Now it is typically a teabag in your cup with a sachet of sugar and a bit of milk. Sadly, they have increased their prices. Their lunch menu is good however, you have to like pasta because there is not a lot of choice. I always used to tell everyone about Bella Vita however, I shall not be telling anyone to go here again - except for lunch if you...