Trattoria Settebello — Restaurant in Gloucester

We’ve been loyal customers of this restaurant for over five years, but after a year away, this visit was nothing short of a disaster – the worst dining experience we’ve ever had as a family.

The problems started straight away. Soft drinks were limited to overpriced mocktails, juices, or Coke – no simple options like Fanta or lemonade, which is absurd for a place that claims to cater to families.

I asked for some chicken to be added to my daughter’s mini pizza to make it a bit more exciting for her. It would’ve been a small gesture with a big impact on her meal, and we were happy to pay extra – but it was flatly refused. Not exactly a difficult request, and the lack of flexibility was frustrating and thoughtless.

My margherita pizza was soggy in the middle – not undercooked, just poorly made. It tasted passable, but the texture was disappointing.

My husband’s roast had been sitting on the hot plate for around ten minutes – I’d been watching it while we waited. My husband stepped away from the table for a moment when it was finally brought over. However, a seagull swooped in and stole the chicken within seconds. My six-year-old was screaming, terrified, while I tried to comfort her and wave the bird away with one hand.

I turned around after the bird finally left to see a male waiter looking at me in disgust. He came over and instead of showing any concern or empathy, blamed me. He said I “should’ve tried harder” and that the bird now sees me as “an easy target.” Completely inappropriate, rude, and frankly ridiculous. He said he’d ask the chef to recook the chicken – but his tone was passive-aggressive, as though I was the problem.

The chicken came back out in under 30 seconds, which said it all. When I asked if the entire plate had been redone – since the seagull had landed on it – I was told it was only the chicken that had been replaced. I had to demand a full remake before it was reluctantly done.

The young, blonde waitress was kind and clearly uncomfortable with what was happening, but the male waiter continued to lurk around the table, throwing blankets at the seagull each time it returned – which it did three more times. The whole scene was stressful, chaotic and completely unsuitable for a relaxed family meal.

My husband ended up patrolling the area while our daughter tried to eat. His own food went cold, and to top it off, the roast chicken was dry and unpleasant. The Yorkshire pudding was the only thing he could tolerate.

No one offered dessert. We left after just 45 miserable minutes, with our daughter still visibly distressed.

And then the bill: £76. My daughter had been charged £12 for a two-course kids’ meal – pizza and ice cream – yet she was never even offered the ice cream. She was too upset to eat it anyway, but charging full price without checking or acknowledging what had happened shows a total lack of customer care. Surely some basic customer service wouldn’t have gone amiss in a situation like this?

We understand the seagull isn’t their fault. But the handling of the situation, the attitude of the staff (particularly the male waiter), and the lack of any compassion or accountability turned an already stressful incident into a complete fiasco.

We will...

Where do I even start. If I could give this place 0 I would!

This is, sorry WAS my favour restaurant in Gloucester! Well, Not any more!

My parents came to visit for the Christmas market and I was desperate to bring them here. I wish I hadn’t.

Initially, trying to book a table was a nightmare. The phone not being answered on many attempts over different days, online booking not working so had to physically go into book. That was just an inconvenience and not an issue until tonight’s meal.

We arrived, sat down and ordered. The female waiter was lovely and pleasant no complaints there. Starters come they are nice no complaints there. Then the main meal comes….

Just for context here myself and mother have been pescatarian for 20 years or more now.

The parmigiana that we both ordered arrives , I make this at home often taught by someone from Naples , I have eaten this dish at THIS restaurant very regularly and it’s never been like this.

So there appeared to be meat in the dish. It looked like the ox cheek ragu that my wife has often had been run through the middle of the dish. Maybe an accident, mistake who knows but Aubergine parmigiana is a vegetarian dish!

Well upon my wife bringing it to staff attention the whole thing became contentious and argumentative. The waiter, manager and chef at different intervals came out to demand it wasn’t meat but egg (well if egg is fibrous and the colour of poo then I’d have a problem there too)

We would not accept his explanation and took a sample to be sent for testing (I will attach a photo here.) When I stated we were taking a sample, the manager became somewhat aggressive in his tone. After alot of arguing and awful customer service on this man’s part the others in the party finished what they had to eat and we asked for the bill.

When the receipt came those uneaten meals were still on there! Before paying the bill we requested that the two meals that couldn’t be eaten due to the above issue be removed from the bill but happy to pay for everything else. We were told the meals would only be removed if we never came to the restaurant again and we would not be welcome here.

After tonight honestly I wouldn’t want to return here ever!!

The manager went away and returned with a new amount on the screen my mother payed and then he handed over the new receipt. When I checked the bill he had only removed the one meal and refused to refund the other. The way that misogynistic prick of a manager was shushing us with fingers on lips and telling us our voice hurt his ears now we are not getting refund and to leave was disgusting behaviour from anyone let alone a manager. Some how feel if I was a man he would not have treated us this way!

Needless to say we didn’t get the refund and he rang the police telling them we refused to pay the bill. Who does this to regular customers that PAYED MORE THAN WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE! We payed the bill and have the proof!

Lots more to write but will update once we get the results back from the relevant parties.

IF YOU RESPECT YOUR FAMILY OR EVEN JUST YOURSELF DONT GO HERE! DEMAND BETTER!

That member of staff should ADMIT YOUR MISRAKES AND JUST BE A...

Given this must be the most expensive restaurant in Gloucester I had high hopes for our meal out here, but I left feeling disappointed.

This is a busy restaurant, and it is loud. There seems to be little to absorb sound, so the environment is just noisy. It wasn't full and there weren't any rowdy parties, yet we had to lean in to hear each other at times.

The service was initially very attentive but as the evening wore on it became harder to attract the attention of the staff, whereas at the beginning they seemed to be always immediately available.

Turning to the food, the tomatoes in the Caprese Salad were too cold and that might explain their lack of flavour. To be frank they seemed like a supermarket's cheap salad tomatoes. The mozarrela was nice, but the basil was lost behind the rocket that was included with it. The balsamic was divine.

My main was the Agnello Grigliato, grilled leg of lamb steak. First off this turns out to be chargrilled (specified on other dishes, but not on this one), and it was heavily dosed in pepper; the effect of this was to lose the taste of the lamb behind the other flavours and it probably didn't help that the lamb was overcooked. The pesto mash was interesting but didn't really go with the flavours of the lamb, other than to dull the char taste. The accompanying pepperonata was the best bit of the dish.

For a dessert I chose the Formaggi Misti Italiani, a selection of 3 cheeses with homemade focaccia and chutney. The focaccia and chutney were great as was the gorgonzola (although it was a tiny portion), the taleggio was nice, but the pecorino (by far the largest portion of cheese) was really only edible when eaten with the focassia and the chutney; the other two cheeses stood on their own.

Drinks were good, the house wines were very drinkable if a little pricey. Overall everything seemed way over priced for what it was, except perhaps the Caprese Salad. The cheese in particular at £11 seemed very pricey for what was on the plate.

There are much better value for money choices in the area with less noisy environments and better composed dishes so I don't think we will be trying this restaurant again. It was ok, but when you consider we paid £125 for a meal for two (including drinks) it becomes decidedly average and at that price you want better...