Filippo's Italian Restaurant Pizzeria — Restaurant in Horsham

Heed the 1 star reviews on this,I'm not one for causing an issue but 'service' recieved here was atrocious! The place is lack lustre in design but servicable,we were served by the head waitress. Asking for something was a huge trouble accompanied by passive aggressive comments.She almost seemed to go out of her way to make sure we knew how much of an inconvenience our presence was,made to feel guilty for daring to spend hundreds of pounds here.

It was a big occasion, 60th birthday with a party of 11,by far the largest table the whole night.Despite being a Saturday,it didn't have much atmosphere, moderately busy the whole night.My brother had made the booking and put down a large deposit,not wanting to add stress,I provided a surprise birthday cake for the guest of honor myself.I tried to approach the waitress kindly and ask if it was ok to bring the cake out at the end for us to celebrate,a very normal request for most places,especially for a large paying table.The response was a very firm,frustrated talk about policy,stating all patrons must be given a menu and order desserts before any cake can be brought out,surprised by the confrontational response to my reasonable request,I agreed,she at least took the cake.

Food was pre-ordered so we ordered drinks first,house wine alone was 27.50! And we had to open ourselves! But this was small so we carried on.A member of the party tried to joke initially with the waitress asking if she was Mrs.Fillipo but was asked to desist and made to feel guilty for trying to have fun.The food arrived promptly but 2 party members ordered starters as a main but it was brought as a starter regardless,to which the head waitress tried to blame subordinates for incompetence,which was unprofessional.

Mains:1 member noticed her pizza was undercooked and asked to have it put back in,when the pizza returned she was told 'whilst some like it crispy,most don't that's why it was like that',she was made to feel as if the fault was her 'preference' rather than an undercooked pizza.These are thin,average quality/sized pizzas but are around £16 - £18 each! All the food was adequate but not incredible.

Dessert orders were had (8.50 each,you get just 3 profiteroles!).We ordered coffee (3.50 for a black americano ) the girl who had issues with her pizza was told 'I hope this is to your liking' when handed hers.I politely asked if the cake could be brought and I was sternly reminded that it was a busy restaurant with enough to do and couldn't spare any time to bring a cake so if I wanted to have it,I'd have to bring it myself! Shocked,I had no choice but to accept.

We had to go next to a toilet,amongst the staff,where cutlery is kept,to prep our cake,it felt as though I was on shift! To once again chastised,being told that we should have told them before as 'they can't go around serving cake to just everyone,if everyone came in with a cake we'd have to do all this extra washing up for nothing, it's why we have to have a policy'.I felt like I was at school except I was a customer with a party spending upwards of £400 being made to feel inconvenient.We served our cake but noticed we didn't have plates,only given napkins.So my brother asks and is refused!

Outraged, another party member approached and demanded plates, we were given tiny saucers,of which some were dirty,we were not given the privilege of cutlery! A 15% tip was 'suggested' on the bill and mentioned by the waitress. Upon refusal she got angry and tried to argue we had been unreasonable, arguing it is uncommon to ask to bring out a cake and we inconvenienced them by making their staff 'walk up and down the stairs',as if the layout was our fault?! She told us they had to order in all this food 'especially for us',as if we weren't paying them a handsome profit to do so! She tried to say we HAD to pay something extra, we pointed out that wasn't the law and she said most places would have charged "cakeage"(meant corkage?)needless to say we didn't pay a penny extra, much to her dismay. Strongly discourage anyone from even...

Absolutely wonderful dining experience – the main meal actually defeated me, which is unheard of!

Pleasant surroundings and comfortable seating (we were inside, there's outside dining in good weather). Friendly and attentive staff, great food, thoroughly recommended.

Updated 2022

Yep, still our go-to restaurant in Horsham. Excellent service and excellent food, great little cozy location.

I should note that it's all upstairs, unless you catch them open at lunchtime when it's warm and they have outside dining, My wife is in a wheelchair, but can just about handle the stairs with help, and the staff is happy to tuck the wheelchair into a safe place downstairs. She definitely feels it's worth the effort!

2023

Back to our favourite Horsham eatery, not much to add to the above, still a great restaurant, with ever-pleasant staff and wonderful food.

December 2023

Food as lovely and staff as friendly as ever; wife had extensive hospital treatment over the course of the year and coming back to celebrate that finishing has been a definite target. Utterly recommended (still).

I swear the calzone gets a little longer every time I have it…

[Beware 1-star reviews; we have been present with some deeply unpleasant characters who cannot differentiate a small, lovingly run family business that serves from-scratch dishes from a generic chain restaurant. We have had nothing but joy from Filippo's.]

April 2024

I'm going to start running out of things to say 😀

Another lovely evening with family at our favourite restaurant, and an enjoyable time had by all, as ever. Always pleasant, great food and an excellent welcome.

Starting to worry that I managed to finish the calzone with room for tiramisu 😯

August 2024

Back again with friends, great as ever, and couldn't avoid choosing the wonderful calzone again (it was its turn, I try to not have it twice in a row to mix things up and try other items). The special chocolate profiteroles were excellent (yes, I managed to fit them in).

I'll try to remember an updated photo next time…

November 2024 * Belated anniversary meal, excellent as ever, had the new Salmon Tagliatelle (picture remembered and uploaded!).

December 2024 * Back, this time for an excellent lunch (because we could), photos included again! (I had already started mine before I remembered, I couldn't wait!).

My wife has asserted that the pizza I made her have (she always has pasta) was the best she has had in her life! Maybe we should have ordered her two…

May 2025 * (Missed a couple of visits as we went 3 times in relatively quick succession!). Still excellent, still a somewhat hidden gem in Horsham (ironic given it's right next to the car park!). I was going to try something different, but it's been a few months so had to have my favourite calzone 😀. Uploading a...

More 1 star reviews regularly for this restaurant.

Claim to be the only restaurant in Horsham who make their dough fresh. Obviously never been to Monte Forte (not a chain). If you want great pizza in Horsham go to Monte Forte and if you want delicious pasta go to La Piazzetta which is a lovely independent Italian restaurant the other end of town.

We visited this evening with our children and were a little late (15 mins). Waitress (older lady with brown hair) made a big deal over it and said if we were in London we’d have lost our table. Well, we’re not in London and there were only 3 other tables in the restaurant occupied. Everything was too much trouble. Weren’t prepared to bring out the children’s pizza asap because it was too inconvenient. Wouldn’t let the kids have any toys on the tables for fear of them getting scratched but they were just MDF tables coated in plastic wood effect finish. Told the children not to put their feet on the chairs despite them not once having their feet on the chairs. I’ve since read reviews from other stating the exact same experiences. Became extra rude when we weren’t prepared to pay the service charge. Ceiling was falling down and was in a poor state of repair.

I don’t often leave negative reviews which anyone is free to see from my guide history, but this review is fair and accurate of our experience.

If you look through all the 1 star reviews the majority of them talk about how rude their waitress was, some with descriptions and that matches our experience. Maybe she should take note of the significant amount of feedback from several...