Ciao Bella Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Leeds

I have Just had the unfortunate opportunity to try just ‘Ciao Bella’ a local restaurant just steps away from the Leonardo hotel in Leeds.

Before I visited the restaurant I had first called ahead and asked them if they would be able to provide me a small table on my own somewhere quiet where I could read, as I was coming in alone. I was told that this would be fine, and I should come down.

Upon my arrival I was taken to a small table next to another couple of ladies who were enjoying a happy and jovial meal together. When I asked if I could sit in a quieter area of the restaurant, I was told that all the other tables were booked. At this time only three tables were occupied. Two large tables had families on them (for a short while longer) and the other was occupied by the ladies, who were sat next to me.

I was given the menus and asked if I wanted to drink. I enquired about the vegetables that came with the dishes on the menu, given that I was about to order from the early bird menu, and was told that no vegetables would come with the meal but that I could order them extra if I wanted to.

I ordered some Leak and Potato soup and sat back waiting for it to come. It was almost impossible to read because the ladies next to me were quite loud in their conversation. I had only worn a t-shirt to the restaurant as I imagined it would be quite warm inside. This was not the case; the restaurant was actually quite chilly, and I mentioned that I was very cold to all three of the members of staff who were milling around me as I rubbed my bare arms. Each one respectively said either nothing or told me that I couldn't move to a different table near a radiator because they were all booked.

As I entered the restaurant, I noticed there was a coat rack behind the reception area I was wearing a large anorak style coat and not one member of staff asked me if I would like them to hang it up for me instead it was left lying bunched up next to where I sat. Eventually I put it on around my shoulders as clearly, they did not care if I was cold or if I was sat in their restaurant wearing a coat.

The soup was nothing to write home about and could have come from Tesco's. It was served with a few slices of a tiger French stick and a handful of solid hard butter portions, straight from the fridge. The main course was a chicken breast served with a simple and bland, white wine and mushroom sauce with little to no seasoning. It was served with some finely shaved, deep fried potatoes and no vegetables. It felt like a child’s dish. I felt sad that a small amount of broccoli which costs almost nothing from a supermarket for a full head, could have made this an entirely different meal. Dessert was quite a nice tiramisu which could have been elevated by even a token amount of pouring cream.

I indicated to the owner that I would like to pay my bill, once was finished. He gestured that he would be right over after he after he had served the two ladies next to me. They paid that bill and left. He then returned to the reception area and began to count out money in the till, even though he knew I was waiting to pay. I eventually stood and walked over, requesting to pay my bill before walking out of the restaurant in complete disgust.

For anyone expecting even a modicum of customer services, I would strongly suggest that you go elsewhere. The staff felt untrained and lacking in even the basic skills they should have had. I was left feeling unvalued, sad and...

Shocking experience!

We have been visiting this restaurant for over 10 years and previously had good food in a nice venue. Before I start I note we were full paying customers. We don’t use groupon or any discount vouchers (not that it should make a difference). We ordered drinks, starters and mains all great until the mains arrived and my partners sea bass had several inch and a half long shards of sharp bones in her fish. Put off by this (after eating only a few bites) she discreetly told the manager and showed him the bones. He said his supplier usually gets all the bones out but sometimes it is missed and that it’s not his fault. My partner said she understood and said it’s feedback for the supplier. He took the food away and did not offer a replacement nor anything else. Myself and daughter finished our meals then we went to pay. The bill included the sent back meal and we asked if we were being charged for the meal my partner could not eat due to all the bones. The man got angry saying it’s not his fault and said there’s nothing wrong with it. My partner said “it’s fine I will pay for the uneaten meal and after coming here 10 years we will not return” I said “no you won’t pay for it as it’s unacceptable. The man was furious and shouted “I take it off the bill and ask you never return here!” Then started wafting his hand in my direction shouting “I don’t want any more comments from you!” We then left stunned and shocked at such bad customer service!

Believe it or not just seconds before this happened 3 lady’s were leaving upset that they had been for a drink and had received nothing but abuse from the owner. One of the ladies calmly and politely said “please try to be nice to people as this was very upsetting” his response was snapping “you should be nice”

The most shocking restaurant experience Iv ever encountered.

The venue is lovely! The food is usually absolutely fine to be honest and we understand sometimes things go wrong or some food may have an issue the kitchen has missed. These things are nothing that good customer service can’t rectify via offering alternatives or a round of drinks or simply take it off the bill. We are never out to get anything for free and always tip 20% so had this been rectified correctly then the restaurant wouldn’t have lost a penny but it seems that the business owner doesn’t care for his reputation or customer satisfaction but just money at any cost. To tell a long term reasonable customer to “never come back” because they weren’t happy to pay for a meal they couldn’t eat is ridiculous.

Go here only if you’re up for the risk, if anything goes wrong it will be YOUR...

I booked a table for our works Christmas meal for 9 people and was left extremely disappointed with the overall service and manners of the staff at Ciao Bella. We had bought a groupon voucher prior to the meal as I rung up on the phone and double checked I could use a group-on voucher even though we were a group. I asked if we could use two groupon vouchers he said that we could but wouldn’t be able to use it with the set menu (as obviously it is cheaper) I said that was fine and that was the end of the phone call. We turned up to the restaurant with the groupon, we decided to just purchase one as some people wanted to eat off the set menu so there wasn’t any point in purchasing two. He said that we could not sit together as a group because of this and wanted to split our table up so 4 people were sat on the other side of the restaurant which was absolutely petit and quite frankly pointless. We had come as a group to celebrate and they wanted to split us up? This was NEVER specified on the phone that we would not be able to sit together, just that we couldn’t use the groupon alongside the set menu. We finally decided to go for the normal menu so that we could all sit together and try and enjoy the meal after this initial poor experience and communication fault. My colleague asked for a straw with her drink to be told that she couldn’t have one because she was not a child and they only give them to children. A waiter also then decided to roll his eyes at my other colleague when it took us a couple of minutes to figure out who ordered a salad dish. It was rude and uncalled for. The food itself was lovely, which is a real shame because the service this time around was not. I have been to this restaurant myself before and personally recommended it to the staff I work with. When I arrived at the restaurant, I was expecting excellent service like I did prior to this experience. The issues we had on arrival unfortunately spoilt the whole dining experience this time around and left us dissatisfied, disappointed and wanting to...