Saporitalia — Restaurant in London

The food we had was very nice and the portions are also very generous. Unfortunately, the service just wasn't good and kind of took away from the experience. I had made a reservation for 4 people and they seated us at a table for 4. My partner left the table for a bit and in the meantime the waiter serving us managed to come and take away his cutlery and napkin before we even managed to say that there was someone there, so I had to wait to get his attention again and ask him to bring the cutlery back. We then ordered our drinks and food very clearly, but then our waiter brought my partner an amaretto sour instead of an amaretto liqueur (which he had ordered) and the waiter seemed visibly confused but he took away the wrong drink. Our friends had also ordered a garlic bread to share as a starter and two pizzas for their mains. Once we had our starters, only one of their pizzas arrived. We thought the other one might take a bit longer, so the rest of us began to eat. After a while, our friend's pizza still hadn't come, so we got the attention of a waitress to ask what was happening with it. She went to check and came back with our waiter, who again seemed confused, and it turned out that he hadn't even gotten the second pizza order. So, they apologised and said they'd get the pizza to our friend quickly. Some time passed again, the waitress came around and she asked our friend if her pizza had already been brought (despite the clear lack of food in front of her) and we said that it hadn't. She went away again to check and at some point later the pizza finally arrived. Everyone else had already had their food, and mine had gotten cold whilst I was waiting, so our friend doesn't eat alone. They brought us 4 limoncello shots in the end as an apology, but that's not what we were there for and we were quite disappointed. Advice - please ask staff to read back to customers what they've ordered to avoid unpleasant situations like that. It also sucks paying service charge for...

I've been coming to Saporitalia for over 10 years, from their old location to the new one, and it's been my favourite Italian spot in town. However, it's a shame to say that the experience has really slipped. The last two visits have left us disappointed, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to justify returning.There seems to be a complete disconnect between the front-of-house staff and the kitchen. When you go out on a Friday night, you want to enjoy some drinks, a bottle of wine, and your food without feeling rushed. Unfortunately, that's impossible when your mains arrive just as you start eating your starters. This rush forces you to either wolf down your food or let your starters go cold, which is far from ideal—especially when you're paying £25 a head for pasta, which isn't cheap.This rushed and unwelcoming dining experience is anything but Italian. It feels like they want you out as soon as possible. While I genuinely like the waiters and can see they want to deliver good service, they seem powerless to change the situation. When I asked why everything was being rushed, the young waiter empathised but admitted he didn’t know—and did nothing to address it. I would have expected a manager to step in, explain, or even address the issue with the kitchen, but that never happened.The whole experience left a bad taste, like they just want your money and then get you out, which I’m sure isn’t their intention, but it’s become an all-too-familiar feeling here. Dropping £100 and not even getting to dessert because of the poor pacing is simply unacceptable. I used to recommend this place for all occasions, but now I’d only suggest coming here for a pizza or a...

This is the first restaurant I went to after arriving in London, and the food and drinks were delicious. As it was close to my hotel, I was already planning to come back and this would have been an automatic five-star if it weren't for some seriously terrible customer service when it was time to pay my bill. I attempted to use my Wise card as I often do when I travel and I made sure it had well over $1,000 in it before I departed. When I paid, I got a notification from Wise on my phone that I'd been charged. The waiter told me my payment had been declined, and I asked him if he could please verify because of the notification I'd received. He went to talk to a superior and she came storming over with a receipt that said "void" (meaning it did not, in fact go through) and repeatedly pointed at the word and said sarcastically "do you know what this means? do you know what this word means?" even as I took out a credit card to pay with. She was also speaking quite loudly so it got the attention of other tables, which I didn't appreciate. I said of course, I just wanted verification before I used an alternate form of payment. Even as I was taking out my credit card to pay, she continued to berate me and say "We deserve to be paid, we need to be paid," when I clearly had no intentions of not paying. What was a simple matter to resolve turned into a scene; needless to say I didn't return as planned which is really too bad because the food was great, but I prefer to spend my money at restaurants that are able to resolve these matters without shouting and...