Don Marco — Restaurant in Manchester

Please find below a copy of a review provided directly to the restaurant following a booking we had for Sunday 16th February. If you are looking for a great Italian restaurant I would strongly suggest you visit Italiana 55 which is just across the street from Don Marco.

"I would like to be able to leave a review of the food and drink, the atmosphere and value for money provided by your restaurant however due to the rudeness and argumentative nature of the manager we did not even get the opportunity to go into the restaurant. When we arrived at the restaurant the manager basically blocked the doorway to prevent us from entering and told us we would have to sit outside in the covered courtyard area. When I tried to explain to the manager that we had made a reservation he was not interested and was very dismissive. At no point did he ask me for my name or my booking number. He said the restaurant was full and that the only option that was available was to sit outside in the courtyard area. He constantly argued that sitting in the courtyard area was the same as sitting inside. To anyone with eyes this is plainly not the case as it opens directly onto the street. It was also extremely cold (the outside temperature was 3 degrees centigrade) with the only heating provided by patio heaters. Eventually the manager said we may be able to have a table inside but we would need to wait for approx 30 mins before he would know if one was available. By this time I had crossed the road and found the Italiana 55 Restaurant who where extremely welcoming and helpful and could provide us with a table. Whilst I was at the Italiana 55 Restaurant a young lady member of staff who had overheard our conversation with the manager asked my wife if we wanted a table inside as if we did she had one available in five minutes if we didn't mind waiting. My wife drew this to the attention of the manager and said that was all he needed to have done. His response was amazingly "she isn't the manager" by which I think he meant she wasn't rude and was far too helpful. Our visit to the Don Marco restaurant was part of a special night for my wife and I that included a stay at the Hilton Hotel. I am sorry to say that the attitude displayed by your manager came very close to spoiling our whole evening. I will not recommend your restaurant to anyone I know and will consider making this review as public as possible. I would also suggest that as a priority you send your manager across the road to the Italiana 55 restaurant so that he can see and learn how a welcoming establishment operates. One which welcomes their customers and makes them feel special by providing excellent customer service and food. This is the exact opposite of the experience provided by...

The food was amazing, was so full but still got dessert as the mains and starters impressed us so much! Unfortunately, the service was abysmal and left my friend and I upset. Our drinks arrived and the Aperol Spritz was very strong. Out of curiosity we asked what ratio they used as it was more bitter to what we were used to but the staff member told us Aperols are meant to be bitter, which we completely understood as avid Aperol drinkers, and told us he could add sugar syrup to it. It was indeed a little better but we just felt like we weren't listened to more than anything. We decided to send it back (untouched) and once again asked another staff member what the ratio was and even stated that it could be that we personally just aren't used to having it this strong. He could not give us an answer, which we once again understood as he was clearly not the one making the drinks so we thanked him for taking it away and carried on with our food. When the bill arrived, we were confused to see the Spritz on it as when we asked for it to be taken away and ordered a still water instead, we werent told that we would still be charged. When we asked for it to be taken off as it was untouched he said he's not going to pay out of his own pocket so he's not taking it off so we said thats no worries (as it's clearly not up to him but the manager) and we would just like to pay. Afterwards, we said that next time it may just be a better idea to mention that we would still be charged to avoid confusion to which we were met with a lot of rudeness: we were told that people like us often order something we 'dont understand' and try return it! We were repeatedly spoken over and scoffed at although we tried clarifying that we aren't trying to blame him in particular just wanted to give some general advice for next time, and that we would have just held onto it if we knew we would still get charged! As well as this, we were not asked once how our meal was going apart from when clearing plates at the end despite it not being busy. The food was really nice, but would not go back again as service...

Disappointing all round unfortunately. To list the low points:

The booking system is insane. An A4 piece of paper with scribbles all over it with seemingly no structure behind the layout. They showed it to us as proof that we did not have a reservation but we found our booking in the corner of the page. We recieved an apology but it meant we were late to take our table as the venue was very busy.

As an apology for the mix up, we were given 2 garlic breads on the house. A nice gesture but unfortunately they appeared on the bill until we disputed it.

There are 2 parts to this restaurant. The part we were in was quite open, it has a roof and 3 sides but it was a little drafty and not at all cosy. There are lots of heaters but it is not the same as being inside.

One of the tables was very wobbly. Luckily one of our guests managed to stuff half a dozen napkins under the leg to steady it.

A diabetic guest ordered a diet coke but was served full fat coke

A teetotal guest ordered a non-alcoholic beer but was served an alcoholic beer

We ordered marinated olives which did not arrive but did appear on the bill. This was removed after it was queried.

The only toilets are down very steep stairs. One of our guests was elderly and is scheduled to have a knee replaced. When we asked the waitress if there was disabled bathroom we were informed there was not.

The food had fairly mixed reactions from the group. One spoke glowing about the lobster ravioli however others were less impressed. Overall, the general opinion was that it was satisfactory.

I would say that the venue was extremely busy and the staff were working hard. They were friendly however I did feel that they were overly stretched which may have contributed to the several errors and long waiting times we experienced.

To end on a positive, I would say that there was a very lively atmosphere and would probably suit a group that...