Lina Stores Manchester – Italian Restaurant, Deli & Bar — Restaurant in Manchester

Probably the best meal I’ve had in Manchester in my 3 years of living here.

This place is absolutely amazing. My girlfriend and I went on a Friday night thought we had reserved a table but it seemed to not have went through, however we luckily got a table anyway. The matradee was a super friendly guy, took us to our table and made us feel welcome from the start.

Our waitress, (Elvina or Elvira, sorry if I got it wrong) was lovely, attentive and informative. We had 2 cocktails to start, both excellent, especially my Ruby Negroni, we also ordered a bottle of the Miso Soave which was a stunning wine and perfectly paired with our dinner. We had a rosemary foccia to start which was so fresh, crispy and flavourful. Our main was the Jerusalem artichoke ravioli, this tasted so good, smoky and punchy, it was delicious. We also had a beautiful aubergine parmigiana and a lovely side salad. The meal was 10/10.

After the meal, our waitress gave us a free cocktail voucher for their cocktails lounge. I didn’t even know this was part of it but Jesus Christ it’s the nicest bar I’ve been in in Manchester. Low lighting, awesome music (not too loud) and beautiful furnitures and features. The Caffé cocktail I had was insanely good I could’ve stayed there all day and night drinking them.

Literally could not fault one thing about it, it was perfect and I can’t wait to go back. Staff, food and drink all...

Unfortunately, a few things added up to make this a disappointing evening.

The restaurant itself is nicely decorated and the food we had was nice overall. But there were a few problems:

The music was pretty loud which made it really difficult for the whole table hear what the staff were saying.

The menu was explained to us as small plates to share and larger dishes which could either be shared or eaten as a more standard main course. We decided to share starters (which were good) and order our own main courses.

However, some of the dishes were not really complete as a main course. For example the saltimbocca comes with no vegetables/salad/sides - it’s just the chicken on a plate.

There are no sides on the menu so we ended up having to order another main course (hispi cabbage) to go with it. Which was of course late to the table as I’d had to order this after the rest of the food arrived.

We ordered a bottle of wine and the waiter made a slightly sarcastic comment about my pregnant wife not wanting a glass. It was probably meant to be jokey/friendly but came off really poorly.

The £25 per person late cancellation fee seems very steep and the notice about this doesn’t give a good first impression when booking.

For around £60 per head I think there are better options at this...

Showed at the door to an almost empty restaurant and asked for a table for 4. Been told that it's been fully booked, and they couldn't seat us down. Proceeded to book online in front of them and then sat down. Ordered drinks, the ordered was brought wrong. The drink runner did not known which of the 2 spritzes did not have alcohol in, only agreed to go check after telling him that one of the party members was underage. The gin that in the ticket was put through as "straight" was brought with ice. The waiter took it back, they obviously just strained it into a warm glass and brought it back out. In the middle of our meal, we told this to, who I think was, the manager as she was going around asking how everything was. She changed the subject saying that we were upset from the get go because we were hangry. Right. Speaking of food, the portions were a bit silly, but the food itself was quite nice. Overall, i think the experience was bad. From the start we were treated like an inconvenience, and it just set the mood for the rest of the evening. 12.5% service charge for messing up drinks and potentially giving a minor alcohol is a bit steep. Will not...