Buon Appetito Burgess Hill — Restaurant in Mid Sussex

We've just moved into the area and had heard from some locals that Buon Appetito was one of the best restaurants in town. We visited last Friday having booked a table beforehand and upon walking in the place was completely full, which is always a good sign! However, we were then given a table that was right next to the kitchen doors at the back of the restaurant, with one of the chairs being almost in the gangway. This meant that on average, every 5 seconds a member of the waiting staff would either rush behind me in or out of the kitchen (on more than one occasion a server burst out of the kitchen at such speed that I was sure I was able to be coated in something hot), or a couple of them would stand and talk right behind me or to the side of our table, for the duration of the meal. Not ideal, but they were full and we'd only booked on the day so we were lucky to get in at all.

We ordered our food and the server was friendly and attentive, even recommending a better type of pasta for my wife's main which she very much appreciated. Starters came out in very good time, but the calamari was a bit bland and unseasoned which was a shame. And then the most bizarre thing happened. The lights dimmed, the music stopped abruptly, and for a moment I figured it was a birthday cake moment (there was one later in the night), but no - out of nowhere, Mariah Carey's 'All I want for Christmas' came on so loud that I couldn't hear the words coming out of my own mouth, let alone what my wife was saying! To top it off, a member of the team, or perhaps the owner, was jumping around the dining area in a loop clapping and yelling throughout. The song eventually ended however, thank god, and normal service was resumed. I still, 6 days later, have absolutely no idea what it was about, or the reason for it, but it was truly strange. Even aside from the fact that this was pre-December (a most heinous of crimes in its own right), to market yourselves as one of the more respectable establishments in town and then pull this is just very odd behaviour. If there had been anyone in there at the time with a hearing aid or a hearing condition such as Tinnitus, it would have been incredibly unpleasant for them as it was that loud.

The rest of the meal seemed almost uneventful after that. Our mains came out in a reasonable time and the pasta was indeed enhanced by the servers suggestion, however my pizza was again a bit of a shame. The toppings were fantastic, however the base was fairly tough towards the crust as though it had been rolled out and left for some time before cooking, and this was made worse by being given a blunt wide-bladed knife to cut it with. I'm not saying hand everyone in the restaurant a mezzaluna, but keep the utensils offered in a usable state. I ended up just cutting off the crust and putting it to one side. We opted to leave coffee and dessert for another time, however was disappointed that there was no option to add a gratuity to the card payment, as the servers were great and as we're in what is now a vast majority cashless society, we were mortified that we didn't have the option to show this.

I really want to like Buon Appetito, it has an air of authenticity to it and the owner and staff are clearly very passionate about what they do. I'm keen to revisit and really hope that this was a one-off, however i'm probably not going to risk returning during the...

Excellent service and delicious Italian cuisine.

The menu is extensive but not so that the kitchen is stretched theyre clearly passionate and skilled. I've dined in other independent restaurants that offer as many dishes but fail where Buon Appetite succeed. The presentation matches the fine quality of the ingredients and produce.

We had seafood, veal, pasta, chicken and pizzas and all our dishes were served quickly everyone demolished every last morsal. (We were too busy eating to take photos). My only negative is my veal was not as tender as you'd might expected.

You can spend under ten pounds on a main or spoil yourself with fillet steak.

The house white wine was the BEST I've had in any restaurant It was so smooth and fruity (not the harsh acidic wines elsewhere). Definitely look forward to returning exhaust the wine list as they clearly buy well.

Deserts were clearly made in house and the Panna Cotta, Banoffee Pie, Profiteroles were all light, sweet treats to reward our palets.

Sadly we didn't have time for starters as we had our 2 year old in the party and sought an early night.

Looking forward to our next visit to this fabulous Italian.

NB the staff are immaculate and very well presented down to the last detail of white masks (bravo 👏) to match their black and...

To be honest, im really disappointed. After reading reviews and being recommended, i was excited to try it. . However, after arriving, I found the staff to be very pushie. Myself and my friend had barely taken our coats off before being asked what to drink and eat, having not had a chance to look, i asked them to come back. They literally came back after a few minutes, saying you ready yet. The food arrived, pizza was soggy, drink was warm and crammed together with the people sitting next to us. Food was taken promptly when finished, and we were offered desert or coffee but as said no to either and just wanted to finish our chat and drinks before leaving. Without being asked for the bill, it was brought to us, which had a service charge on it for the very little service we got ( food was never checked ). Monents after the bill arriving the card machine was pushed in our faces, even though hadnt finished our drinks at this point. When trying to leave i couldnt get out from my table due to it being so crammed and full of people, not one member of staffed helped me and im not a big girl. Staff felt like they didnt want us there tbh. All this took place in under a hour. Very disappointed and not understanding the...