Prezzo Italian Restaurant Glasgow Braehead — Restaurant in Scotland

I’m not a fan of leaving bad reviews, but I hate that this has to be my first.

We planned a quick family lunch with my wife and two kids, but it went downhill due to poor staff scheduling on a busy day — obvious within minutes of being seated. Credit where it’s due: we were welcomed at the front desk and seated promptly by the host. Unfortunately, everything after that was disappointing.

On our side of the restaurant, one visibly overstretched waiter was looking after around seven tables. That might happen, but it doesn’t justify waiting almost 25 minutes even to be offered drinks. I don’t blame the waiter; this was clearly the result of inadequate staffing.

When we finally ordered, we placed drinks, the kids’ meals, starters and mains all at once, and we clearly asked for the kids’ meals and our starters to come out together. We then endured another 40 minutes with no food at all — a delay we wouldn’t expect even in a fine-dining establishment. Another nearby family was visibly upset about the same issue; they eventually received the wrong order and walked out.

By this point, well over an hour had passed with no food. Our kids were hungry and upset, so I approached a manager to explain that we couldn’t wait any longer. Having worked in hospitality for five years as a front-line manager, I believe this should have been handled proactively: don’t keep pumping the restaurant with diners when the service level can’t meet a reasonable standard. I highlighted that staffing levels were inadequate.

The duty manager (a young woman) acknowledged the situation and was very apologetic. Suddenly, a man in a chef’s jacket came from the open kitchen, introduced himself as the general manager, and challenged me — accusing me of shouting at staff because I appeared animated. I defended myself, explaining I wasn’t shouting, just frustrated by the service. The duty manager backed me up, confirming I hadn’t raised my voice. The GM then apologized several times, explained the staffing and other issues he was dealing with, and offered to have our food sent out immediately. It arrived about 10 minutes later.

By then, both kids had lost their appetite and ate only a few bites of the starters; we felt much the same, so “worth the wait” absolutely did not apply. We were given a sharing portion of garlic bread “as an apology,” even though we had ordered a regular portion — the price difference is only marginal, so it felt like a token gesture rather than meaningful service recovery.

In total, we spent about 1 hour 45 minutes in the restaurant, roughly 20 minutes eating and the rest waiting. We settled the fully charged bill; thankfully our Blue Light member discount reduced the damage, though even generating the correct bill took three attempts.

We will not...

We had been to this restaurant a few times before and were always satisfied. However, our last visit was very disappointing both in terms of service and food. When we arrived, the restaurant was practically empty. The waitress showed us to a table, but she looked as if she didn’t like her job.

We ordered drinks, pizza, pasta, and a burger with fries. When everything was brought to the table, we couldn’t believe they actually served it to us. The pizza looked like it had been sitting in an unheated oven for a long time. It was simply inedible – the edges were practically raw. I believe this happened because the restaurant was empty, and they had probably lowered the oven temperature. They could have just let us know that we would need to wait a bit longer so the food could be prepared properly. We refused to accept the pizza, and it was taken off the bill.

The prawn pasta was bland, and the bun from burger was cold. The fries, which we paid £5 for, were also cooked in oil that was far too cold – they looked and tasted awful. After we said we were not happy, the staff kept glancing at us, shaking their heads in disapproval. This was very unprofessional and made us feel uncomfortable. Mistakes happen, and we have the right to say if something is not right without being judged by the staff.

I definitely do not recommend this restaurant and will not return. We spent £50, and yet we still had to go upstairs to Popeye’s afterwards because we left hungry and...

We visited Prezzo on Wednesday to celebrate my friend’s birthday, and unfortunately, the experience did not meet expectations.

Service was noticeably slow despite the restaurant not being particularly busy. We waited a considerable amount of time for our order to be taken, for our plates to be cleared, and again for our desserts to arrive.

It appeared that one member of staff was managing the majority of the work — taking orders, serving food, clearing tables, and resetting them — while two other team members, who seemed to be in managerial roles, were largely disengaged and not contributing effectively to the service.

The desserts were particularly disappointing. After a long wait, they arrived in poor condition: the birthday cake and ice cream were melted and unappealing, and the doughballs with Nutella were hard and inedible.

Given that Braehead has limited dining options, I would strongly encourage Prezzo to review its service standards and food quality to ensure a more consistent and enjoyable customer experience. Otherwise, diners may choose to take their...