Cantinetta — Restaurant in Sefton

Congratulations to the management and staff of Cantinetta for really hitting it out the park and getting this one-star review from me. It was a real team effort that I thought shouldn't go unrewarded.

We had visitors from out of town and it was left to us to choose a restaurant that represented the best that Crosby had to offer (according to Google reviews).We were a party of 10 that had booked a table for Saturday evening plenty of time to prepare and ask us to preorder if necessary.

On arrival we were shown to our table, settled in and were handed the drinks menu. It was at this point that the staff / management started to warm up by leaving us for 40 minutes before coming to take our drinks order. We had reminded them that taking orders and serving drinks was part of the deal but were treated to numerous excuses rather than the drinks we wanted. We probably should have left at this point, but we'd didn't (our bad).

Having begrudgingly served us with drinks, the cooking staff leaned into their task of obtaining a one-star review by producing food that was not edible (a master stroke in the one-star rating challenge). We again complained (politely) that having edible food was really quite important for us when selecting a restaurant. There were muted apologies from the staff, with a hint of irritation that we should be putting such emphasis on something so irrelevant. But to be fair, it wasn't all the food that was inedible - just the Bruschetta's - which 90% of people had ordered as a starter. So basically, all the starters.

There were further delays in producing the main meals. We raised the point that some of the younger people at the table had started to actually eat the table. Luckily, the mains arrived an hour after ordering. We had no material complaints about the quality of the main meals. Although I remember that the food was served by a waitress who placed it on the table in a manner that suggested she didn't appreciate our lack of gratitude.

Nobody at any point came over to apologies and when we complained to the manager about the service he really couldn't be bothered. And his reaction is the only reason i could be bothered to write this review.

It was clear that Cantinetta had had an off night. It happens. I get it. People come to your restaurant, they take liberties by asking for a timely and conscience service with edible food.

To not care or apologies for poor service or food when you've clearly had an off night is truly outstanding. Hence this...

What an absolutely top class Italian Restaurant, Me and my partner dined here on Saturday 19th June, I had the Ravioli di Aragosta (Lobster Pasta dish) And my partner had the fillet steak. Both meals where exceptional, made by very talented Chefs, i must say. Well done to all Kitchen Staff for thier skills. Our waitresses, Ellie and Sinead, where very classy young ladies, very friendly, very professional and made our evening feel so wonderful. Nothing was too much trouble, those ladies, im sure will go far in life, They have exceptional hospitality skills. Well done to them, they both very much deserve total recognition for thier fantastic work at Cantinetta's. Furthermore we would like to thank the Proprietors and Management, for bringing a top class Italian Restaurant to the heart of Crosby. We love Italian food, and this place IS for sure, Classy, and outstanding. A huge thankyou to all involved in this Restaurant for making our evening a very enjoyable, memorable one. We definately recommend this...

The Décor was very classy and we had very high hopes for our visit to this new restaurant. Our first slight issue was feeling like we were being rushed to order despite the restaurant not being busy. Whilst most of the dishes were nice they did appear overpriced for what they were given that we are regular diners in the wide spectrum of eatery's. One friend had an issue with the main and discussed this with the young female waitress who's response left us to feeling somewhat uncomfortable as we were met with an air of arrogance and indifference but we thought this may have been down to a lack of customer service experience. However, a similar experience was found with other members of staff and although my friend was not charged for her main it spoilt what should have been a pleasant dining experience with friends. We understand that this is a new business and there are bound to be teething problems so we hope that the management will take on broard our feedback and hopefully things...