Pizzeria Mamma Mia — Restaurant in Sefton

The actual food was good. The service shocking.

Twice we have been now and the same waitress has served us both times. Both times she has appeared irritable and quite sharp when asked for condiments such as salt for our chips. On our last visit the service verged from bad to just blatantly rude. Nobody asked how our meals were when clearly the tables, or asked if we wanted anymore drinks or desserts. We both fancied trying a dessert and despite our best efforts to get the attention of the waitress she appeared to blatently ignore us and avoid our table. When going to quite a nice sit down restaurant i dont expect to have to bellow to get our servers attention or stand up and ask for a dessert menu. We did neither and left out of principle. The waitress soon stood up as we left our table to go to the bar to pay, thinking we was leaving without paying. Im aware this restaurant has been going for years and has a great reputation however with such shocking service people who arent regulars (who seem to get very attentive service from what i saw on my last visit) you will soon loose business from new customers.

We have been twice and felt like we was an inconvenience to the waitress on both occasions, we only returned the second time as we was quite impressed with the food- however as well as the shocking service the food wasnt up to par the second time- something that we would have mentioned nicely to our waitress if she didnt avoid and ignore us. With so many businesses closing im unsure why a restaurant would employ people who have zero customer service skills. People go out for a nice meal as a way to relax and catch up with loved ones, this kind of service really does put a bad taste...

With such good reviews, I expected a lot more.

Having booked earlier in the day, I had not expected the waiter to treat myself and my friend like a walk-in and inconvenience, he didn't check his reservations and looked disappointed there was an empty table for two. The restaurant was full of a number of groups, so we did expect a wait even though it was early on a Sunday evening, but it took a long time to get the offer of even a drink.

We both ordered pizza as we were seeing comedy at the little theatre, so we had a relatively limited time. The pizza was passable, with the base being hard and definitely not well proved.

My biggest disappointment was that my friend ordered a second drink, with the waiter not even giving me time to ask for one myself before turning away. Thankfully, a very pleasant waitress was around to grab, although sadly, we didn't get an apology from the original waiter.

Furthermore, it took three attempts to get the bill to our table, which was also quite frustrating. To be honest, I expected a lot more. It is possible that we chose badly and ate at an inconvenient time, but I felt that somehow our faces didn't fit.

My friend lives in Southport and has visited previously with his family. He did say they would consider returning. Unfortunately, it is very unlikely I shall return with mine even though we had deliberately chosen Mamma Mia over Prezzo next door as I like to support local Italian...

Table for 10 people at 5pm, booked in advance. Monday evening - school holiday, very busy. Service was on the slow side, but not too bad. The restaurant is over two floors with the toilets another floor up. The menu is quite big, lots to choose from (maybe too much). The staff were polite and kind. They could have been a bit more vibrant and enthusiastic. There appeared to be several regular customers who were familiar with the staff and each other, which adds to the charm of this traditional Italian restaurant.

Most of us had Pizza. One had Calzone, another Risotto, also Lasagne. I had the Steak Rossini which was delicious. The veg that accompanied it was average.

My main negative was the Cheesecake, which I ordered, having saved myself all day from Ice Creams, fudge, Candy floss etc... to have a dessert. It was hugely disappointing. It was in what I describe as a short/small Knickerbocker glass. Hardly any biscuit base with a few pieces of fruit sprinkled on top... not the Strawberry and Black Forrest Cheescake I was expecting. Three kids had fudge cake, 2 ladies had Tiramisu ("It was alright"), one of us had Masala Ice cream ("It's very interesting").

The music was too quiet. But as the restaurant got busier the atmosphere improved, especially as many of the guests knew each other.

All in all, a nice meal. I might return without the kids but would probably try...