Sambuca Boldon — Restaurant in South Tyneside

Great food 10/10 the kitchen staff are switched on but one man out of about 10 staff carries this restaurant for the service and I don’t think I’d return based on the service and for how long we were in.

You go out to enjoy a meal but we spent the whole time chasing everything from menus, forks, drinks, bill, dessert.

The whole issue is the staff are all very young, uninterested and VERY forgetful and one experienced older man carries them. Two of him could replace about 10 of the staff they have. It’s worrying when you are asked about something twice and still forget.

We were asked for our food order as soon as we are seated, no mention of drinks. We had to chase drinks three times. Then the same person who tried to take our food order as we literally sat then forgot about us. Starters came before drinks, chased drinks again. Again, we had to chase to order for about 15 minutes. No mention of any Parmesan, I waited for this for my pasta then just gave up and ate without it because the young lad forgot twice.

You wait an eternity for the bill. You shouldn’t have to chase up things like forks or drinks multiple times. I think the staff need reassessed as I don’t understand how you can be that forgetful and cannot even take a basic drinks order.

I’ve went to the North Shields Sabucas for years and the service is quick and efficient.

My tip to the management is, train the staff so follow a basic plan, when you are seated drinks should be asked for right away, when drinks come ask for food and so on. There is no organisation and you ask one person for one thing then they ask another then they forget and it’s just chaos. Hats off to the older bloke who seems to have a bit of go in him, he may even be the manger. The younger generation seem bored...

I am a regular sambucas customer, usually north shields or south shields but I live in boldon so this Boldon Sambuca opening would be perfect. I however won't be visiting again, it was a very poor experience unfortunately. Visited with my wife and 5 year old son, walk in. We were advised table will be ready in 5-10 minutes however waited just shy of 30 minutes, so this wasn't a fantastic start. Secondly when the food came out, my wife wasn't offered any parmesan and I wasn't offered any black pepper from the grinder as usual in other locations. All the waiters/waitresses were young and inexperienced in my opinion. No friendly talk or customer service skills. Just one word answers and impression working there as they need to between other jobs or college courses. Finally, when the bill arrived we were overcharged by around 15 pound. I called one of the waitresses over and I queried the bill and I was asked what we had ordered. I informed her what we ordered and she said she would check. A few minutes later a different gentlemen came over and said sorry yes the bill is wrong however we actually need to pay more than what the bill said so as a favour to us he would let us pay what was on the bill. I again said this isn't correct and once again had to list all of my order and he agreed we actually had been overcharged on the bill and said 'no idea what he's done there but yes you're correct and the bill is competely wrong .. he then said ' its not worth even asking him about how that's happened as he'll just get more confused' .. No idea who he was regarding when he said this and no apology offered. Felt like I was being an inconvenience eventhough they had attempted to overcharge us. So we paid the bill and left, unfortunately not to...

I come here nearly every week and I can’t recommend it enough to all my friends and family. A lot of people swerve and have said they don’t go because they use to go to the one in South Shields and it went crap let me reassure you this place is NOTHING like the shields one. It’s divine

As someone who comes here regularly, there’s a few good reasons I love this place. Usually I find a restaurant I like and they click on I got regularly and the level of service goes down… NOT HERE! Every time I come it’s consistent brilliant service and fantastic food.

I have ordered from the day saver menu and the every day menu… the saver menu is absolutely fantastic for the price… it’s cheaper to get wonderful fresh cooked Italian healthy food at sambucas than macdonalds crap. The kids menu is amazing value for money… the portions they get are huge and very filling for them. They do get a dessert included.

I’ve had the steak which was cooked to perfection, pizza which is the best pizza I’ve had… and I usually get chicken in peppercorn which is gorgeous. And the sticky toffee pudding is the best I’ve ever had! Cannot fault it anytime I’ve been. I’ve not been for Sunday lunch as know it’s quite busy. However when he been at busier times they’ve fitted us in quickly, the wait was short.

The staff are entirely lovely and very helpful, they’re a great team everything is quick effect and they’re really lovely and a credit to the place. Highly recommend!

The only thing that I wish they would serve vegetables as an option of a side dish. Would be nice to have peas or broccoli/ cauliflower/carrots with...